Q8Oils UK technical sales manager Mike Phillips explains the recent developments in specialised lubricants for commercial vehicles and the important role they play in reducing engine emissions and improving fuel economy.

Think of a lubricant like a structure made of concrete and building blocks, where the foundations are so important for maximum strength and durability. With automotive lubricants this is where we start and the major consideration is the base oil as the carrier for additives, which collectively provide the levels of performance necessary for today’s modern vehicles.

For automotive lubricants we start with the base oil or base stock and there are three common descriptions found in the terminology used when products are formulated and later described in technical data or marketing brochures.

The first is Mineral Oil Base Stocks, which are refined from crude oil and feature a wide distribution of chemical structures. Secondly there are Synthetic Base Stocks, which are built from chemical reactions and control over composition and distribution. The third is Semi-Synthetic or Part-Synthetic, which is a combination of mineral and synthetic base stocks in various proportions, blended to achieve the desired level of performance required in the finished lubricant, without incurring any unnecessary cost increase.

Mineral base stocks are still widely used for automotive and industrial lubricants, but performance in certain areas such as low- and high-temperature stability, means they have limited use. This is where synthetic base stocks have become an essential part of today’s modern automotive lubricants. Synthetics possess excellent low- and high-temperature stability and resistance to oxidation, which helps to determine the life of the finished lubricant.

Engine and emission requirements

For many years the automotive industry has been developing new engines to comply with exhaust emission legislations, which become more stringent as the years go by. Road haulage vehicles play a major role in this process and the European industry is now at the Euro VI exhaust emission level. These modern engines are highly-technical and use sophisticated exhaust after-treatment systems to clean exhaust gases.

Automotive engine lubricants play an extremely important role in ensuring the most efficient operation of heavy duty engines both in component durability and extended oil drain intervals, which now exceed 100,000km for long haul vehicles. Synthetic engine lubricants are now in high demand, achieving the levels of performance commonly specified by the OEM’s. Significantly, low SAPS additive technology (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus and Sulphur) must now be used to ensure compatibility with expensive exhaust after-treatment systems and prevent the poisoning of catalysts. The wrong engine lubricant choice can be a very expensive mistake for the haulier, so the message is: check vehicle maintenance recommendations extremely carefully to ensure you are specifying the correct engine lubricant.

The common engine lubricant specifications recommended by OEMs will include references to ACEA (Europe) and API (USA). Do not ignore these OEM specifications as they are sometimes a requirement in addition to the industry standards for performance quality. Engine lubricant viscosity recommendations to the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) standards are now a key requirement, and will be specified according to climatic conditions wherever the vehicle will be used.

Biofuels are becoming more common and, while modern engine lubricants accommodate these fuels, there should be some consideration given to recommendations for users. The general opinion within the European automotive industry recommends halving the oil drain interval if you are not using EN590 fuel.

Fuel economy

Fuel economy is a major influence in the development of vehicles which, for several years, has included engine and transmission systems. A fuel efficient vehicle will not only use less fuel and reduce costs for the operator, but will also help to reduce exhaust emissions and meet legislation limits. Synthetic low-viscosity lubricants play an important role in reducing the internal friction in engine and transmission systems, and therefore have a positive effect on the overall vehicle fuel economy. It is now common for heavy duty vehicles to be using 10W-XX and 5W-XX engine lubricants and 75W-XX transmission lubricants.

Other lubricants and greases

For the hydraulic systems of certain heavy-duty vehicles, improved operating efficiency is now possible by using high VI (viscosity index) synthetic hydraulic fluids, which improve the hydraulic system’s efficiency and in turn, as hydraulic pumps are engine driven, the vehicle’s fuel economy.

Lubricating grease has also developed through the use of synthetic base oil technology, but what is grease?

The definition of grease is a “thickened fluid”, so it is the base oil carrier and additives that perform the lubrication function. The type of thickener specified for the application is there to keep the grease in position.

Modern grease formulations using synthetic base oil technology now deliver greater performance due to improved low- and high-temperature stability and resistance to oxidation. This means a longer operating life is possible depending on the application.

Further information is available from the Q8Oils Technical Help Line, which can assist with product recommendations, OEM approvals, product information, health and safety data, problem solving advice, troubleshooting and highly-specialised after sales packages. These include used oil test analysis, which can give instant diagnostic advice and support if required. Where necessary, laboratory analysis can also be provided to support problem solving, and is backed up with technical reports detailing corrective action.

For further information call the Q8Oils Technical Help Lines on +44 (0)113 236 5223 or email TechDesk@Q8Oils.com. 

A telesales service available to Q8Oils automotive customers has provided Brindley Groups 12 Franchised Automotive Dealerships with 3151 confirmed service bookings and 166 MOT bookings in its first year, and resulted in 13,235 litres of additional Q8Oils being sold.       

Equally impressive is the increase in profit of more than £370,000!

Founded more than 80 years ago in Wolverhampton, the Brindley Group is the largest family-owned car dealership group in the West Midlands with 12 franchised sites representing Honda cars and motorbikes, Vauxhall, Kia, Nissan, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Volvo and Hyundai.

