Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019 - F20

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

OIL CHANGE

Could switch to reusable filter help dealerships win fleet maintenance work?
rtruett@crain.com

ixed ops directors at franchised
dealerships may be overlooking a
big potential market in their quest to
boost service department revenue: fleet
maintenance. And they could have an important weapon to wield as they take on competitors in the space: a reusable oil filter.
"The fleet business in new-car dealerships
doesn't exist, but I think it is a great opportunity," says Lee Harkins, owner of M5 Management Services, a consulting firm that specializes in fixed operations.
Harkins concedes that dealerships aiming
to get into fleet management must be prepared to build larger engine bays to handle
big trucks, and to schedule service technicians to work outside regular business hours
when fleet vehicles are in use. But he adds: "I
don't know anybody who is aggressive on
fleet like they should be or could be."
How can dealerships persuade fleet supervisors for government agencies, utilities and
small businesses to fire their service providers
and hire them? A possible sales pitch: We can
help you make big cuts in your oil service
costs. These savings could come from a new,
efficient oil filter that is cleaned and reused
instead of removed and replaced, extending
intervals between oil changes.
Little about oil service has changed in 75
years. After a vehicle travels a certain number
of miles, its motor oil is drained and replaced
and a new filter is installed. The dealership's
service department is left with the mess: The
old filter, classified by the EPA as hazardous,
must be disposed of in an approved manner.
Same for the used oil.
Hubb Filters Inc., of Corte Madera, Calif.,
says it has developed a new approach to oil
service based on chemistry and technology.
The goals: reduce fleet maintenance costs
and remove the oil filter's environmental
drawbacks.
"Look at it the same way as a spark plug,
which is a critical item that enables the vehicle to run efficiently," Christopher Hubbard,
founder of Hubb Filters, told Fixed Ops Journal. "Fifteen years ago, the spark plug was
changed every 12,000 to 25,000 miles. Now it
goes to 100,000 miles.
"The oil filter is in the same category," Hubbard says. "It's not like it is going to go away.
The question is, what advances are going to

PAGE 20

OCTOBER 2019

RICHARD TRUETT

"What advances are going to
make [the oil filter] efficient and
take it from being carcinogenic to
noncarcinogenic? We can do that
in a very cost-effective way."
CHRISTOPHER HUBBARD,
founder, Hubb Filters

RICHARD TRUETT

Traditional oil filters use a paper element, right, to trap particles, while the Hubb filter uses steel mesh.

Price list

Costs related to the Hubb reusable oil
filter
 $45 per 3-inch filter for each
gasoline-engine vehicle
 $110 per 8-inch filter for dieselengine vehicles
 $275 for a small filter cleaning
machine; $650 for a large machine
 About $1 to clean each oil filter,
diesel or gasoline, including the cost of
solvent
 Dealerships can also lease diesel
and gasoline filters and pay for their
cleaning; Hubb charges $12 to clean
gasoline oil filters and $25 to clean
diesel filters
Source: Hubb Filters

make it efficient and take it from being carcinogenic to noncarcinogenic? We can do that
in a very cost-effective way."
Providing oil changes for fleet vehicles isn't
likely to be a profit center for service departments. And Hubb filters are initially more ex-

pensive than conventional ones.
But all the other maintenance that comes
with fleet service - wheel alignments, tire
sales, battery replacements and other major
repairs - not only can be lucrative, but also
might cut downtime in the shop when customer-pay business slows.

Test takers
When a fleet switches to the Hubb filter,
the vendor takes engine oil samples from
each vehicle. These vials go to an independent lab that measures the amounts of metals and other contaminants in the oil, as well
as the oil's condition. After this baseline test
and the installation of Hubb filters, the oil in
the fleet is tested annually to ensure that oil
change intervals are correct for the vehicles'
duty cycle.
Impurities in the oil - aluminum, copper,
lead, nickel, silver, water, antifreeze, fuel - reveal the condition of a vehicle's engine. Elevated levels of aluminum can indicate excessive piston or bearing wear. Antifreeze in the
oil might reveal a cooling system leak that, if it
see FILTERS, next page

Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019

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