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How Often Should Truckers Change The Oil In Their Rigs, And How To Extend Engine Oil Life

If you’re a trucker you are undoubtedly painfully aware that heavy rig oil changes an add up rather quickly.

Of course the alternative, which is to neglect your oil changes really isn’t a great option though because replacing heavy truck engines adds up much quicker!

So the question truckers want to know is how frequently should they actually change the oil in their rigs?

(And after we answer this, as an added bonus we are going to give you three tips that can help extend the life of your oil.)

First, we will start by saying you should always follow any OEM advice/ recommendations, but beyond that we suggest, depending upon the model year of your vehicle, having oil changes anywhere from forty thousand kilometres to eighty thousand kilometres.
 

Why such a wide range?

 
This is due to the fact that many variables that come into play on how frequent your oil changes should be. First, as already alluded to, with an older rig, they need more frequent oil changes than a newer truck will.

But there are several factors that go beyond the age of the vehicle.

Here are a few…

  1. The equipment/ load you’re hauling (potential PTO time)
  2. your fuel mileage,
  3. the terrain you’re driving in,
  4. how extreme the temperatures your dealing with are,
  5. as well as how much dust and sand your vehicle is experiencing all impact oil life.

Now, when it comes to extending the life of your heavy truck oil, before we give you some suggestions we want to reinforce one thing… never (ever) put saving a few bucks from an oil change ahead of proper rig maintenance. That is just being penny smart and pound foolish.

But to get back to what we promised, here are a three ways to increase the lifespan of your oil.

  1. Reduce unnecessary idle time whenever possible.
  2. Make sure to properly match the oil and the oil filter you use.
  3. And perhaps in a continuation of point #2, never try to reduce oil change costs by using inexpensive oil filters (your oil filter helps keeps your oil clean, investing in the right filter can definitely extend oil life).

As one of the most popular truck manufacturing companies in the world, Volvo has met, or exceeded the trucking industries needs for the better part of one hundred years!

With a relentless focus on driver protection, comfort and performance, Volvo has become the rig of choice for countless heavy truck drivers, fleets and trucking companies.

Gerrys Truck Centre in London Ontario has been a Volvo truck dealer for over 30 years. We offer sales of new and used (pre-owned rigs) as well as parts and service, and pride ourselves on top quality service.

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