JobbersWorld Reaches Out to Over 10,000 Professionals in the Lubricants Business

Click here to learn More or call 732-910-0017

The fully diversified Sandri Companies accepted an offer this month from GH-Berlin to sell their Sandri Lubricants division. After the sale, Sandri will focus on its core industries which are Consumer Energy, Transportation, Real Estate and Hospitality. Sandri will remain a leading distributor of Motor Fuels-both Sunoco brand and unbranded fuels-in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northeastern New York. The company will also continue to provide residential and light commercial energy products and services in its historic markets for these options of Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and Southern New Hampshire. Sandri provides full service delivery of heating oil, propane, and wood pellets, as well as HVAC maintenance and installation of oil and gas heating and cooling equipment to roughly 5000 customers within 30 miles of their headquarters. They also intend to continue to focus on their emerging renewable energy offerings including: high efficiency automated wood pellet boilers, solar hot water and solar electricity.

"Sandri has been working on the implementation of a strategic plan to realign our core business, explains Timothy Van Epps, President and CEO, of Sandri. " The primary goal is to divest business interests that are outside of our core industries, which are Energy, Transportation, Hospitality, and Real Estate."  Van Epps adds, "After a thorough review of our portfolio, we determined that the lubricants division was no longer aligned with the company's core business and long-term strategy. As such, we made the choice to accept an offer to sell our interests in that business sector to GH Berlin-Windward. They are a company whose sole focus is the distribution of commercial and industrial lubricants."

Dave Waltz, CEO of GH Berlin-Windward says "Sandri's lubricant business is an excellent fit with our company. Lubricants is our core business and the acquisition brings additional volume and opportunity in an attractive geographic market."

In addition, Waltz says, "Understanding that both Berlin and Sandri focus their sales on providing superior products and services, our companies share core values and have a similar company culture. Sandri's lubricant sales representatives should fit in well within our organization." For this reason, Waltz adds, "We have offered employment to all of Sandri's lubricant sales representatives."

About Sandri

Sandri Inc. (www.sandri.com) is a family owned and operated full-service fuel and energy Distribution Company that provides diversified products, services and solutions to retail and commercial customers.They are the largest Sunoco branded motor fuels distributor in the New England, and also offer unbranded motor fuels to commercial customers. Sandri operates throughout New England and Eastern New York.  The company also provides a variety of heating fuels including: fuel oil, kerosene, propane, and wood pellets to thousands of customers throughout western Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Sandri has a large HVAC service, repair and installation department that features a variety of heating, cooling and indoor air quality options for both oil-fired and gas equipment. 

Leveraging their vast knowledge and experience in energy related products and petroleum distribution, Sandri has added a renewable energy division offering direct to consumer solar hot water installations, wood pellet fuel and heating systems, and solar electric installations.   

Until the recent announcement that they would be divesting their commercial and industrial lubricants division, Sandri was First Source Marketer for Chevron Global Lubricants. In addition to enjoying a strong relationship with Chevron, Sandri was an authorized distributor of Houghton International, Summit Industrial Products, Advanced Lubrication Specialties (ALS), CAM2 and Total lubricating oils. 

1- What is the name of the company that manufactured this engine?; 2) How many horsepower does this beast put out?,  3) What type of oil is used to service this engine?  In addition, we included a bonus question asking; Where was this picture taken?      

Whereas we received hundreds of responses, (some of which admittedly were meant to be humorous), JobbersWorld was shocked by the ability of some of our readers to get it right! With that said...  

The Winner is - Ryan Story! 

Ryan Story Rax Inc.

Ryan Story of Rax Inc. nailed it! Ryan got all three questions and the bonus question right.  

Whereas JobbersWorld expected a lubricant marketer or major oil company to be the first to ring in with the right answers, the winner came from one of the leading suppliers of back-office software to lubricant marketers.  And there is little wonder why. In addition to his talent as a software developer for Rax Inc., Ryan Story is a graduate of Iowa State and a flight instructor in single-engine aircraft. And beyond that, like many pilots, Ryan has a passion for planes and it showed when so quickly aced the pop quiz.

