Pneumatic pros and cons

You're welcome. Pneumatics are really simple once you catch on to a few tricks. It's not hard work and you'll get to think a little.
What @x1Heavy said about not going on top of the trailer when the trailer is under pressure was true but don't worry too much about the trailer exploding. A trailer has a pop-off valve to release excessive pressure and that valve is one of the things you check frequently to make sure it's working right.
Watching your gauges is key. If the tank pressure starts to climb...a sure indicator of a plug about to happen... and if you can't control it with your line air valve just shut the product valve off to stop the material flow.
I've never been comfortable with sitting in the truck while the trailer unloads. Too many things can happen...cracked fittings, burst hoses, overfilling the silo...that are more quickly dealt with if you're standing by the trailer.
If you're lucky enough to pull the same trailer and keep the same hoses all the time you'll have a better chance of catching small problems before they get big because you'll know your equipment..
Carry extra hose gaskets and cam-loc ears and pins, Don't drop your hose ends on the ground, it makes the fittings egg shaped and they won't seal right.
If you plug up, don't panic. A plug up simply means that you've tried to push too much product too far without enough air. Some plants with long horizontal and high vertical runs to the silo will be more prone to plugging than others. Everybody plugs up sooner or later and if you don't let it happen all the time you'll be okay.
Cement and fly ash are the easiest thing to unload. Lime is a little trickier. I've never hauled plastic so I can't comment on that.

 

I don’t get too crazy on the pressure so usually I don’t have to babysit much. With what we haul you pretty much know when you crack the first hopper if it’s going to flow or give you issues.

 

if ya ain't pluggin' from time to time, ya ain't tryin'....(within reason, of course)

 

caustic soda beads, blower sucked on a desiccant can about 6 ft tall and 4 ft around cause moisture makes it melt...you hooked up and ran just line pressure for 15 min to dry out the customer's plumbing and were told Don't plug....

dropped a few beads on the ground on a humid day and they were tiny pools of caustic [LYE] in seconds...

 

What I do hate is mortar.

I went over to American Concrete at the end of Pulaski and whitemarsh access near Hammerman to unload it.

Dispatch told me you got all day, here is 70 dollars for that load. Have fun.

4 hours to unload that miserable thing.

Got back to the office and all I heard was he he he...

Ok two can play that game... (They never sent me on another...)

 

Maybe try Southern Illinois Motor Express (SIMX)? Main terminal is in Cutler, IL. Website says they only require 1 yr. exp with no major violations...SIMX Trucking | Ava, IL 62907 I see them at power plants I haul out of in the Ohio Valley, seems like a decent outfit? Might be worth a look.

 

Try A&R Transport, Morris, IL, plastic pellets and powders.