Toward the end of 2021, the American Petroleum Institute updated its 1525A Bulk Engine Oil Chain of Custody and Quality Documentation procedures.
The procedures provide a list of best practices and guidelines for the entire motor oil industry, from the manufacturer to the quick lube shop putting the oil in a customer’s vehicle. The guidelines reflect many of the labeling and custody chain guidelines that the Automotive Oil Change Association covers in its weights and measures education sessions.
Though the revisions were published as a separate second edition, the changes themselves weren’t too drastic. A news release from API explained that the updates were made during a routine modernization process in an effort to “harmonize” the document with the current edition of NIST Handbook 130.
“Ultimately, what this boils down to is, in some places customers end up with a receipt that just says ‘motor oil, four quarts,’ and that really does an injustice to the consumer who has come in there expecting oil of a certain quality, a certain grade,” API Senior Manager Jeff Harmening said. “For them to walk out with a receipt that doesn't really tell them what was installed in their engines is against the law in some states, and it's not in accordance with best practices.”
The 1525A Version 2 is available in its entirety for free on API’s website. Harmening says API 1525A forms the foundation for the API Motor Oil Matters, which is a program that licenses oil change locations and provides benefits for installers and their customers.
“Oil marketers, distributors and installers of engine oil who use API 1525A and have committed to supplying API-licensed engine oils will ensure that consumers always receive high-quality oil,” Harmening said. “Oils meeting API specifications will provide the required protection for today’s modern engines and enable them to operate optimally and efficiently which in turn reduces their carbon footprint.”
Effects Along Supply Chains
Harmening says all parties involved “have a role in protecting the quality of the oil throughout the supply chain” and should be equally focused on providing quality products for the customer, and the revisions to 1525A reflect that.
For marketers and blenders, the document includes best practices regarding quality testing and a tracking system to make sure the API service category claimed for every batch of engine oil delivered to distributors and installers is correct.
For distributors, it emphasizes the importance of proper ordering and receipt documentation that identifies the bulk engine oil throughout the supply system.
For quick lubes and installers, the document covers requirements for educating customers about the types of engine oil available and notification of the oil installed in engines.
“It's just a better way to do business, a better way to serve your customers,” Harmening says.
Best Practices
Although everyone along the supply chain should take quality seriously, Harmening says it’s critical for quick lube shops specifically to make sure they’re strictly organized and are ensuring the proper oil is being used for each and every vehicle that drives through.
“Almost everybody is a consumer of motor oil. I would have issues if I went into my local quick lube and wasn’t getting the oil that my owner's manual requires to be installed,” he says. “If I'm not getting verification of that through my receipt, and if I have some issues down the line, naturally I'm going to be pointing the finger at the place where I just had my oil change.”
Keeping detailed records of every single oil your shop purchases, down to the brand name, viscosity grade and API service category makes dealing with any errors from your distributor or the manufacturer that much easier.
For shops operating in states that have adopted NIST Handbook 130, the updates to 1525A help even more.
“These distributors are required by the same regulations in Handbook 130 to be reporting that very same information to you on the supplier end as to what was delivered,” Harmening says. “The idea here is that we're establishing a chain of custody throughout the entire distribution chain. You have that information in hand. It’s just a way to safeguard yourselves from problems with the chain of custody.”
The revisions don’t make many wholesale changes to the 1525A document, but Harmening says staying up-to-date on the provisions and guidelines provided in the document will ensure quality service in your shop.
“1525A is just a good way to take an internal look at how you're operating,” he says. “It ensures that high-quality engine oils are getting into your customer's engines so that they return each and every time they've got an oil change coming up.”