Since 2012 Ryan has been employed by Rax, Inc., a software company for the petroleum industry. He has extensive experience in developing Rax's mobile application (MobileVS) for Salesman. Ryan also has enhanced the EDI interface between Visual Supplier and Exxon/Mobil, Castrol, Shell and PetroCanada, as well as other facets of VS.

JobbersWorld tips its hat to you Ryan; your knowledge of lubricant software and aircraft engines is notable... Job well done!

JobbersWorld also extends a Job Well Done to two others that submitted correct answer to the pop quiz, and they did so within an hour of Ryan's slam dunk.    

Eugene Faulk of J&J Oil Company

The second to get it right was Eugene Faulk of J&J Oil Company, in Athens, AL. Eugene is the General Manager of J & J Oil Co.  J & J Oil is a marketer of BP, Marathon, and Texaco products in North Alabama. Eugene has worked in the petroleum industry for almost 40 years.   

When asked how he knew the answers to the pop quiz, Eugene responded by saying, "Google." While it was clear Eugene was making it sound simple, in speaking with him, it is also clear he is someone who works hard to find solutions to problems. As a post script, Eugene said; take a look at the YouTube video of this engine starting up. "It's an awesome sight".  

Aníbal Ruiz S.Lubricantes Internacionales de Honduras

Interestingly, Aníbal said the first hint about the make and model of engine was the "wooden prop." He dated it to be around 1920. And although at first glance he thought the engine was a P-51, he said, "on closer look it was clearly a Liberty 12A." Yikes! Aníbal, did we make this pop quiz too easy for you by showing a wooden prop attached to a hunk of iron? Clearly you know your stuff and Chevron and Lubricantes Internacionales de Honduras S.A should be proud to have you selling for them!

Born and raised in Guatemala, Aníbal has a degree in mechanical engineering. He has 25+ years of experience in the lubricants business, 20+ years with Chevron/Texaco, and 2.5 years working with LUIHSA, a Chevron marketer in Honduras as sales manager. While with Chevron/Texaco, Aníbal traveled extensively through the Caribbean and Central America looking after the company's lubricants business in those countries. Anibal was the first Certified Lubrication Specialist in Latin America in 1997.  While work is important, Aníbal says "I have been married for 24 years to my lovely wife with two grown children, Jose and Carol. I live halfway between Guatemala City and San Pedro Sula, going home to Guatemala on the weekends to spend time with my wife, kids, 2 cats, 3 dogs and my 2011 Mustang GT."

-----------------------------------------------

JobbersWorld continues to be impressed by the experience and expertise that resides in the fine people active in our industry. It's clear that whether it's a 1918 Liberty 12A aircraft engine, hydraulic roof supports in a long wall mine, or grease used in a stern tube stuffing box of a container vessel, if you ask the right people in our industry, you will get the right answers.

Now to the answers:

1- What is the name of the company that manufactured this engine?

The engine shown is a Liberty 12A produced by Packard in the United States. It's a 12 cylinder, liquid-cooled aircraft engine that entered the market in 1918. In addition to Packard, this engine was manufactured by several other companies during and after WWI, including Buick, Ford, Cadillac, Lincoln, Marmon. In fact, as an interesting piece of history, the Liberty 12A aircraft engine is credited for driving the formation of Lincoln Motor Company. But that's another story.

2)  How many horsepower does this beast put out?

It has a displacement of 1,649 cu. in, and is rated at 400 to 420 horsepower. This puppy was produced in large numbers for use in De Havilland DH-4, Douglas N-2, Curtis Falcon planes, and others.

3) What type of oil is used to service this engine?

Specific to the engine in the picture, those maintaining it at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome say, "This Liberty uses synthetic 20W-50 viscosity engine oil." This, however, is because it was rebuilt" If it was started without the total rebuild, "we would use a non-detergent type oil to prevent freed buildup within the engine from blocking oil passages."

BONUS QUESTION: Where was this picture taken?

Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, 9 Norton Rd., Red Hook, NY

Copyright ©

  2013 Petroleum Trends International, Inc.