Tanker Terminology 101

Premature evacuation = releasing the dog ears or loading head while product is still flowing.

Premature evacuation can be embarrassing for some men, dont be ashamed... It happens to everyone but your safety officer will not care, in fact he may feel the need to call his friends and laugh behind your back. He'll tell you its ok but really he will want you to see a professional, to get some help. He will tell his sister then everytime you see her you will feel uncomfortable around her but she wont say anything, leaving the air thick with unspoken tension.....

sorry I digress.

Dont be a premature evacuator.

 

And never unload a flammable with compressed air. Just say no!

 

As Chalupa said never air off flammables . Many receivers will charge the trailer with nitrogen because some chemicals react to moisture . I never have to touch a hose on any of my hazmat loads .
Hose cleaning varies with the tank wash . We carry our hoses in hose tubes on the trailer . If you write the number of hoses on the wash slip most tank washes take them out of the tubes and will wash them for you then put them back in . Be sure to check and make sure you have the plugs . . Some will swap them out with hoses they have stored for your carrier .
Our drivers keep an eye out for 2 1/2" hoses with 3" fittings . They are much easier to use than 3" hoses .

 

This is a product pump. The top hose goes to the nose line on the front of the trailer. Not all trailers have a nose line sometimes you might have to lay hose to the back of the tank. Or drop the tank and place tractor behind it , to save hose....

The bottom hose goes to cust tank.
Always make sure you know there is enough room in the tank and its the right tank !

After you get the hoses and valves set you engage the pump . Start at idol and check for leaks. Then I set the rpms at 1000 with this pump. It will do between 160-300 gallons per minute . Depends on product and the " push" into cust tank.
Once you get used to it , it's ok....... How ever I know some guys that never got it.


You can make 1 heck of a mess real fast with one of these..........

With an air off you are pressurizing the tank with air or some other gas And you're pushing the product out of the trailer and into the cust tank

 

When loading, the shipper sometimes likes to take a sample from the tank. I have had to pull a sample off the top, and one from the product valve. It is for quality control of the product, and a way for the shipper to test your tank for any contamination.

Recievers will dip the tank before off load sometimes.
Make sure your tank is spotless and dry when you get an empty, and hoses are clean and gaskets are clean.
Your fittings have to be clean too. This is so important.

A dirty or trace residue on a tank, pump, hose or fitting can cost alot of time, money and may be a dangerous situation.
I think the most important part of tanker, is to start out with immaculate equipment, and proper personal safety gear.
Its well worth the extra time at the tank wash to verify all is clean and dry, if not, it is easy to get it done there.

As for terminology, theres a five letter word nobody wants to hear!
SPILL.
It can be a few drips to gallons. The severity depends on the product. But zero is still the best spill!

 

If hauling Hazmat be sure to keep you paper work in order. With most of our customers always make sure you have a COA certificate of analysis before leaving the shipper. When arriving at the Shipper make sure the tank is clean,dry and odor free and that you have a wash out ticket showing it has been cleaned and how it was cleaned. Some shippers require different types of washes for different chemicals. If you have pulled dry van then you have to slow everything down even more with a tanker when driving.Slower on the onand off ramps and slower in the curves.

 

That's the first time I ever heard of running the lines differently. The pump on our truck uses the lower pipe as the suction side and the top cross over pipe is on the pump side. Thankfully, We don't run that pump that often.. Too much work pulling pump hoses.. The gas is where its at!!

 

With the suction on the top pump cleans out better. Less retained product..... You gas guys got it easy........ Ha ha. See ya around.