What oil does UPS use???

[davefr]

I'm curious if UPS has an oil strategy for their fleet of over 100k delivery trucks.

Do they use whatever dino the local garage wants to buy or do they have a fleet standard? Do they do UOA's? Do they use synthetic and push for extended drains?

I think it would be interesting to know what they use and how often it get's changed.

 

[94 saturn sl1 2000 saturn sc2]

I thought UPS Rebuilds those engines quite frequently.

 

[Alan]

From what I have heard and read they use Delo 400 or some other type of "fleet" oil.It's good stuff.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by 94 saturn sl1 2000 saturn sc2:
I thought UPS Rebuilds those engines quite frequently.

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Hmmmm....probably not. Most commercial vehicles (if not all) are built for very very long life. They are definitely tougher than most regular Cars/Pick ups. It wouldn't be cost effective to rebuilt the engine every 75-100k miles.
Rick

 

[Jimbo]

It is interesting that another big fleet, U-haul, puts a big sticker on each engine telling renters to use only 15W-40. This is even on light-duty gasoline-powered rental trucks. Since the customer is buying the fuel, they don't care about mpg, they want durability.

 

[pscholte]

Here's what UPS has on their website...not very informative..."PR," not "How To"

------------------

UPS Fleet Maintenance Minimizes Environmental Impact

UPS’s dedication to the environment extends to the maintenance of its vehicle fleet. Well-maintained vehicles help conserve fuel and reduce air and noise pollution.

UPS maintains a land transportation fleet of more than 87,000 motor-driven vehicles and almost 60,000 trailers. UPS works hard to ensure each one meets and exceeds the high company standards through a variety of ways:


Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs)

UPS keeps its motor-driven vehicles in top-running condition through computer-scheduled preventative maintenance inspections (PMIs). UPS conducts a computerized PMI, based on miles driven and/or days of service of its package delivery vehicles and tractors, to ensure peak performance, resulting in lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions. UPS trains its drivers to maintain steady, safe-driving speeds to enhance fuel efficiency.
Vehicle Parts Maintenance

UPS has applied a new technology that nearly doubles the life of solvents used to clean vehicle parts, thereby reducing the amount of hazardous waste generated from UPS's vehicle maintenance programs. The quantity of solvent used decreased from 1.75 million pounds in 1992 to 392,000 pounds in 1995, reducing hazardous waste disposal by 78 percent.
Electronic Fuel Injection

Since 1989, UPS has been purchasing electronically controlled fuel-injected engines that improve fuel economy and reduce diesel vehicle emissions. These engines reduce diesel fuel use by an estimated 4.1 million gallons a year.
###



For more information, contact:


UPS Corporate Public Relations
404-828-7123

 

[QuadDriver]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pscholte:
Here's what UPS has on their website...not very informative..."PR," not "How To"

------------------

UPS Fleet Maintenance Minimizes Environmental Impact

UPS’s dedication to the environment extends to the maintenance of its vehicle fleet. Well-maintained vehicles help conserve fuel and reduce air and noise pollution.

UPS maintains a land transportation fleet of more than 87,000 motor-driven vehicles and almost 60,000 trailers. UPS works hard to ensure each one meets and exceeds the high company standards through a variety of ways:


Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs)

UPS keeps its motor-driven vehicles in top-running condition through computer-scheduled preventative maintenance inspections (PMIs). UPS conducts a computerized PMI, based on miles driven and/or days of service of its package delivery vehicles and tractors, to ensure peak performance, resulting in lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions. UPS trains its drivers to maintain steady, safe-driving speeds to enhance fuel efficiency.
Vehicle Parts Maintenance

UPS has applied a new technology that nearly doubles the life of solvents used to clean vehicle parts, thereby reducing the amount of hazardous waste generated from UPS's vehicle maintenance programs. The quantity of solvent used decreased from 1.75 million pounds in 1992 to 392,000 pounds in 1995, reducing hazardous waste disposal by 78 percent.
Electronic Fuel Injection

Since 1989, UPS has been purchasing electronically controlled fuel-injected engines that improve fuel economy and reduce diesel vehicle emissions. These engines reduce diesel fuel use by an estimated 4.1 million gallons a year.
###



For more information, contact:


UPS Corporate Public Relations
404-828-7123

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know a guy who lives in farmville va who does UPS maint work - the 'little trucks'...not hte 18 wheelers but the one u see making door to doors are now ford or GM chassis using diesels, with an aluminum body, opaque roof and fiberglass nose....

