Environmental Protection
Information on the Purchase, Use, and Disposal of Engine Lubricating Oil Gao ID: GAO-03-340 January 2, 2003Concerned with the time, money, and resources that the federal government expends servicing its vehicle and engine fleet, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works asked GAO to compile information on the government's use of engine lubricating oil. GAO was asked to determine: (1) how much engine lubricating oil the federal government bought in fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001; (2) what costs are incurred for the disposal and recycling of engine lubricating oil; (3) what costs are incurred for changing motor oil in military and civilian fleets; (4) what logistical implications exist for the transport of engine lubricating oil during recent military operations; and (5) what options exist for reducing purchase, maintenance, and disposal costs for engine lubricating oil. To conduct its study, GAO focused on three agencies that account for 79 percent of all non-tactical vehicles owned or leased by the U.S. government: the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the General Services Administration (GSA). It compiled information only on engine lubricating oil used in ground vehicles and equipment and not in aircraft and ships.
There is no aggregate data on the purchase, use, and disposal of engine lubricating oil for the federal government as a whole. However, the three agencies included in GAO's review--USPS, DOD, and GSA--collectively bought nearly 41 million quarts of engine lubricating oil, valued at about $37.3 million, from fiscal years 1999 to 2001. Only limited data is available on the costs for disposing and recycling engine lubricating oil used in the land-based vehicle fleets of these three agencies. The Army and Navy maintain some disposal data, but the Air Force, GSA, and USPS do not have any aggregate information available. In addition, information is not readily available on the number of labor hours and costs incurred in changing oil in the agencies' vehicles. Finally, it is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate the costs of transporting engine lubricating oil during military operations because the transportation costs depend largely on the specific scenario. Several methods were identified for reducing the cost and use of engine lubricating oil: (1) bypass filters, used in conjunction with traditional oil filters, can substantially reduce the number of oil changes required by increasing the intervals between oil changes by two to ten times; (2) synthetic lubricating oils have the potential to increase the length of time between oil changes, reduce engine wear, and enhance the engine's operation over a greater range of temperatures; and (3) oil analysis programs can also reduce engine oil use. These programs determine when it is time to change the oil by testing its condition in the engine rather than by following a regularly scheduled oil change based on mileage or usage.
GAO-03-340, Environmental Protection: Information on the Purchase, Use, and Disposal of Engine Lubricating Oil
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Report to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Committee on
Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate:
United States General Accounting Office:
GAO:
January 2003:
Environmental Protection:
Information on the Purchase, Use, and Disposal of Engine Lubricating
Oil:
GAO-03-340:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-03-340, a report to the Chairman and Ranking Minority
Member, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate
Why GAO Did This Study:
Concerned with the time, money, and resources that the federal
government
expends servicing its vehicle and engine fleet, the Committee
asked GAO to
compile information on the government‘s use of engine lubricating
oil.
GAO was asked to determine:
-How much engine lubricating oil the federal government bought in
fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001;
-What costs are incurred for the disposal and recycling of engine
lubricating oil;
-What costs are incurred for changing motor oil in military and
civilian fleets;
-What logistical implications exist for the transport of engine
lubricating oil during recent military operations; and
-What options exist for reducing purchase, maintenance, and
disposal
costs for engine lubricating oil.
To conduct its study, GAO focused on three agencies that
account
for 79 percent of all non-tactical vehicles owned or leased
by the
U.S. government: the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department
of
Defense (DOD), and the General Services Administration (GSA).
It
compiled information only on engine lubricating oil used in
ground
vehicles and equipment and not in aircraft and ships.
What GAO Found:
There is no aggregate data on the purchase, use, and disposal of
engine lubricating oil for the federal government as a whole.
However, the three agencies included in GAO‘s review”USPS, DOD,
and GSA”collectively bought nearly 41 million quarts of engine
lubricating oil, valued at about $37.3 million, from fiscal
years 1999 to 2001.
Only limited data is available on the costs for disposing and
recycling engine lubricating oil used in the land-based vehicle
fleets of these three agencies. The Army and Navy maintain
some
disposal data, but the Air Force, GSA, and USPS do not have
any
aggregate information available. In addition, information is
not
readily available on the number of labor hours and costs
incurred
in changing oil in the agencies‘ vehicles. Finally, it is
difficult,
if not impossible, to estimate the costs of transporting
engine
lubricating oil during military operations because the
transportation
costs depend largely on the specific scenario.
