ExxonMobil announced today it will increase the bulk wholesale price of its 100 Solvent Neutral (SN) by $0.25 a gallon and its 150SN by $0.15 a gallon. This increase will reportedly go into effect on May 9, 2008.

Chevron announced today a price increase of 9% to a whopping 18% on its lubricants and greases. This increase will be effective June 19, 2008

According to some distributors, based on the type of lubricant they purchase from Chevron, this increase translates to $0.58 to close to $1.00 a gallon.

JobbersWorld received a number of calls over the past month or two from distributors reporting that one of the major manufacturers of "designer" passenger car engine oil (PCEO) is looking to reduce the ranks of its distributors from 200+ to something close to 80 over the next few years. In the process, this major is "exercising its right to cancel contracts with 90 days notice."

Rather than pointing fingers at the specific major that is the subject of these discussions, JobbersWorld would like to take this space to speak to an important issue distributors should consider when taking on additional buyback business from any major. That issue being the level of inventory they maintain to service the major's buyback accounts and the agreements they have in place to assure they are not holding, what is afflictively, the major's inventory should the major cancel or not renew a contract.

Because according to a number of distributors that recently had their contracts cancelled, not only did the cancellation come as a surprise, but this major's response to the distributor's request to buyback the inventory ordered by the distributor to handle the assumed buyback volume required to serve this major's accounts also came as a surprise. In summary, they say the response from this major is short and not so sweet. That response being, "the inventory is your problem, not ours."

For your thoughts on this issue for a follow-up story we plan to write for the print edition of JobbersWorld, please e-mail us at www.jobbersworld.com, or call us directly at 732-494-0405. All communications will be treated as confidential.

Chesterton businessman, Robert Allen Paulson, died Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at home after a sudden illness and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. He was 57 years young.

Bob was President and co-owner of Paulson Oil Company, which was founded by his father in 1951. He was a member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Chesterton, a member of Olympia Fields Country Club, Wolf Run Golf Club and Valparaiso Country Club, and an active athletic supporter of the John Purdue Club.

Bob was born November 25, 1950 in Gary, the son of Robert Joseph (who preceded him in death) and Lucille Marion (Brier) Paulson, who still survives.

On August 4, 1979 at St. Patrick Church in Chesterton, he married Janet K. Wheeler, who still survives. He is also survived by his two sons, Matthew and Zachary, both of Chesterton, his brother Peter (Dale) Paulson, nieces Julie and Katie, and his sister Mary Paulson, all of Chesterton, his in-laws Harold and Lucille Wheeler, of Snellville, Georgia, brother-in-law Douglas (Lee) Wheeler, of Fairfax, Virginia, nephews Brian (Christin) of Atlanta, Georgia and Christopher Wheeler, of Fairfax, Virginia.

Bob had an ardent passion for Purdue football and basketball and was an avid golfer. He enjoyed traveling, taking up cruises with his wife, Jan, in recent years, and was a history aficionado. He thoroughly enjoyed the company of his two sons and their friends and always looked forward to hosting tailgate parties for Purdue home football games and going to Purdue's Bowl games during the Joe Tiller era. He was a generous and compassionate friend, filled with conviction and certainty, and will be remembered by all who met him.

A Mass of Christian Burial, Rev. James Meade officiating, will be offered at 10AM Saturday at St. Patrick Church, 638 N. Calumet Road, Chesterton. Interment will be at Chesterton Cemetery. Memorials may be sent to the Visiting Nurse Association of LaPorte County or St. Patrick Catholic School.

JobbersWorld wishes to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr. Bob Paulson.