Questions to ask a filter management service provider

April 10, 2018
There are three main types of service providers when it comes to filter management collection.

According to the Filter Manufacturers Council, an organization representing North American vehicular filtration products, there are three main types of service providers when it comes to filter management collection. They advise that a filter management company may handle any or all of these services:

  • Transporter: A company that transports used oil filters.
  • Processor: A company that itself shreds, crushes or otherwise prepares a filter for its disposal or end use.
  • Recycler: A company that itself produces a new product from used filters.

When researching a filter management company, the Filter Manufacturers Council offers the following criteria to consider:

  •  Does the company have general liability insurance or environmental insurance? If so, what specific events are covered by these policies?
  • Will the company provide you with the names and phone numbers of business references?
  • Do you receive an audit trail from each point that the filters are handled?
  • Does the company have any past or pending environmental enforcement actions?
  • How long have they been in the filter business, and what related services do they provide for other automotive wastes and how are these materials managed?
  • What is done to the filters? How are they processed? (e.g., crushed, shredded, dismantled)
  • What is the ultimate disposition of the filters? Are they recycled, or disposed of in a landfill?
  • What requirements must the generator meet to satisfy the transporter’s, processor’s and recycler’s specification for the filters? (e.g., drained, punctured, kept in spill-proof containers)
  • Does the company have all appropriate licenses and permits required by the state and/or federal regulators allowing them to handle used oil filters?
  • Does the company provide a written contract that provides the following:
    • Price
    • Exact services provided by the vendor (e.g., frequency, what is done to the filters, who else handles the filters)
    • Your responsibilities as a generator (e.g., other wastes allowed in containers, type of containers, draining requirements)

About the Author

Erica Schueller | Media Relations Manager | Navistar

Erica Schueller is the Media Relations Manager for Navistar.

Before joining Navistar, Schueller served as Editorial Director of the Endeavor Commercial Vehicle Group. The commercial vehicle group includes the following brands: American Trucker, Bulk Transporter, Fleet Maintenance, FleetOwner, Refrigerated Transporter, and Trailer/Body Builders brands.

An award-winning journalist, Schueller has reported and written about the vehicle maintenance and repair industry her entire career. She has received accolades for her reporting and editing in the commercial and automotive vehicle fields by the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA), the International Automotive Media Competition (IAMC), the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Azbee Awards.

Schueller has received recognition among her publishing industry peers as a recipient of the 2014 Folio Top Women in Media Rising Stars award, acknowledging her accomplishments of digital content management and assistance with improving the print and digital products in the Vehicle Repair Group. She was also named one Women in Trucking’s 2018 Top Women in Transportation to Watch.

She is an active member of a number of industry groups, including the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC),  the Auto Care Association's Young Auto Care Networking Group, GenNext, and Women in Trucking.

In December 2018, Schueller graduated at the top of her class from the Waukesha County Technical College's 10-week professional truck driving program, earning her Class A commercial driver's license (CDL).  

She has worked in the vehicle repair and maintenance industry since 2008.

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