Several methods were identified for reducing the cost and
use of
engine lubricating oil:
-Bypass filters, used in conjunction with traditional oil
filters,
can substantially reduce the number of oil changes required
by
increasing the intervals between oil changes by two to ten
times;
-Synthetic lubricating oils have the potential to increase
the
length of time between oil changes, reduce engine wear,
and enhance
the engine‘s operation over a greater range of temperatures;
-Oil analysis programs can also reduce engine oil use.
These programs
determine when it is time to change the oil by testing its
condition
in the engine rather than by following a regularly
scheduled oil change
based on mileage or usage.
[See PDF for image]
[End of table]
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-340.
To view the full report, including the scope and
methodology, click
on the link above. For more information, contact
William M. Solis at (202)
512-8365 or solisw@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Appendix I: Briefing to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works:
Abbreviations:
AOAP: Army Oil Analysis Program:
DLA: Defense Logistics Agency:
DOD: Department of Defense:
GSA: General Services Administration:
NCDOT: North Carolina Department of Transportation:
USPS: U.S. Postal Service:
United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
January 2, 2003:
The Honorable James M. Jeffords
Chairman
The Honorable Bob Smith
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate:
As you requested, we are providing you with information on the
purchase, use, and disposal of engine lubricating oil by the federal
government. You were concerned about the money, time, and resources
that the federal government spends servicing its vehicle and engine
fleet. As agreed with your offices, our work focused, to the extent
that data was available, on the following five areas:
* How much engine lubricating oil did the federal government purchase
and what did those purchases cost for each of the most recent 3 fiscal
years for which such information was available?
* How much in direct costs did the federal government pay for the
disposal and/or recycling of engine lubricating oil in each of the most
recent 3 fiscal years for which such information was available?
* How much in direct contracted costs or federal employee labor costs
were incurred by the federal government for the changing of motor oil
in federal civilian and military fleet engines in each of the most
recent 3 fiscal years for which such information was available?
* What were the costs and other logistical implications for the
transport of engine lubricating oil by the military in recent military
operations such as the Persian Gulf War and peacekeeping efforts in the
Balkans?
* What are options for reducing the costs of the purchase, maintenance,
and disposal of engine lubricating oil, including the use of
technologies that would eliminate the need for frequent oil changes?
On November 21, 2002, we provided your offices with a briefing on the
results of this review, including our scope and methodology. This
report transmits the briefing, which is reprinted as an appendix.
Summary:
There is no aggregate data on the purchase, use, and disposal of engine
lubricating oil for the federal government. The three agencies included
in our review--the Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services
Administration (GSA), and the U.S. Postal Service--collectively
purchased about 41 million quarts of engine lubricating oil, valued at
about $37.3 million, from 1999 to 2001. DOD‘s data reflects purchases
that the military services made from the Defense Logistics Agency for
both combat and commercial-type vehicles, but it does not include oil
that the services bought from commercial vendors on the local
economy.[Footnote 1] DOD officials could not estimate the magnitude of
these purchases from the commercial market. Because GSA does not
perform oil changes itself, its data is based on estimates of the
number of oil changes that commercial vendors or other federal
maintenance facilities performed on the fleet. As such, the cost of the
oil used in these changes cannot be identified separately from other
maintenance costs. GSA‘s data excludes oil changes performed on GSA
vehicles by other federal agencies‘ maintenance facilities. The Postal
Service‘s data may not include some oil purchases, such as oil bought
using petty cash, and oil changes performed by commercial vendors.
However, Postal Service officials estimate that the amount of purchases
not captured in this data is minimal (1 percent or less).
Our work indicated that only limited data on engine oil disposal and
recycling costs is available from the agencies we reviewed. The Air
Force and Postal Service do not have any aggregate disposal data
available for engine lubricating oil. GSA also does not have disposal
data because it relies on commercial vendors or other federal
maintenance facilities to change and dispose of oil. However, the Army
and Navy do maintain some information on engine oil disposal. For
example, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine
Corps report annually on disposal and recycling costs/quantities for
waste oil for Navy and Marine Corps installations. On average, the Navy
and Marine Corps annually disposed of 14,741 tons and 2,892 tons of
waste oil, respectively during fiscal years 1999 to 2001. The Army has
disposal data for only a few selected installations from its automated
hazardous materials tracking system, which has been partially fielded
only as a pilot project thus far.
