We understand the power that information can hold for our customers, which is why our experts at SCL work to share the latest in trends, safety and compliance and a number of other topics on our blog. Please explore the latest entries below or search for articles by topic.
Leer en Español Read in EnglishExtreme Temperatures Are Your Car Battery’s Worst Nightmare It’s a commonly held belief that high summer temperatures are to blame for lowered performance in car batteries or even a full battery drain with air conditioning units running at full throttle. That may not actually be the case, however, since lower... Read More +
Leer en EspañolSCR Systems Installed Aboard Ocean Going Vessels In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency began implementing emission regulations for the maritime industry by requiring selective catalytic reductions (SCR) systems and the use of marine urea and diesel exhaust fluid (maritime DEF). Initially, the EPA sought to impact emission levels by focusing... Read More +
Leer en EspañolWith Midterm Elections Over, Where Do We Go From Here? On November 6th, Californians voted against Proposition 6, a constitutional amendment that would have eliminated a fuel-related tax designated for road repair and transportation infrastructure. Prop 6 aimed to repeal the gas tax that went into effect November 2017, which... Read More +
Leer en EspañolHow to Protect Yourself at the Pump This Holiday Season According to Crime Prevention Security Systems, “Police reports indicate theft and property crime rates increase during the holiday season – particularly between Thanksgiving and the new year. Consumers generally walk around with more cash, credit cards, and gift cards in... Read More +
Leer en EspañolThe Craft Brew Industry is Changing Rapidly, One Can at a Time Gone are the days where you might have associated canned beer with tried and true classics like Coors, Budweiser and Miller Genuine Draft. In today’s brewing landscape, draught beer, according to the Brewer’s Association, represents roughly 41.4% of... Read More +
Leer en EspañolWhy Certain Foreign Cars Are Only Available Overseas If you like to travel internationally, then you have most likely encountered some interesting foreign cars in other countries. In Mexico there’s the Chevy Tornado (pictured above) and the Nissan Micra. In the UK there’s the Ford Escort Cosworth, the Holden HSV... Read More +
Leer en EspañolSCL Named One of Chevron’s Top Marketers for 2018 We are proud to announce that for the 4th year in a row, SCL has been named a Chevron Gold Award Winner. That places us in a category of elite US and Canadian source marketers for Chevron lubricant product purchases and... Read More +
Leer en EspañolHow Drought Impacts the Golden State’s Economy Besides the devastating effects of fire, which is also largely affected by drought, California’s economy is impacted by lack of water in a myriad of ways. According to a Brookings University article, “Water supply, including surface water found in streams, rivers, lakes, or reservoirs,... Read More +
Why Used DEF Containers Are One-Time Use Vessels “Whatever you do, do not leave used DEF containers lying around empty… throw them away, replace them or recycle them,” says subject matter expert, Robert Santich – North American Managing Director for Top!Blue USA. “Not disposing of or recycling your used DEF containers... Read More +
A Price Increase on Antifreeze and Coolant is on the Horizon With increases in the cost of raw materials such as ethylene glycol, rising freight costs and overall market fluctuations that affect the manufacture, processing and delivery of antifreeze and coolant, a 5% price increase for these products will go into... Read More +
Hassle-Free Oil Analysis Shipping and Rapid Results When mailing something at the post office, you have most likely heard the words, “Does this parcel contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous?” Depending on the situation, oil analysis shipping may fall into all four of those categories – most notably... Read More +
Understanding Waste Classification and Waste Management Parameters Not all industrial and commercial waste is categorized in the same way, and different types of waste must be tracked, stored and disposed of according to various federal and state-specific regulations. Living in California, businesses face additional regulations that must be adhered to... Read More +
Your Oil Analysis Process Just Got a Whole Lot Easier In 2016 SCL went through a comprehensive rebranding process where every aspect of our organization was evaluated and adjusted to better deliver the highest possible level of quality and performance for our customers. Nearly two years into that process we... Read More +
A Year After President Trump’s Decision The Paris Climate Agreement was created within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), drafted in the winter of 2015 and signed into existence on April 22, 2016 in Le Bourget, France. Designed to address the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions... Read More +
