Drive thru oil change
Rhino Truck Lube Centre officially opens bay doors in Dartmouth to professional drivers in need of quick yet high-quality service
By Kristen Lipscombe
What can perhaps be best described as the Starbucks of the trucking industry has officially opened its bay doors in Dartmouth, N.S.
Rhino Truck Lube Centre, located in bustling Burnside Industrial Park, offers “in and out” service for local fleet and long-haul drivers alike, as well as for RVs, with two lube bays and two wash bays that are specially designed to provide service that is both super convenient and highly professional.
“Those are 85-feet long, so the advantage there is that a semi-tractor and trailer can drive right in,” said John O’Donnell, vice-president of operations and marketing for Just Lubes, Ltd., which oversees Jiffy Lube locations across Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and is now leading the charge on growing the Rhino brand.
“They don’t have to unhook and there’s no appointment necessary,” he said.
Professional drivers can now roll right up to the Rhino Truck Lube Centre at 90 Higney Avenue in Dartmouth and expect to receive fast high-quality service from red seal technicians that will help get them right back on the road in under an hour. And for the short time they have to wait, drivers can grab a coffee and take advantage of free WiFi to update their electronic log books in a warm and inviting waiting room.
“It’s a professional, clean environment for the drivers,” O’Donnell said, adding “their only other option is the dealership, and they’d sit there for three or four hours. It’s all about reducing down time; time is money.”
“We’ve built the centre so that they can drive right in… and have a full oil change done on the truck, grease the tractor, grease the trailer,” O’Donnell said of why Just Lubes is now applying the popular and successful Jiffy Lube model for cars to the trucking industry. “We check all the fluids, and then they’re on their way again.”
The Dartmouth site, which like the Moncton location has partnered with Multiserve Petroleum Equipment Ltd., officially opened for business two months ago in what can be considered Nova Scotia’s trucking hub.
“The one in Burnside, we put it right in the industrial park; it couldn’t be more convenient for truckers,” O’Donnell said. “All the warehousing, all the truck dealers; everybody’s up there in Burnside, so we put the shop right there. They’re coming in and out of that park all day long, so we’re trying to make it convenient for them.”
“There was no drive thru truck wash in Nova Scotia; ours is the first,” O’Donnell added. “They were having to go all the way to Moncton.” The only other option was a mobile service – until now.
“You can drive through the wash bay, also with no need to unhook, and we use environmentally friendly, high-quality products,” he said. “Our wash bay attendants will hand wash the truck while you wait, ensuring a great looking rig each and every time.”
The Dartmouth location, featuring Shell products, is the second Rhino Truck Lube Centre in Atlantic Canada, with the first location opening last summer on Venture Drive off Exit 462 in Moncton, N.B., next to the impressive Truck Stop Plus Moncton. Both locations also have a strong focus on health and safety for employees and clients alike. Next up in Rhino’s development plans is opening an Ontario location along Highway 401 in 2023.
“We looked at the business model and said, ‘well, nobody has really done heavy duty truck lube on a national scale in Canada,” O’Donnell said. “There are a few garages and there are a few shops, but we really envision having 10-12 sites all the way along across the TransCanada highway, from coast-to-coast, that will give the long-haul drivers, but also the local fleets, a place that they can go and get their truck serviced as they’re transporting goods.”
As the Rhino website, www.rhinotrucklubecentre.ca, states, “after 30-plus years in the business of quick lube and care, our management team knows one thing for sure – exactly what it takes to become a well-oiled machine.”
“Our vision is to build centers across the country focused on convenience and reducing downtime for the drivers,” O’Donnell said. “We offer no appointment, warranty approved, drive thru oil change.”
