Ongoing increases in raw materials, significant hikes in packaging, freight get the blame On the heels of a dual increase on DEF in January 2022, suppliers have responded to a volatile market and continued cost hikes across the board with another increase ranging from 15% to 25% on finished lubricants... Read More +
Shipping Delays, Disruptions in Manufacturing and Logistics Already Being Felt As China and now several other countries continue to experience devastating health effects of the coronavirus, impact is also being felt among American businesses, including automotive, manufacturing and oil. As industries across the board experience shipment delays and disruptions in... Read More +
What You Need to Know to Stay Prepared in the Face of Unpredictibility While questions surrounding weekend drone attacks on a Saudi Arabian oil facility and a nearby oil field continue to arise, there’s one fact that remains relatively unquestioned: the destruction of one of the world’s largest processors of... Read More +
Leer en EspañolEducating Customers About Oil Choices Can Build Trust and Loyalty According to a 2018 survey by a leading tire manufacturer, about 1 in 3 customers is not confident enough to select the right oil for their vehicle. A significantly lower percentage than that feel equipped to perform basic car maintenance,... Read More +
Leer en EspañolRising Costs of Raw Materials Spur Second Price Increase Last week we published a notification alerting our customers to a pending 6% increase in price based on the rising cost of raw materials. Over the past week, however, most major oil suppliers announced an unexpected additional price increase from 6%... Read More +
New Innovations in Secondary Containment Systems California is tough on waste management, and secondary containment systems are often an essential part of a compliant spill prevention protocol. Title 22, referring to waste generation, is an official code of regulations within the state of California that outlines specific parameters for properly... Read More +
Pulling an Oil Sample - Proper Techniques for Maximum Results - One of the best ways that you can monitor the health and efficiency of your fleet is to implement regularly scheduled oil analysis as part of your preventative maintenance schedule. Oil analysis gives you a benchmark of the internal conditions within your equipment that you can then monitor over time to make any necessary adjustments...
Leer en EspañolOil Sample Turnaround - Why a Rapid Return is Important - Like the blood pumping through our veins, lubricating oil is the lifeblood or plasma within our vehicles and equipment. Without, they would come to a grinding halt - literally. As you can imagine...
Leer en EspañolHassle-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 +
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 +
The 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 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 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 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 +
Leer en EspañolChina Recently Placed 25% Oil Tariffs on U.S. Oil Products In response the the $16 billion in tariffs that President Donald Trump placed on Chinese imports, the People’s Republic is responding with a 25% tariff to be placed on U.S. goods – most notably, oil tariffs. Despite talks between U.S.... Read More +
Oil Marketers Brace Themselves for Lubricant Price Increases Recently we received notification from some of our major and private label oil manufacturers that a 3rd round of lubricant price increases for finished lubricants are coming, beginning July and August of 2018. Notifications continue to trickle in, but as of... Read More +
Leer en EspañolAccording to energy.gov, shale energy development is one of the fastest growing trends in US domestic energy exploration and production, and the American Fuel and Chemical Manufacturers (AFPM) state that “The shale energy revolution has resulted in a dramatic change in energy production in the US. Today, an unprecedented supply and... Read More +
Finished Lubricants Price Increase With the continued rise of raw material costs that impact the manufacturing, processing and delivery of finished lubricants, a 2nd round of price increases are expected by all major manufacturers by as early as April 23, 2018. According to Jobbers World, price increases on finished lubricant... Read More +
Virgin, Recycled, Re-Refined Oil Not all oil is created equal, and contrary to popular belief, recycled or re-refined oils are not “dirty,” or lesser in quality than pure, virgin or newly produced oil. It is also often assumed that recycled, refurbished and re-refined oils are the same product, so below... Read More +
Multiple Factors Contribute to Fluctuations In general, economic markets rise and fall like the tides. Sometimes spiking quickly, sometimes slowly rolling over long periods of time. The crude oil market is no different. Throughout the past five decades, oil availability has ebbed and flowed. This is often the result of... Read More +
Knowing What to Look for When Reading an Oil Analysis What is Oil Analysis In a previous article, Oil Analysis – What is it and Why Should You Do It? We discussed the benefits of routinely running and reading oil analysis on your fleet as a way of monitoring and... Read More +
Federal Oil Spill Fee – Tax Reinstated – What You Can Expect In our efforts to best serve our valued customers, we strive to keep you up to date as much as possible with industry trends and changes. As of March 1st, 2018, the Federal Environmental Oil Spill fee, previously... Read More +
Unfortunately, oil and diesel spills happen, and when they do, they leave behind a wake of environmental and economic devastation. According to an article published on LiveScience.com, “1.3 million gallons of petroleum are spilled into US waters from vessels and pipelines in a typical year. Between 1971 and 2000, the... Read More +
A $0.01 Increase on Motor Oil in the State of California As of January 1, 2018, the California Motor Oil Fee increase from $0.04/gallon to $0.05/gallon, raising the state Motor Oil Fee to a total of $0.29/gallon from $0.28/gallon. The tax increase will affect motor oil dealers who produce, sell... Read More +
Petroleum products power our cars, heat our homes, light our buildings and move a myriad of consumer goods around the country. The methods by which petroleum products – specifically oil – travels is a fascinating, interconnected web of pipelines, rail lines, shipping lines and trucking routes. Crude oil transportation is... Read More +
Simple Methods for Preventing Product Contamination As wholesale lubricant distributors we work alongside industries that can be pretty rough on their equipment, and nothing accelerates wear and tear on heavy machinery more than product contamination from particles grinding and gumming up your engine components. Macro-sized rocks, dirt and dust are... Read More +
The Importance of Properly Labeling Your Tanks Architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “there is nothing more uncommon than common sense,” and as humans, despite whatever common sense we may have, slipups and mistakes are inevitable. In many aspects of life the margin for error is more forgiving, but in the... Read More +
If managing a fleet of trucks is part of your business, then fuel is more than likely your primary operating expense. When oil and gas prices are on the decline, businesses tend to be less concerned with policing their expenditures, but what happens when the cost of oil and... Read More +
