Wanting to leave the Vans and come to the Tanker World!!

Heniff/Superior is a good place to start.

 

I say go for it. Once I did, I never looked back. The good thing about your location is, as you know, there are tons of trucking jobs in SC. My friend lives in Spartanburg and is constantly telling me about all the companies desperate for drivers. Research the different types of tanker jobs and see if one sounds more interesting to you than the others. Food grade, fuel, gases/cryo...I'm no expert, but fuel and gases I believe pay a lot better than food grade. Of the three, I"ve only done fuel, so I have no idea what the others are like. I hear drivers who do cryo love it. Maybe look into those companies.

 

Trimac Transportation has facilities in Holly Hill and Duncan.

 

Pay varies on what type of material you haul but it's generally pretty good and easy work. I started out pulling a tanker then made the mistake of going to flatbed. Now I'm going back to tanker lol hazmat and food grade will typically pay the best, and at a lot of facilities you don't even have to get out of the truck cause they do everything.

The downside is, if the tank wash does a crappy job then you could end up sitting or returning the load. One place I went to literally took the cap off the back of the trailer and stuck his nose inside the discharge to smell it and make sure it was clean. Then swabbed the valve and the hose with alcohol. If there was any residue whatsoever from a previous load they'd reject it

 

I've done foodgrade, hazmat, fuel, cryo, and propane.

Fuel used to be a lot of fun, not so much anymore with the unstoppable 14hr clock.

Cryo was nice but nitpicky, and I'm pretty sure most of them have driver facing cameras now, which I don't like. YMMV.
Very clean work, interesting customers.

Chem was just okay. Always getting eye-balled by DOT, lots of "All Hazmats Enter Scales", hazmat-restricted routes, blah blah. Our company had an excellent safety record, but I still got hassled regularly.

I like food grade. No hassles from DOT. I like the company I'm with now. They're pretty laid back, just dispatch me then leave me to it. The pay isn't tops, but the lack of micromanagement is more important to me. We don't have a terminal in SC, though.

I enjoyed propane most out of all of them, but it was VERY seasonal in the Northeast, where I lived at the time, and it paid decent but not great. I was working for an owner/operator with two trucks. Heck of a nice guy, but I was a no benefits part timer. There were like seven drivers sharing two trucks, just to keep them moving.

I heard he went out in the "Big Crash of 2008".

Anyway, I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

Don't know why the recruiter told you that; the company hires from approved cdl schools. Website doesn't show anything about needing previous tanker experience.
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• For Entry Level drivers- Must attend a class A CDL Truck Driving Training course with at least 200 hours of instruction and provide transcripts. Must present Diploma for Entry Level Driver Training in Accordance with 49 CFR 380.503
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• Experienced drivers -
  • Have 12 months verifiable Tractor / trailer experience under a DOT Certified Carrier.