Pulling Tankers/fuel!!!!

well if your pulling tankers with no baffles in it say a 6000 gallon tanker with 4500 gallons of product that will make for some fun times you have to time your shifts and if the roads are bad you have to be careful cause when the load hits the front of the trailer it will push you forward

 

Oh yeah hauling liquid is very different and can be challenging at times. Granted I dont pull a true tanker I drive a front end concrete mixer, and if someone pulls out in front of ya an you have to get on the binders quick that load will shift and push you forward even more. We had one of our drivers with a full load of concrete hit the brakes an was dumping concrete all over cause it came shooting out the front end. Funny to had to haul a concrete mixer full of water to a job site to wet the ground down, that was a lot of water took about 20 minutes to load. Anyways I couldnt even step on the brakes without water wanting to shoot out the front of it, and every corner I had to take at about 2mph. Liquid moves and it moves fast when you dont want it to. Be very careful with your new job cause you're not just hauling liquid its a flamable liquid.

 

Don't believe that hauling gasoline or petroleum products is going to be hard and like a smooth bore. Even your bobtail is going to have at least 2 compartments unless you're hauling jet-a. In those compartments you'll also have baffles so you should even feel the load. I've pulled a half filled compartment out of 5 back to the terminal as retain and had no problems. Our trucks would hold 12,450 gallons of product and we all have loaded them in all different ways. You do have to pay attention on what your hauling plus watch your surroundings. But they will train you.

I would jump at that job because it should lead to a better paying job and you'll get the experience you need. One thing about gasoline the market hasn't dropped like freight. I saw where they posted only a 1% drop in supply for the forth quarter 09. Once you get trained, you'll be in demand more so than any general freight company.

 

Even with baffles or compartments you have to take turns or corners slower, the fluid , unless its a full load will still shift to the side when turning. Dont ever wanna tip over a tanker with fuel.

 

Our tankers have baffles with 3 inch holes in the 3-9 oclock positions.. When we carry any thing under 150-160 bbls, the movement of the water, makes the truck work harder, then if we carried 150-160 full loads.. Plus it moves you around like you are a ping pong ball. You have to be very careful when taken corners, and the water will slosh from side to side, and you can feel the load start to push you to one side of the road or the other..

 

He's talking about fuel tankers. Thats nothing like pulling 4500 gallons in a 7000 gallon smooth bore and still grossing 79,900. Them fuel trailers are eliptical for lower center of gravity, they're compartmentalized, and fuel is fairly light, so you can put alot on. Even If you don't have a full load on, you probably won't feel much. You still need to be smooth and carefull, but a fuel tanker will stay upright when a chemical or food grade tanker would have laid down long ago. I've seen some fuel haulers do things that would have the firefighters pulling the seat out of my ### with the jaws of life if I were to atempt them.

 

Well you're right and I'm sorry to think that there are people out there that would do that in any truck. My point is there's alot of hype about tankers that is unjust for some tanks. With gasoline your driving should be concise but not because of the tanker but because of the product you have onboard. Any tanker as well as a concrete mixer are top heavy so your turns should be slow and steady. But I do that in every truck and do not apply power until I'm almost out of the turn. That's old school and I was taught that way no matter what kind of truck.

 

I have 2 1/2 years driving tankers without baffles. my advice is easy on the gas when taking off. you don't want the liquid rushing to the back of the tanker to fast it will seem like your 5th wheel is being ripped off. the same when applying the brakes to hard or sudden will feel like you are being rear ended from the liquid rolling to the front. it's all about timing when you shift the gears up or down. to get a smooth you must time the liquid in the tanker when you shift. before you know it you won't even know you're hauling liquid. all this will come in time the more you drive. One last thing the smaller the load the rougher the ride when shifting,more empty space for liquid to run in.

 

One other little thing, you're gonna find out awkward it is at most scale sites to slow your rig to the slow speeds they require without getting the "pull onto the scales" light cause your load moved forward and tripped the overweight axle switch.

Best grins is watching some Super DOT guy trying to weigh a tanker on portables.