Understanding Grease and Oil Bleed Separation Oil and grease often separate and bleed over time, leaving easily recognizable oily sections within greased equipment, as well as the presence of small pools of standing oil in the middle of and around the edge and lid of a grease container. Understanding how... Read More +
Why Peeing in Your DEF Tank is a Terrible Idea Misinterpretations can be a source of entertainment, even when you’re talking about something as mundane as urine and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid). Somewhere along the line a rumor gets started, it spreads slowly, somehow sounds like a good idea, builds... Read More +
How Will Californians Vote on Prop 6 November 6 In November of 2017 the Road Repair and Accountability Act was passed, otherwise know as Senate Bill 1, or SB-1 – created as a means by which the state of California could offset transportation costs for repairs to highway infrastructure and the... Read More +
Leer en EspañolA Myriad of Factors Affect the End Cost of DEF In 2010, the EPA created a mandate that all medium and heavy duty vehicles were required to reduce emissions (most notably NOx) by incorporating diesel exhaust fluid, or DEF. DEF is a non-hazardous solution consisting of a 32.5% urea and... Read More +
Leer en EspañolThe Importance of Properly Disposing of Used Oil and Grease In 1842, Julius Robert Mayer, a German physician, chemist and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics, developed the Law of Conservation of Energy, which suggests that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed... Read More +
Leer en EspañolWanna Save Some Cash – Turn Off Your Engine Funny how people will search high and low for a screamin’ deal or a bargain, even braving the gauntlet of Black Friday at Walmart and then overlook one of the simplest money saving tactics available – turning off their engines instead... Read More +
Leer en EspañolDes-Case – Optimal Protection Against Moisture and Debris Contamination control is a reality when you are dealing with products that can make or break the health and productivity of costly equipment. At SCL, we take contamination seriously, which is why we have partnered with Des-Case – an industry leader in... Read More +
Leer en EspañolThe Shipping Industry Faces a Major Environmental Overhaul It has been estimated that nearly 90% of the goods and services transported around the planet are moved via ocean freight. China is currently the United State’s largest trade partner, with a total of $635.4 billion exchanged for both imports and exports... Read More +
Leer en EspañolThe Benefits and Problems of Wind Energy Technology Harnessing the wind is an ancient technological practice, first employed by maritime peoples who captured it’s force in their sails to propel them across vast stretches of ocean. According to the Wind Energy Foundation, “Wind technology propelled boats along the Nile River as... Read More +
Leer en EspañolHow OPEC Impacts the Cost of US Goods and Services American mathematician, meteorologist and the pioneer of chaos theory, Edward Lorenz coined the phrase the “butterfly effect” in 1969, which suggests that small perturbations, changes and causes in one location may have large effects and impacts in an entirely different... Read More +
Leer en EspañolWeather Affects Traffic Accidents and Driving Behavior With the benefits of rain comes a change in driving patterns and unfortunately, more traffic accidents. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), “Between the years of 2004-2013, there were 573,784 crashes, 228,196 people injured, and 2,732 people killed in car crashes... Read More +
Leer en EspañolWhen California Is On Fire the Economy Feels the Burn The origin of the name California can be traced back to a handful of theories, including a Spanish translation, caliente horno, meaning “hot furnace;” an indigenous word meaning “high hill;” and most commonly recognized, from the 16th century novel Las Sergas... Read More +
Leer en EspañolHow to Remain Compliant with Proposition 65 If you’re a Californian, you are no doubt familiar with the high regulatory nature of the state. In 2016, a new regulation was adopted to update warning requirements for consumer products sold to customers in California that are known to contain certain harmful... Read More +
Extremely Long DMV Lines in California Have Driver’s Frustrated Have you been to the DMV lately? If not, consider yourself lucky, and also consider yourself forewarned. Lines are longer than ever, reinforcing the Department of Motor Vehicle’s reputation as a black hole where operations move at a glacial pace. The... Read More +
President Trump’s Historic Weakening of Fuel Economy Standards This summer, the Trump administration began taking steps to roll out what is being referred to as a “historic” weakening of fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles and the trucking industry. Besides the national implications of such an effort, the President also... Read More +
Leer en EspañolAre You Properly Storing and Handling Your Grease? Grease doesn’t get as much attention as other types of lubricant products, but it can in fact be impacted by fluctuations in temperature and should be stored and handled in a way that maintains its chemical integrity. In this article we spoke... Read More +
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