All Brindley dealerships generate service and MOT bookings through an actively managed customer database using a combination of letters, emails and phone calls, all of which is relatively costly. So when Andy Harris of Q8Oils mentioned the Q8 Telesales service during one of his regular meetings with Brindley Group aftersales manager Darren Nicklin, Darren realised that it could help close a gap between where Brindley’s current customer service sales results were, and where he wanted them to be.

Says Darren: “The service focuses on calling current customers ahead of a scheduled service or MOT, taking time to discuss their ownership experience, and following the conversation by offering our service and MOT facilities and making a booking. And importantly for us, it does not include contacting lapsed customers.”

Darren was impressed enough to agree to a 60-day trial at one of Brindley’s sites and was extremely happy with the results achieved, so much so that he decided to stop the postal campaign, with its high cost and relatively low returns, and rolled out the Q8Oils campaign throughout the group’s 12 dealerships. Reporting on the roll-out Darren says the Group results were also excellent, adding that bookings were much higher, but even more impressive was the quality of the customer feedback, which was very encouraging.

Commenting on specific aspects of the response information, Darren says it highlighted how easy it can be to misunderstand the reasons why customers’ who had bought cars from Brindley didn’t continue as aftersales customers. “With 12 dealerships we were amazed how many new and used car customers had sold their vehicles after the first year and no longer needed our service facilities. We were also surprised how far new car buyers were prepared to travel to get the best deal, and were then choosing to service the cars closer to home rather than make the longer journey to reach us. And we found that many people who had bought used cars were servicing them at independent garages to save costs.” 

Data and customer feedback from the programme was entered onto Brindley’s database, and as the telesales service continued the quality of data improved. In addition, Darren believes that, due to skills and training of the people who make the calls, they were actually having conversations with customers and were able to remind them of additional benefits such as Brindley’s collection and delivery service or suggest a more convenient Brindley Group dealership where appropriate.

Also important from a cost viewpoint, they were able to qualify customers who hadn’t responded to the group’s passive emails, texts and letters and who, for whatever reason, no longer qualified to be on the database, which meant that it was continually being cleaned.

Commenting on other benefits to the business, Darren says the Q8 Telesales programme proved that using annual new and used car sales figures to forecast future service and MOT business was flawed as it was based on unreliable information, so while the increase in bookings provided by the telesales calls is impressive, we believe the quality of customer feedback and the information available in ownership profiles has a far greater long-term benefit for the business.

“We now know that the people we are in touch with are genuine customers who have the potential to benefit from the offers we make. It also means that we no longer need to offer service or MOT discounts to customers that we know won’t use us, and it also questions the need to offer similar discounts to committed customers who are already happy with the service we provide.” He adds that in his role as Brindley’s aftersales manager he is now able to monitor the performance of the whole group based on unbiased results from an independent source, which he says gives him a much better understanding of the business.

Following the initial trial, the Q8 Telesales programme is still providing data more than 12 months later, having contacted approximately 50,000 Brindley’s customers and provided quality information and customer response data at no cost. So, if during a service call the customer mentions that a suspension problem needs attention the information is included without charge. Costs are only incurred when the programme provides actual service or MOT bookings, so Darren only pays for results that translate directly into profitable business for Brindley Group, with a typical MOT and service booking costing approximately £12.

The Brindley Group uses its own customer service team to offer activities such as vehicle health checks and brake system safety tests, and Darren says the close working relationship with Q8Oils ensures that customers are not ‘pestered’ by calls from both services and adds that the increases in service and MOT bookings has also generated additional sales of non-oil products through the dealerships.

Summing up, Darren says: “We have been a Q8Oils customer for 10 years and buy all our workshop lubricants from them. And while I accept that they will sell more oil as a result of this excellent customer relationship programme, I still think it is impressive that the service is free to car dealership customers. By helping us to create better relationships with our customers, Q8Oils has also reinforced an already strong relationship with the Brindley Group.”

Commenting for Q8Oils, AndyHarris says the first year result is impressive and proves that the Q8Oils’ customer relationship programme is extremely successful because customer data is current and accurate, and includes qualitative as well as quantitative information.

For further information on the Q8 Telesales Service, visit www.Q8Oils.co.uk, email Marketing@Q8Oils.com or call +44 (0)113 235 0555.

Q8Oils has extended its range of soluble cutting and grinding fluids with the introduction of Q8 Beethoven MPS, a multi-purpose, water mix metalworking fluid that delivers tangible cost savings by incorporating an extreme pressure additive that delivers extended tool life while providing excellent surface finish and outstanding corrosion protection. Further cost savings are achieved due to the fluid’s ease of maintenance, which extends fluid life and makes it especially suitable for centralised systems.

Commenting for Q8Oils, Mick Doxford says: “Q8 Beethoven MPS is formulated to provide an optimum balance between performance and economy, making it ideal for general machining on a wide range of materials and applications.”

The high detergency and excellent wetting properties of Q8 Beethoven MPS also ensure superior cleanliness by forming a highly-stable emulsion in both soft and hard waters to extend sump life and make sure that machines remain clean with no sticky deposits. The same bio-stable properties mean the emulsion does not degrade or produce bad odours.

Q8 Beethoven MPS is available in 20L and 208L drums or 1000L IBC Drop Off containers.

For further information on Q8 Beethoven MPS and Q8Oils’ range of industrial lubricants, visit www.Q8Oils.co.uk, email Marketing@Q8Oils.com or call +44 (0)113 235 0555.