Besides pay why is tanker better?

I suppose if you get with the right company, they pay you to unload a tanker (since you have to attend the hose, gauges, pump, and connections, etc...). Might even get paid for your time wasted at wash-out facilities. I don't know.

 

Loading and unloading time, my dry bulk trailer loads in 6 minutes, including printing the BOL and closing the lids (Air Lids). Unloads in 20 minutes into a silo, faster on the ground.

 

Loading and unload time....how u are treated at the plants...the emerge...u actually paid for everything you do...don't get pulled into scales most of the time...half of the time u don't touch anything but paper work...u get loaded on the scale so no weight issue... No sliding tandems or worries about tandem weight...home time is much better....mostly out and back freight....and the money is great

 

Well if you're driving tanker you don't have to mess with lumpers. And in turn you can dispense with pallets and pallet jacks. Also on the whole, receivers and shippers are a little more cordial in the tanker world than other types of hauling.
I hauled reefer at the start of my career and had to deal with rude receivers in cold storage facilities especially at places such as Cisco.
The only drawback I experience with tanker is that some chemical plants can have really petty rules that can get on my nerves but I would never haul anything else. Hazmat usually pays better I can concur. And over time you will get used to the surge

 

The pay in tanker work is pretty much the same as anything else out there anymore these days at least in the north east. The part I always enjoyed with it was very limited amount of contact with other people you dealt with on both ends of the load. At night you often wouldn't even deal with anyone at all. Half hour to load and 45 minutes to unload. It was gravy for the most part.

 

I can only speak of gasoline haulers when it comes to tankers. I found that once you got established and your record is good your skills are in demand. The community is closer and most of the time the companies treat the drivers with respect. They will listen to a driver and just about all of the companies want good safety records. The pay was the best I ever had or seen once you got towards the top. The benefits were great were my company had three retirement plans where you could get in all three. There was two of the plans where the company put some of their money into your plan once you place a part of your pay. Like 4% in one plan and 6% in another. The last was just like a 401K plan.

The downsides are you have to know about the product and you are responsible for more. The gasoline business is a 24hr 7 days a week business. Most of the time you start at nights and over the weekends. The shift no one wants and you'll have to take. The positive side is you get to go home every night and if you shop around you can still find good companies that pay by the hour. And like I said before once you get established your have companies watching you. No more job hopping because you can choose the best company for you. If you find a good company and start young and stay there and don't touch those retirement plans you can retire early and be set with money.

 

I can only speak for my company, but from what I gather from reading posts here and hearing guys talk, we are treated far better than most van companies treat their guys. I'm known as David, not driver xxxx when I go to or call into a terminal. Also over Christmas I was deadheaded home from Appleton, WI because my terminal manager wants her drivers home for Christmas if it is possible.

 

Not much to say that hasn't already been said. Even if van paid more or slightly better I would still pull a tanker, for all the above reasons.