Jim Stone, Freelance Journalist

About the "end of oil" for diesel engines

This story is going around at a fevered pitch that is hard to believe. What will happen when "all existing stock" of semi engine oil runs out? Will "all commerce stop" within 8 weeks?? NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. Here is the oil change interval for 18 wheelers. You could push this to at least 50 percent more (60,000 miles) without any problems at all:

Mexico is LOADED with 20W50 oil. It is all anyone buys. It is available in all grades. If the US government is going to sabotage trucking by making oil unavailable, what's stopping the trucks from going down to Mexico to buy 20W50 and diluting it down to 15W40 with other lighter oils? Absolutely nothing.

What's to stop truckers from going down to Mexico and having their trucks serviced in Mex? If you could push an oil change off to a 60,000 mile interval, what's the big deal with going into Mexico for an oil change? And if you really had to, What would stop a trucker from skipping oil changes completely, and instead changing only the filter and topping the level off?? NOTHING. Obviously that would not be good for the truck, but it would still go at least 500,000 miles, it just would not make it to 2 million.

CONCLUSION: If they really do get rid of the oil for the big rigs, it is long term doom, not short term and certainly not "All commerce will stop in 8 weeks". Someone needs to lay off on the mushrooms.