A lot of specific equipment is involved in preparing, maintaining and securing ski areas on a daily basis. That equipment must be able to handle challenging jobs in all kinds of weather, especially the extremes of the North American climate.
Having the right lubricants is essential for keeping that machinery operating efficiently, safely and for as long as possible to maximize productivity and availability.
BOSS Lubricants (Bulk Oil Sales & Service) recognizes the unique needs of every industrial industry sector, including the snow sport industry, and designs and manufactures over 400 industrial oils and lubricants out of its dedicated facility in Calgary, Alta., to handle a range of operating conditions and equipment.
It all started when professional hockey player Murray Flegel retired from the ice and went to work for big oil corporations, where he learned about the value of having the right lubricants in the heavy equipment world. Eventually, tired of corporate life, he decided to become his own boss and, in 1992, founded Arlyn Enterprises Ltd., which now trades under the name BOSS Lubricants.
“My dad started out with a new truck and a transfer pump,” said Jarrett Flegel, the president and COO of BOSS Lubricants. “Now, we have an indoor state-of-the-art blending facility that houses a large tank farm of over 100 tanks. We mix in our temperature-controlled facility – an ISO 9001-2015-certified manufacturing facility. For every batch we blend, we take a sample and send it to the lab, where it’s tested within 24 hours to make sure the blend is accurate and meets OEM specifications.
“My older brother, Brad, has been the senior vice president for the last seven years. Dad is still the CEO, but semi-retired now and only works on special projects. We also have a lot of cousins and family members involved. Altogether, we have about 107 employees on our team,” Jarrett said.
BOSS Lubricants’ company culture is based on hard work, honesty, service and building relationships, strengthened by an awards ceremony every year, lots of staff events and many sponsorships and season tickets to various sports groups in the community.
“We have 10 facilities across Canada as well as two distributors that run our flag exclusively. A couple of months ago, we opened a new facility in Grande Prairie, and recently expanded our facilities in Edmonton and Vancouver as we grow our B.C. and northern Alberta markets,” Jarrett said.
“We also serve the northwestern U.S. If we have a bricks and mortar warehouse within 400 kilometers [249 miles], we can service those areas quickly. We have our own fleet of more than 40 trucks that are GPS-tracked, so we can tell our customers exactly when their order is coming.”
BOSS products
BOSS Lubricants are produced from 100% virgin-base stock oil, not recycled, chosen from the best suppliers in the world and hot blended, which is the gold standard in blending oil.
“We have oil lubricants you may never have heard of: cattle oil, shingle oil…lubricants are all around us. We have a number of different oil blends specifically designed for synthetic, diesel and natural gas,” said Jarrett. “Whether it’s a sawmill, a mine, auto repair/oil change shop, airport bridge deck, anything that runs hydraulic lines, we have the product that’s needed.”
Serving industry across North America for more than 30 years, BOSS Lubricants offers over 400 types of lubricants, glycols and greases.
BOSS hydraulic oils, both monograde and multigrade, are designed for heavy-duty applications. Also, the company offers a wide variety of accessory fluids such as wire rope lubricant for ski lift cables, as well as a food-grade aerosol-based spray called “Jack of All Sprays” that will eliminate carrying multiple kinds of cleaning sprays.
“We put on lube seminars, so people get the actual scientific information, not just the marketing.”
– Jarrett Flegel, BOSS Lubricants
BOSS-branded gear lubricants provide superior protection in extreme operating conditions, guarding against heavy loading failure in hot and cold environments, reducing frictional drag and minimizing gear wear.
The exceptional BOSS line of Arctic Low Temp Moly Grease, Lithium-complex greases, headlined by Big Blue, Red Stick and Black Bull, can handle high shock loads while providing long-term protection and strong water washout capabilities. The company also carries several specialty products, including Shell Lubricants and Total Lubricants.
Services
BOSS Lubricants offers the complete package for manufacturing and distribution of lubricants. They also do custom blending and private-label packaging for a variety of companies, from major OEMs and retail customers to small businesses that need only a couple of skids.
BOSS Lubricants products are formulated to exacting specifications that meet or exceed all major manufacturer requirements for warranty purposes. Further, they stand behind their products with their BOSS Lubricants No Nonsense Warranty.
Education and technical support
“It’s essential that customers are up to speed with new industry standards and trends,” said Jarrett. “There’s not a lot of lube education in the world outside the world wide web of misinformation. We put on lube seminars, so people get the actual science information, not just the marketing.”
With years of experience blending and a strong technical profile, BOSS Lubricants delivers outstanding product quality and can help customers achieve greater productivity by tailoring products to each industry.
“We have four people involved in research and development and use consultants as needed,” said Jarrett.
Delivery
From its rail car terminal in the Calgary facility, BOSS Lubricants can ship liquids in and out, and offload into tankers for local, regional or long-haul delivery and distribution. Or products can be unloaded for storage into warehouse storage tanks capable of housing more than 1,003,853 gallons (3.8 million liters) of fluids and distributed at a later date.
BOSS tankers, tanker trucks and delivery vehicles get the products delivered on time, safely and efficiently. For on-site bulk transfers, the company can pump off oil into tanks up to 450 feet vertically and horizontally.
Special products for snow operations
“We formulate our products for rugged climates,” said Jarrett. “We put a little more into the recipe that deals with cold weather temperatures as opposed to big companies that operate in the warmer areas where most of the population lives.
“For example, we dye hydraulic fluid blue for snow cats. That way, if their hydraulic lines leak when out on the hill, the blue dye shows up on the hills clearly as hydraulic fluid rather than being mistaken for some other liquid that is the same yellowish color of regular hydraulic fluid.”
A lot of the equipment in snow operations requires the use of environmentally safe biodegradable oils or low viscosity fluids. Chair lifts and gondolas must have an environmentally safe wire rope lube that keeps the cable strong and free of debris. BOSS Lubricants is the main distributor for Vita Life lube, originally used in building the Brooklyn Bridge in 1897. It must be a thin, viscous lube so cold temperatures can still seal the wire rope and keep its strength, and it must be within the environmental regulation parameters.
“Because our industry is heavily regulated in both Canada and the U.S., we’re forced to reformulate for more environmentally friendly lubricants,” said Jarrett. “These don’t perform as well as the regular mineral oils and hydrocarbon oils, and contractors are reluctant to use them. We try to formulate our products to find the balance between equipment operating temperatures and the regulations.”
Whatever the future brings, BOSS Lubricants will continue to honor their commitment to their customers to provide quality products at a fair price, exceptional service and support.
