Pneumatic tanker vs. Hazmat tanker vs. Smoothbore tanker

Not trying to muddy the waters here, but you can find food grade (flour, sugar, corn) and hazmat (blasting powder and similar) commodities that are hauled in pneumatic tankers.

There's a whole lot to say about each of the three types you mentioned, far more than I can put into one message, so if you have any questions about specific aspects of any of those three I'll be happy to answer them.

 

Pneumatic trailers have a higher center of gravity than liquid tanker when loaded. Pneumatics pull mostly dry products, but I believe there are slurries sometimes hauled. You would not want a sloshing product in such a high CG trailer. One company I investigated pulled sugar, plastic beads, flour, etc in pneumatic trailers.

 

Liquid hazmat (petroleum & chemicals) pays the most. From what I'm told, food grade (both liquid & dry) pays the least.

Pneumatics don't haul liquids, most of their commodities are powders, pellets, beads, prills, granules, etc. Many pneumatic loads are cement or fly ash for ready-mix plants or roadbed stabilization, lime for paper mills or roadbed stabilization, and plastic pellets for injection molding plants.

@tscottme mentioned slurries. All the slurries I've ever seen, lime slurries, have been pulled in liquid tankers with spreader bars attached to the rear for spreading the slurry onto the ground. But I have hauled plenty of crushed lime in a pneumatic and unloaded it into a slaker located at the job site so that they could mix it with water to make slurry.

A slaker is a large tank where lime and water and mixed to produce a slurry, which is then pumped into a truck that spreads the slurry on the soil:
http://www.asiequipmentsales.com/img/products/44/img_61.jpg

 

It’s more like Smooth bore Vs baffled tank. One rides nice and with the other (Smooth Bore) you’ll actually get out and see if someone rear ended you at a stop light if you stop too fast.

 

That has been my experience.

Perhaps they don't want to haul hazmat, don't want to deal with the surge (although pneumatics can occasionally surge a little bit until the product gets level), perhaps they like the time off or the working conditions better, etc.

I've never done cryo so I will defer to those who have. But from being a member of this particular subforum for a few years, I am under the impression that cryo companies are extremely strict on safety measures. I'm also under the impression that some of them suffer from a bad case of (if I may invent a word) corporatitis.

 

Corporatitis.... I like it. LoL.

I've run dry bulk for the last 4 and a half years. From a strictly pay standpoint liquid HazMat and/or cryo may pay better, I don't know. I continue to do what I do because I like it. Everyone has a different situation and different needs that are important to them, it isn't always just about the money.

 

I ONLY hauled liquid HazMat in smoothbore trailers. One or two drivers had pneumatic experience and would pull the occasional pneumatic load the dedicated customer would dispatch. Pneumatic had more problems loading and unloading, something getting clogged, and that was probably because the shipper, driver, or receiver didn't unload pnematics frequently. The only problem with unloading liquid HazMat was our product would freeze around 45 F. Some of the products carried in pneumatics, I think sugar is one, if you use the wrong wir pressure or load/unload too fast the product heats up, melts sticks to the elbow of pipes and solidifies.

I think you entered this thread with the impression that the various types of tanker work (fuel, hazmat, pneumatics) one of them always pay more everywhere, than the other two, and one always pays less everywhere than the other two. That's not what I've seen, I only have 3 years in tanker so I don't know the pay rates everywhere. But there is more regional differences than I think you realize. Also, not everybody in tanker is only there because it pays and they don't only want the highest paying job, regardless of everything else like schedule, time of day, length of commute, etc. You are able to call companies in your area and do some of your own research instead of asking us to got get the answers for you. a 5 cents per mile difference for one type of trucking at a company that abuses you will not overcome the bad treatment or the inconvenient schedule, or some other difference between types of tank and the various companies you can work for. Cryo, used to have the reputation for being the cleanest and best paying work in tanker, but a lot of cryo companies have been bought up. Also, my experience is that tanker companies are not one giant organization spanning the area they have terminals. They are almost like a franchise. Each terminal location is like it's own world where the Terminal Manager is king. Pay can vary by terminal, even pay type. My tanker work was with a guaranteed weekly amount plus extra if we ran more miles. Most other terminals were paying percentage pay, some terminals had some drivers on percentage and some CPM/hourly.

If all of the drivers here ultimately agree HazMat pays more, but there are few if any HazMat jobs in your area are you going to work for lower pay because ON AVERAGE HazMat pays more? There were pneumatic tank drivers making more than me and cryo guys making less than me (hazmat). The pay, schedule, conditions where you work is what counts. There is no safety or comfort in averages. You work for one employer not an average employer.

Which companies have you talked to about tanker work? What type of schedule are you trying to get? Can you work nights regularly for a year or more?

 

Tanker pay is really going to be dependent on where you live if you plan to work locally.

In South Florida *all* truck driving jobs are low paying. Really no difference between hazmat or food grade tanker. Fuel hauling jobs are regularly advertised paying less than $1k per week, and you can make about the same hauling milk etc. Why go through the hassle of hazmat endorsement, fuel loading rack and squeezing into gas stations for no extra money.

No clue what cryo pays locally as I have never seen a job ad for it.

I do quite well with OTR food grade and it's probably the easiest of the tanker jobs as I don't usually do any loading or unloading. The most physical labor is hooking and unhooking tanks and climbing up to check top seals. No hose wrasslin or pump fiddling ever.