Fleet motor oil

Ran a mixed municipal fleet of 1,200 units. Always pumped (bulk) Valvoline All Fleet 15w40. Used this oil in diesel ambulances, Crown Vic Police cars, standard admin compact cars, and off road equipment. Ambulance and Police car service intervals were based on rough service/severe duty schedules. Remaining fleet was based on 6,500 miles intervals. Off road equipment service was based on manufacturer intervals (Hours). Used NAPA-Wix oil and air filters. Never any oil related problems.
 
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This van has a GM engine, which is a standard oil school the way God intended push rod V8, and I’d not even hesitate one bit to run Rotella 15w-40 dino juice in it.
The UPS trucks that deliver to my house these days have switched from Cummins B diesels to GM LS gas V8s. I'd go ask what they're running for lube. Those folks calculate down to the .01 cent per mile.
 
The UPS trucks that deliver to my house these days have switched from Cummins B diesels to GM LS gas V8s. I'd go ask what they're running for lube. Those folks calculate down to the .01 cent per mile.
Ill double check, but i think UPS uses Mobil Delvac 1300 10w30 super in everything- 4-5k intervals from what i was able to tell on the 6.0L ls. We have 6 liters with over 200k miles and they get driven harder then you can imagine. Shut off 200+ times a day. Constant stop and go. Constantly being reved out their set 4700 “redline”
 
Hello everyone, I am now the daily operations and fleet manager for a small delivery company.
We have all Ford’s, all but one is brand new. V8’s and V10’s for the larger vans. Over head cam, multi valve Ford Triton engines.
All of the van’s are parked inside a heated building when not in use.
They are all on the road 7 days a week, they are rode hard and put away hot.
Fully loaded every day, winter temps below zero, summer temps in the 90’s.
They only get shut off when parked for the night. Dirt roads. Tons of idle time, lots of foot to the floor wide open throttle.
I would like to do extended PM’s so a full synthetic is going to be best.
But I also need to keep costs down, and I need to maximize engine life. These van’s will be averaging 50,000 miles a year.
I will also need a grease to match the extended oil changes. There are 15 grease fittings on each van.
I am a fan of Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 but I do not know how well that will do in the Ford’s where 5w-20 is the factory recommended oil.

The used van has 200,000 miles on it, 2017 Ford 6.2L V8 and their mechanic used 10w-30 and changed it every 5-6,000 miles. They bought cheap dino juice, they have a history of blowing up the Ford engines, every 100,000 miles or so the V10’s have been dropping valves. I have no idea if that is a Ford issue or a lubrication issue.
I want to avoid this issue with my fleet.

So, my first choice is Rotella T6, second is Rotella Gas Truck 5w-30, Castrol, then Kirkland Signature 5w-30.
Castrol Syntec comes in many viscosities and variations, Magatec is stil full synthetic but less expensive than Syntec, which is less expensive than their Edge motor oil.

In my personal vehicles I use Castrol Syntec, 5w-30 for my Toyota, and 5w-20 for my wife's Kia.

So, what is everyone’s thought/recommendation on this?

I am not a fan of Mobil 1, I am of the personal opinion that it is over priced and surviving on his history of being a good oil.

Also, fuel economy is not a concern. Cost’s and longevity are.

And yes I will be doing a SOS once the engines get a few miles on them.

This Triton engine was run on 15w40 diesel oil (I emailed Schaeffer to ask). No or very low wear at 1,000,000 miles.

Since your trucks are parked inside at night, temperature @ startup won't matter.



Granted, Schaeffer is somewhat more expensive to buy than Rotella, but the cost to use should be lower, assuming your fleet has an oil sampling program and can run longer intervals.
 
Also a shell fan here (from holland coincidentally:D)

I am not really familiar with their rotella line so can not really comment on that.

I do have excellent results with their gtl based shell helix products.

I know that in Holland that when you sign up with a shell vendor you also get acces to oil analys but i dont know about the extra cost etc..

For someone from europe its unbalievable that you have v8 and v10 vans(y):ROFLMAO:

In europe its all inline 4 turbo 1.6 or 2l diesel or CNG 2l converted gasoline engine.
 
The UPS trucks that deliver to my house these days have switched from Cummins B diesels to GM LS gas V8s. I'd go ask what they're running for lube. Those folks calculate down to the .01 cent per mile.


They switched from diesel to gasoline because of the DEF and particulate filters. With all of that short trip no expressway miles the filters clog really quickly.
 
Also a shell fan here (from holland coincidentally:D)

I am not really familiar with their rotella line so can not really comment on that.

I do have excellent results with their gtl based shell helix products.

I know that in Holland that when you sign up with a shell vendor you also get acces to oil analys but i dont know about the extra cost etc..

For someone from europe its unbalievable that you have v8 and v10 vans(y):ROFLMAO:

In europe its all inline 4 turbo 1.6 or 2l diesel or CNG 2l converted gasoline engine.

America baby!!! Lol

Everything in America is bigger than Europe. These van’s weigh 15,000lbs empty. Fully loaded they can come in over 20,000lbs. Those little engines just won’t cut it.

Rotella is Shell’s heavy duty line of motor oils. They have another line of oil’s for normal “people”.
 
This Triton engine was run on 15w40 diesel oil (I emailed Schaeffer to ask). No or very low wear at 1,000,000 miles.

Since your trucks are parked inside at night, temperature @ startup won't matter.



Granted, Schaeffer is somewhat more expensive to buy than Rotella, but the cost to use should be lower, assuming your fleet has an oil sampling program and can run longer intervals.


That was a great video. Thank you.
 