Our review indicated that records on actual labor hours and costs
incurred for oil changes are not readily available at the three
agencies we reviewed. However, we noted that some data exists that
would help them estimate labor hours and other costs for oil changes
for selected vehicles. For example, Army officials told us that a draft
Army Oil Analysis Program study includes estimated data on labor and
other costs for oil changes on selected tactical vehicles. Also, GSA
and Postal Service officials said they could estimate the number of oil
changes for their vehicle fleets based on maintenance schedules. They
could then calculate the costs for an oil change after making certain
assumptions, such as the amount and cost of labor involved in making
each oil change and that oil changes were actually performed as
scheduled.
DOD officials told us that transportation costs for engine lubricating
oil during military operations are scenario dependant and difficult, if
not impossible, to determine. Typically, the military services store
and transport oil to sustain them for the short term during contingency
operations, usually for the first 30 days. They usually transport oil
with other supplies and equipment or preposition oil supplies on ships
or land overseas.
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) generally provides for follow-on
supplies to the theater, which are requisitioned by the services as
needed. DLA may transport oil to the theater from the United States or
purchase it locally at overseas locations where needed, depending on
the specific operation to be supported. In the case of Desert Storm,
for example, DLA officials stated that some engine lubricating oil was
provided by Saudi Arabia at no cost to the U.S. government, while some
oil was purchased commercially by DLA from the United Kingdom.
Our limited literature search and discussions with agency officials to
date have identified several options for reducing the costs of engine
lubricating oil use. They are:
* Bypass filters, which are used in conjunction with traditional oil
filters to remove smaller contaminant particles. These filters are
currently in use in private industry, at the North Carolina Department
of Transportation (NCDOT), and at some U.S. military locations. Studies
have shown that bypass filters substantially reduce the numbers of oil
changes required by increasing the intervals between oil changes from
as much as 2 to 10 times. For example, in using these filters, NCDOT
dump truck intervals increased from 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles and
Scott Paper Company woodlands equipment intervals increased from
100 hours to 1,000 hours.
* Synthetic lubricating oils, which can potentially increase the length
of time between oil changes, reduce engine wear, and enhance the
engine‘s operation over a greater range of temperatures. The Army is
currently funding research in this area.
* Oil analysis programs, which determine when oil changes are due based
on the condition of oil samples drawn from vehicles regularly and
tested in labs. Oil changes are made only when they are recommended by
the lab, rather than performed on a regularly scheduled basis.
Preliminary analyses performed by the Army as part of the Army Oil
Analysis Program (AOAP) have indicated that the Army has saved about
$81 million in oil change costs during the past 3 fiscal years,
excluding disposal costs or AOAP lab operating costs. We have not
validated the study‘s findings or its methodology.
Scope and Methodology:
To conduct our review, we obtained information on engine oil purchases,
disposal, and use from three agencies that account for 79 percent of
the total non-tactical vehicles owned or leased by the U.S. government-
-the U.S. Postal Service (35 percent); GSA (29 percent); and DOD
(15 percent). We held discussions or obtained data from GSA‘s Federal
Supply Service; U.S. Postal Service headquarters; the White House Task
Force on Recycling; DOD‘s Offices of the Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness and the Deputy Under
Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment; DLA‘s Defense
Supply Center Richmond and the Defense Reutilization and Marketing
Service; and several other subordinate agencies and offices in each of
the military services. We did not validate any of the data provided by
the selected agencies or assess the merits of the options identified
for reducing the costs of engine lubricating oil use. We performed our
work from August through December 2002 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards.
Agency Comments:
In providing oral comments on the briefing slides pertaining to their
agencies, GSA and Postal Service representatives stated that they
agreed with the information presented. Additional comments on the
material were incorporated as appropriate. DOD provided technical
comments on a draft of this report, which we have also incorporated as
appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to the Chairmen and Ranking
Minority Members of other Senate and House committees and subcommittees
that have jurisdiction and oversight responsibilities for DOD, GSA, and
the Postal Service. We are also sending copies to the Secretary of
Defense, the Administrator of GSA, the Postmaster General, and the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Copies will also be
available at no charge on our Web site at www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-8365 or e-mail me at solisw@gao.gov. Key
contributors to this report were Ken Knouse, Cary Russell, Betsy Mead,
and Andria Key.
William M. Solis
Director, Defense Capabilities
and Management:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Briefing to the Senate Committee
on Environment and Public Works:
[See PDF for image]
[End of briefing]
FOOTNOTES
[1] DOD‘s data includes engine lubricating oil used in internal
combustion engines for ground vehicles and equipment, but does not
include lubricating oil for aircraft or ship engines.
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