Why would anyone want to pull tanker trailers (as opposed to dry van)?

Better pay and benefits.
Easier to park due to reduced dimensions.
Less waiting time to load/unload.
Better treatment by shipper/receiver.
Loaded one way. Empty backhauls. Usually.
Dry van is general freight.
Tanker is highly specialized work.
Recession proofed. That fuel/oxygen/dry bulk/milk is really needed by your customer.
Shorter distances. Usually.
No touch freight.
Paid downtime and overtime when necessary.
No forced dispatched due to higher safety standards.
If I missed anything, I defer to Mr. @lual to complete the list.
I only did dry vans and reefer in my career.
I wished to have a chance on tankers.
It never happened. Oh, well.

 

you'll need the tanker endorsement in a van if you load totes.

tankers aren't all that easy if you do all the hose dragging and climbing on the trailer in 10 degree weather and blowing snow.

been there done that.

 

I suppose the same reason some folks become a Marine vs an Airman or fish for trout and some walleye.

I pull have pulled opendeck, van, and Reefer. I like the neat things you can pull with opendeck, the exercise, and being able to see your load at times. I enjoy Reefer because I like food and being part of the logistics of source to dc. - I enjoy the feeling of the product I haul feeds people. didn’t enjoy dryvan. I was bored with it.

 

What I like about dry van as an independent O/O is running my own business, completely. What I don't like about it is all the stuff everyone hates about it. Waiting, sharing docks with the dumbest and laziest in trucking (sorry but true), etc.

I really have no interest in reefer because I hate food warehouses, and they seem to hate me.

I'd like to give flatbed a try but I'd definitely need to work for someone first to do it and I think it would be more trouble than I want to fool with. Yes, I'm getting old and lazy.

Honestly, if I ever take a company job it will likely be tanker.

 

because I’m by myself. I pull in, have paperwork signed and unload by myself. Then, I’m on the road. It’s more physical and requires some thinking when things go wrong. It can be miserable when the weather is bad, but I’ll take it anytime over sitting in a door for umpteen hours dealing with rotten shippers and receivers.

 

I've ran dry van, flatbed, step deck and tanker (both liquid and pneumatic). I didn't like dry van because I hated waiting at shippers and receivers. Plus, if the van wasn't loaded the way you wanted it loaded, you had to ask them to rearrange the load, which could lead to an argument between you and the shipper. Mostly you're loading and unloading during normal business hours. Also worrying about axle weights.

Flatbed/step deck was okay, it was a challenge tarping when I first started. I hauled a lot of lumber and trim board which was stacked unevenly a lot of the time so getting the tarps right could be a pain. There could be a lot of waiting around at shippers and receivers, and again you're loading and unloading during normal business hours.

Pneumatic tanks aren't bad, but every product loads and unloads differently. One day I'd haul injection carbon and had to load it in 2 holes to get the axle weights right, the next day if load cement and load it in 1 hole. Takes some learning to get used to. Occasionally you'd get a place that would load or unload you 24 hrs.

Liquid tanker is my favorite because I don't have to wait around. On occasion I haul some food grade or oil products and have to wait for a sample to be analyzed, but I get paid for all my time. Hauling asphalt, LPG and tar, I set my own schedule. You load your own trailer, customer unloads it (except with LPG). Occasionally you pump the load off but even that isn't hard and you'll go empty within an hour. 24/7 loading and unloading at most places, no worries about axle weights. Backing a tanker is significantly easier than a van or a deck, mainly because you're 45-48 ft in length and if you're backing into somewhere tight and you're jackknifed, you can literally look in your mirror and see under your trailer to see where your blindside axles are.

 

Ive pulled bullrack, hopper bottom, belt trailer, fertilizer chassis, open deck, and tanker locally; ive also pulled reefer and dry van OTR. Of those I enjoyed bullrack and tanker the most.

The hardest to learn for me was reefer... Sliding axles, how to load, how to deal with problems, ECT. All the others were pretty easy for me, but I grew up in agriculture so maybe it was just second nature.

I currently pull an A-train tanker locally. By far some of the easiest work I've ever done. Its a very common sense type of work... Hook hose here and there, open valves, product flows to pump... Doesnt get much simpler.