The National Oil & Lube News has published its 2015 Tops in the Industry Ranking of the largest U.S. fast lube facilities and once again Jiffy Lube leads the list This year’s report covered 16,907 sites in all that brought in $13.7 billion in sales revenue.

NOLN states that a “fast lube” facility is any business that derives the majority of its sales from quick, convenient oil changes and other automotive preventive maintenance services. Businesses that merely offer oil changes as an additional service (i.e. a tune-up shop, mass merchant retailer, tire store, etc.) fall into another category.

NOLN, in their classification, does not require a fast lube to meet the traditional architectural definition of a quick lube, however. That is, it doesn't necessarily have to be a roll-in, roll-out multi-bay shop with a pit/basement system. A converted muffler shop with 10 bays and nothing but lifts would qualify as long as the primary focus of the business is providing customers with quick oil changes and other maintenance services.

While this definition is broader than that used by some entities, NOLN maintains that if a majority of a facility’s income is derived from quick oil changes and other maintenance work, that facility should be called a fast lube.

Facilities that have dual profit centers, like a carwash/fast lube, cobranded facilities like Midas/SpeeDee or tire stores that also have lube bay or two are categorized as “oil change-plus” shops. This category also includes muffler shops, auto repair shops, mass merchant retailers, etc. All these places will change oil, but it’s not their primary business model.

The second term NOLN defines is a “chain.” For its purposes, a fast lube chain is any six or more fast lube facilities owned by the same company/individual/business entity and/or operated under the same or similar signage. That’s why a brand like Havoline xpress lube, which is actually comprised of individual owner/operators who have entered into an agreement with Havoline to use xpress lube signage, is grouped together as a chain.

Further, NOLN states that we frequently run across independent lube operations that might own six or more of these branded facilities. To avoid double-counting those shops, these are grouped into a separate listing designate as “Associated Lube Chains.”

The 53 operating fast lube chains on this year’s list operate a total of 6,736 facilities, which is an increase of nine facilities from last year’s total.

Staying at the top of the charts yet again is Jiffy Lube, which operates 1,928 shops and had a 1 percent decrease in population year over year. Valvoline Instant Oil Change remained at the No. 2 spot and saw a 3 percent growth. It currently operates 929 locations. Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change and Kwik Kar keep their chart-topping streak alive with the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively operating 700 and 398 stores.

The top 10 chains remain the same but the No. 5 through No. 10 rankings are slightly mixed up from 2014. Valvoline Express Care (which saw a 2 percent growth) and Havoline xpress lube both jumped two spots from last year to land the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Mobil 1 Lube Express dropped two places to No. 7, and Grease Monkey moved up one position to take the No. 8 place. Express Oil Change fell one spot to take the No. 9 position, yet it grew by 4 percent. Phillips 66 rounds out the top 10 with the No. 10 spot, staying consistent with their place last year.

When it comes to U.S.-based lube chains operating in foreign countries, Mobil 1 Centers and Texaco Havoline xpress lube are the leaders. Mobil 1 Centers swelled up out of nowhere and added an impressive 347 foreign locations in 2014, bringing its total to 2,800. Texaco Havoline xpress lubes stayed steady with its 1,432 facilities. Midas Auto Service Experts rounds out the top three chains with its 1,037 foreign facilities. Three more companies saw growth in the foreign sector: Midas Auto Service Experts, Jiffy Lube and Meineke Car Care Centers. One new company was added to list. Valvoline Express Care currently operates eight foreign facilities.