Hello everyone, I am now the daily operations and fleet manager for a small delivery company.
We have all Ford’s, all but one is brand new. V8’s and V10’s for the larger vans. Over head cam, multi valve Ford Triton engines.
All of the van’s are parked inside a heated building when not in use.
They are all on the road 7 days a week, they are rode hard and put away hot.
Fully loaded every day, winter temps below zero, summer temps in the 90’s.
They only get shut off when parked for the night. Dirt roads. Tons of idle time, lots of foot to the floor wide open throttle.
I would like to do extended PM’s so a full synthetic is going to be best.
But I also need to keep costs down, and I need to maximize engine life. These van’s will be averaging 50,000 miles a year.
I will also need a grease to match the extended oil changes. There are 15 grease fittings on each van.
I am a fan of Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 but I do not know how well that will do in the Ford’s where 5w-20 is the factory recommended oil.

The used van has 200,000 miles on it, 2017 Ford 6.2L V8 and their mechanic used 10w-30 and changed it every 5-6,000 miles. They bought cheap dino juice, they have a history of blowing up the Ford engines, every 100,000 miles or so the V10’s have been dropping valves. I have no idea if that is a Ford issue or a lubrication issue.
I want to avoid this issue with my fleet.

So, my first choice is Rotella T6, second is Rotella Gas Truck 5w-30, Castrol, then Kirkland Signature 5w-30.
Castrol Syntec comes in many viscosities and variations, Magatec is stil full synthetic but less expensive than Syntec, which is less expensive than their Edge motor oil.

In my personal vehicles I use Castrol Syntec, 5w-30 for my Toyota, and 5w-20 for my wife's Kia.

So, what is everyone’s thought/recommendation on this?

I am not a fan of Mobil 1, I am of the personal opinion that it is over priced and surviving on his history of being a good oil.

Also, fuel economy is not a concern. Cost’s and longevity are.

And yes I will be doing a SOS once the engines get a few miles on them.
Lucas red n tacky or marine grade grease.. call your local distributors to price out 55 gal drums.. a semi synthetic 5w30 would do the fleet fine. Look into gulf or wolfshead.
 
My company fleet gets serviced at the local quick lube that uses exclusively valvoline. My 6.2L f350 gets conventional 5w20 every 90 days or 8500 miles, whichever comes first. It’s running strong at 140k, which I understand is still fairly young in terms of miles. I haven’t had any issues and I pull a 6,000lb trailer all over north alabama and southern Tennessee.
 
A couple thoughts here-a GOOD 5W20 is going to save you some fuel over a 15W40 or other thicker than rated oil, and to get to 10K on an OCI you'll be checking oil levels on a Ford to make sure you don't run too low. I don't like Motorcraft synblend 5W20 much, I've had oil consumption issues on the Transits with it. If you REALLY want synthetic, Castrol Magnatec 5W20 (or 5W30) is hard to beat in a modular Ford, but I personally would not go beyond 7500. However, I'm running Fram Ultra filters for THREE 7500 mile oil changes on an 18 year old 4.6 2V without issue, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it on a newer mod motor either. For grease, Mystik JT-6 is hard to beat, and the price is right, too. $2.79/cartridge or less (Rural King price). Doing a quick dump & dash without changing a filter, while hitting all your grease fittings with a battery or air operated grease gun while the oil is draining, isn't going to take more than half an hour per van!
 
Also, my indy swears by Kendall oil, but I know they're Conoco/Phillips just like MC, so I've been sticking to Maxlife 5W20 blend lately. Wpnder what 55 gallon drums of that goes for in MI?
 
A couple thoughts here-a GOOD 5W20 is going to save you some fuel over a 15W40 or other thicker than rated oil, and to get to 10K on an OCI you'll be checking oil levels on a Ford to make sure you don't run too low. I don't like Motorcraft synblend 5W20 much, I've had oil consumption issues on the Transits with it. If you REALLY want synthetic, Castrol Magnatec 5W20 (or 5W30) is hard to beat in a modular Ford, but I personally would not go beyond 7500. However, I'm running Fram Ultra filters for THREE 7500 mile oil changes on an 18 year old 4.6 2V without issue, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it on a newer mod motor either. For grease, Mystik JT-6 is hard to beat, and the price is right, too. $2.79/cartridge or less (Rural King price). Doing a quick dump & dash without changing a filter, while hitting all your grease fittings with a battery or air operated grease gun while the oil is draining, isn't going to take more than half an hour per van!

At 6.5mpg we are not worried about fuel economy. That is the fleet average all day long. Ford V10 or Chevy V8, 6.5mpg...

Oil gets checked once a week, every Monday morning before the first start of the day.
 
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Okay, so I have new information.
All of the new trucks have the new Ford Godzilla V8, push rod cast iron block no more Ford modular engine.
It comes from the factory with full synthetic 5w-30, full syn 5w-30 and 10k oil changes are what Ford recommends for this engine.
I am seriously considering Kirkland diesel oil, $25 for 3 gallons. Each of these engines takes 8 quarts. Still sticking to the 10k oil change with the heavy duty diesel oil.
I am also looking to buy oil filters in bulk, I can get 12 WIX filters on Amazon for $80. That’s roughly $7 per filter, I am still shopping around for oil filters though. I wold like to be in the $5 range.

Once a few of these vans hit 50k I will have a SOS done and make changes as needed.

Sound good to you guys?
 
The 7.3 Godzilla is a different animal, I didn't know they could be squeezed into a van (guessing cutaway E-350/450 DRWs?). 6.5 MPG is pretty lousy for even a loaded van, you guys must haul really heavy or tow, you're in old school 460 box truck MPG territory!
 
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