 

[Last_Z]

Well, the Air Force does preventative maintenance too, which is actually called "Operator care/maintenance". We use forms that are basically a check list that is to be done daily if the vehicle is used daily. You do this check list once a week if the vehicle isn't used for more than a week. Some of the items are: Fluids (of course), battery condition, tires, damage, lights and safety equip. among others.
Bringing this topic back to oils, the Air Force uses dino (duh!!) and they push it for like 5-7500 miles....sometimes even more. But then again....life expectancy for a sedan is something like 100K....maybe a bit more.
Rick

[ July 17, 2003, 07:01 PM: Message edited by: Last_Z ]

 

[Johnny]

UPS uses 4 different brands depending on what part of the country you are in. All are 15W40. Pennzoil Long Life, Mobil 1300, Delo 400, and Shell Rotella T. At one time Pennzoil had the contract nation wide, but that was about 10 years ago.

Pennzoil also has a contract with Uhaul and FedEx but I'm not sure all locations are using the product.

 

[Kirk]

In Nashville we use Pennzoil. The package car
service interval is 3000 mi. The pmi interval on
my Mack is 25,000 mi The Mack service manual
has three intervals. 50,000, 30,000, or 700 hrs.
We don't do uoa's.

 

[Pablo]

AWESOME inside scoop

 

[davefr]

That's great info!!

Johnny, does UPS pick the brand for that region of the country based on any oil performance factors or is it based on local purchasing factors?

Kirk, if any one company had an incentive to make a highly analytical decision on oil change interval it would be UPS. It's interesting that they feel 3000 miles is the "sweet spot". (identical to most auto manufacturers severe service intervals). Do you have any insight into UPS's engine overhaul schedule? Do they wait for an engine to "go poof" or do they rebuild at set intervals?

I assume UPS doesn't use Fram filters!!

 

[Patman]

quote:

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I assume UPS doesn't use Fram filters!!

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I'd be more shocked if I found out that UPS used Purolator filters!

[ July 18, 2003, 10:38 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[labman]

Back in the early 90's I worked in a brake shop. The local UPS drivers didn't seem to understand how we spelled it. What I learned fits most of the above. However they swore no rebuilt engine would stand up to their hard use. I remember one driver in particular, lifetime employee, bleed brown if you cut him. His package car was going into the shop to be converted to V-6 because GM no longer produced new inline 6's and UPS did not use rebuilt engines. I find it hard to believe rebuilt done right wouldn't hold up. Perhaps it was a matter of the difficulty of finding a consistent source of rebuilts done right.

The package cars are run forever with new engines until they must be scrapped. I saw the ages when they were buying obsolete brake hoses. The shop was the last resort for old, hard to find stuff. An army surplus 50's Studebaker, the owner would spend an hour digging for the parts. A modern Honda would bring a lecture on his WWII service in the Pacific. Note, it is closed now.

UPS may be a good place to learn from for hard driven trucks. However their driving is vastly different from mine. Likely the thinner oils, Pennzoil 5W-30, are better for my cold starts and short trips. That is the trouble, so much of the fleet service we could be learning from is so different from my driving.

 

[Kirk]

Guess what, they use Fram filters

Package is brutal on the equipment. An average route has 80 to 140 stops. Every time the driver steeps off the truck it's shout off. All stop and go, rush hour, light to light.
Engine overhaul is when they go boom. Our cars have 4.3v6, powerstrokes, Cummins, Detroit, even a couple Onans. Very few inline 6s left.
In the big trucks we have Macks(duh) Cummins, Cat,
Detroit. My Mack has 707,xxx on the clock. It runs
959mi a day between CC Rider and myself. 155 gallions of fuel a day and washed twice a day.

 

[harper]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kirk:
Guess what, they use Fram filters

Package is brutal ......

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Not to bring up a dead horse and long thread again but UPS would actually have good info if engines failed due the use of FRAM.

 

[labman]

Frams? More data suggesting oil filters aren't very important, or at least not with frequent oil changes. Longer intervals may require better filters.

[ July 19, 2003, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: labman ]