Do Truck Greases Need an Overhaul?
by Nancy DeMarco (SAN DIEGO, Calif.–) Truckers are challenging the grease industry to extend lubrication intervals and to better protect their fleets. Truckers see short grease intervals as a major limiting factor in their push for more cost-effective preventive maintenance schedules. And in North America, 70 to 80 percent of automotive greases now go into heavy-duty fleets, but today’s grease specs were developed primarily for passenger cars and light trucks. At this week’s National Lubricating Grease Instutite annual meeting, Charles Sheely of Southeastern Freight Lines described his company’s needs as a grease consumer, and appealed for longer grease intervals. In a follow-up presentation coauthored with Sheely, Robert Richardson of Lubrizol Corp. summarized some of the gaps in today’s grease specs, and what the industry is doing to fill them. Sheely is manager of maintenance and purchasing at Southeastern Freight Lines, Columbia, S.C., where he oversees a $52 million annual mainte
