On Tue, 14 May 2013 18:20:55 +0000, Danny D wrote:
> That explains why I can't get a hold of anyone at Blitz
> to affirm the threads on the gas can caps.
Apparently Angus was right in that Blitz ceased operations:
http://tinyurl.com/d6ebfem
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20120613/NEWS/306139977/
beleaguered-gas-can-manufacturer-blitz-usa-closing-down
And, Hopkins Manufacturing technical support was right when they
told me they bought everything *but* the gas can manufacturing.
Blitz was spending about 3 million dollars a year in lawsuits,
mostly for the gas cans not having flame arrestors built in.
---- cut here for verbatim press release ---
MIAMI, OKLA. (June 13, 10:15 a.m. ET) —
Plastic fuel-can molder Blitz USA Inc. will shut operations after
unsuccessfully trying to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection since Nov. 9, according to a company statement issued June 12.
The July 31 shutdown will affect 117 employees at Blitz’s manufacturing
plant in Miami, Okla.
The firm plans to liquidate all assets either en masse or piecemeal,
external affairs manager Amanda Emerson said in a telephone interview.
“We appreciate the support of our employees and their families in their
efforts to reorganize and develop a viable business plan,” said Blitz
President Rocky Flick, according to an article in the Joplin (Missouri)
Globe. “Unfortunately, we were not able to address the costs of the
increased litigation associated with our fuel-containment products.”
In April, Blitz sold its F3Brands LLC business, a major in oil drains and
other associated auto products, in a bankruptcy auction sale to Hopkins
Manufacturing Corp. of Emporia, Kan. Court documents stated Blitz netted
$14.6 million from the sale, which it applied to secured debt.
Blitz has been facing a storm of lawsuits blaming its products for
consumer injuries caused by fires. The firm spent some $30 million
defending itself in product liability suits and owes $3.5 million in
legal fees, Blitz reported in court documents.
Blitz’s decision to sell its assets is subject to approval by bankruptcy
court. It sought Chapter 11 protection in Delaware. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
a major retailer of Blitz gas cans, also faces lawsuits.
Blitz has been the dominant producer of plastic gas cans in the United
States and claimed 75 percent of the market.
“Other manufacturers face similar uncertainty — putting the industry’s
ability to meet the typical spike in demand driven by storms in serious
jeopardy,” Blitz stated in a news release.
In the week of June 4 the Portable Fuel Container Manufacturers
Association began alerting consumers in hurricane-prone states of a
potential product shortage, which increases public safety risk. In times
of disaster, consumers rely on portable fuel supplies to operate
electricity generators, vehicles, chain saws and other relief equipment.
PFCMA’s legal office is in Sacramento, Calif.
PFCMA has said congressional intervention is needed to stabilize the
business environment so PFCMA group members can continue supplying the
products necessary for safely transporting and storing gasoline and
diesel fuel.
“While it is now too late to save Blitz, adoption of mandatory safety
standards could convince others to invest in expanded operations,” the
Blitz news release stated.
PFCMA has criticized the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission for
twice refusing to mandate fuel-can safety standards because it claims
that harmful incidences were the result of misuse of the fuel cans rather
than a product issue.
Fuel-can producers have adopted voluntarily standards developed by the
American Society for Testing and Materials since the 1980s. The standards
include container stability and heat resistance, openings and closings,
filling and pouring, drop strength, permeability and cautionary labeling.
Labeling, for example, states that gasoline should never be used to start
or accelerate a fire. Much litigation resulted from such misuse of the
fuel in the containers.
U.S. consumers buy more than 15 million portable fuel cans each year, but
that number rises by 30 percent when hurricanes make landfall.
“If gas cans aren’t available, disaster victims will still be
transporting and storing fuel, but at much greater risk to themselves and
everyone around them,” Blitz stated.
Blitz President and CEO Rocky Flick said the sale process for the Miami
assets could take three months.
Other PFCMA members include Midwest Can Co. of Melrose Park, Ill.; No-
Spill Inc. of Lenexa, Kan.; Scepter Corp. of Scarborough, Ontario; and
the Plastics Group Inc. of Willowbrook, Ill.
“Blitz was very good at what they did,” said Tom Cray, president of No-
Spill. “The legal system is what brought them down. Blitz exported around
the world and only here [in the United States] were there lawsuits.”