Last month we reported plant managers salaries; next month well cover compensation to laboratory/research-and-development/technical executives.

We extend our thanks to the 406 anonymous subscribers who replied to the confidential survey this past summer. We conduct this survey of U.S. lubricant industry salaries every two years -assuring complete confidentiality to participants – because the information is valuable to you, as employers and employees in the industry.

But Idowant to caution you about the information in our magazine stories. We provide highlights and broad averages in these features; the stories may not pinpoint the data that would let you see how you and/or your company compare to others like you.

There can be huge differences in compensation based on company size, manufacturer vs. distributor, number of people supervised, geographic location and other factors; space doesnt allow us to include all that detail in the magazine.

If you plan to use our salary survey results in any way, I urge you to obtain the complete report that will be available at the end of this month. (Theres an order form on page 24.) The report shows all the compiled responses, for lube manufacturers and for distributors, for 2006 and 2004, with salaries by longevity, by employer size, by number of people supervised, by geographic region, plus expectations of other compensation.

While our magazine story may talk about an overall average pay of $100,000 for agiven job, the rightaverage for you or your company might actually be $50,000 -or$150,000.

Please, look at the data.

Correction: In Septembers article No Place for a Shortcut, the weights of materials used in composite intermediate bulk containers were transposed.A275-gallon composite IBC typically contains 92 to 95 pounds of steel and 35 to 38 pounds of high density polyethylene (HDPE).