Michigan-based ESOC Commercial Truck pioneers cleaner, scalable method to maintain trucks

Oil changes are some of the messiest, time-consuming parts of routine maintenance for the nation’s truck fleets, and critical to keeping goods moving safely, but like many facets of transportation in the 21st century, some companies are pushing revolutions in their approach.

One of the notables in that arena is ESOC Commercial Truck Inc., a Michigan-based company with a unique, computerized system that takes much of the fuss out of the oil exchange process. It has worked with corporate clients including Walmart, Penske, Costco, Pepsi, and local governments like the City of Phoenix and the Philadelphia Fire Department, providing environmentally safe oil change (ESOC) machines for their truck fleets.

ESOC CEO Vivek Bedi spoke with Transportation Today about how the company helps keep truck fleets active through a closed engine fluid exchange system, minimized human input, and a minimum of wear and tear.

“Our technologies when fully integrated within a garage provide a safer environment for the worker, safe discharge of hazardous fluids, an efficient mechanism to do a minimal task,” Bedi said. “Basically, a better way to do a task allows techs to be freed up to work on larger projects or maintenance items.”

Specifically, the ESOC system puts a mobile, self-contained replacement mechanism for engine oil, coolant and diesel fuel in the hands of a technician. Unlike traditional maintenance, the system allows simple inputs from the technician, after which a machine takes over, purging oil filters and passages with air. When finished, it signals for the technician to replace the filter. Then it automatically refills the oil, stopping when refilling or removal is complete.

At the same time, the machine collects used oil for recycling in its mobile containment, without spills. If a technician initially inputs the wrong amount of oil for the tank, the individual can quickly correct course automatically by simply adding or subtracting on the system. No overflow.

According to Bedi, those facts have helped ESOC Commercial Truck’s business grow even in the inflation-stricken post-pandemic period. It anticipates growth for at least two years out, with new opportunities in various areas: highway service garages, off-highway, marine, fleet on-site services companies, and more. The reason? Scalability. The ESOC system is adaptable to combustion engines and electric vehicles alike.

A family business

Vivek Bedi is not the first Bedi to helm the company. That honor belonged to his father, Dr. Ram Dev Bedi, who founded ESOC Commercial Truck in 1992, after pioneering its system from the simple desire for a DIY oil change.

It started with an observation of his neighbors in Southfield, Mich.

“He watched a neighbor do his oil change and said he can do it himself, so he went and bought the ramps, new motor oil and oil filter and began to do his own oil change on our 1968 Pontiac Lemans,” the younger Bedi said. “He completed his oil change and had collected the used oil. He watched his neighbor dump it into the sewer. Not thinking, he just took the used oil over to the sewer and dumped it into the sewer. At the moment, he realized that he had just contaminated the watershed. He made a note to himself to find a better way.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), motor oil is what is known as a nonpoint source pollutant, and such pollution constitutes one of the most significant threats to aquatic ecosystems.

“As water runs over and through the watershed, it picks up and carries contaminants and soil,” the NOAA said. “If untreated, these pollutants wash directly into waterways carried by runoff from rain and snowmelt. These contaminants can infiltrate groundwater and concentrate in streams and rivers, ultimately being carried down the watershed and into the ocean.”

It took Bedi 25 years to develop a means of keeping more of those spills at bay, and now, the company is ready to change the industry.

A sustainable alternative, without the workforce

For trucks utilizing an ESOC device, upon start, engines and passages are already filled with fresh oil, so there is no lag, no friction and no burn for them to worry about. That means less engine wear and less maintenance down the road – an important detail, as increased demands on the trucking industry are increasing asset wear and tear as well.

Bedi noted that with the increased workload on fleet vehicles, demand for logistical support is surging, too, but without the workers to fill the gap.

“On top of this increased demand, we are seeing less trained mechanics coming into the industry,” Bedi said. “A shortage of drivers and qualified mechanics; so the industry is under stress to do more with less.”

The ESOC system fills some of that gap, making the shortage less of a concern for some aspects of the trucking industry. Technicians that are still toiling away faceless safety concerns with the contained nature of ESOC, while the used oil poses less risk of environmental contamination, offering a more sustainable option.

That’s probably why, added Bedi, that one of the things his clients like to say about ESOC machines is that they are built to last. Trucking remains critical to U.S. supply chains, so that’s exactly what the industry needs: something that can grow with it, adapt, and keep vehicles moving.