Switching to tankers

What kind of tanker? Don't yank a smooth bore unless you like whiplash Just have to learn how to shift with the flow,otherwise not much different than pulling anything else.

 

kwf, not quite true..... at least there's more to the slosh factor than just the shifting.

EDOG. What kwf and I are talking about are trailers with just one compartment and no baffles. They never run full because of the weights of the products you're hauling. They're unbaffled because they have to be squeaky clean for the product and that's not as easy with baffles in em. The easiest way to understand "slosh" is to take a 2 liter soft drink bottle, fill it halfway with water, lay it on it's side while holding it loosely in your hands and move it back and forth and side to side. You can see the liquid move inside your "tank" and feel it move your container about.

Tankers take a whole lot more awareness of your speed, especially in cornering and ramps, and such things as following distances and braking distances. Basically you just have to be alot smoother in your tecniques than you do in vans or even flats. It's real easy to flip one because of the slosh. One of our yard guys laid one over in the yard at 5mph because he cut too sharp too quick.

You'll be trained in handling the product by the company and be paired with a trainer for awhile. Alot of the chemical haulers are hiring now and the herbicide season will be starting soon.

Good luck to ya.

 

I have been hauling fuel tankers for 14 yrs. Fuel tankers still get some sloshing but you will not feel it to much front to back but you will feel it side to side!! (If your compartment is not full) You will just have to slow it down in turns!! If you have a split load on (meaning you del. half somewhere and have to take the other part to another location) and you have to make a hard turn, or a quick move you can watch the wheels come off the ground on your trailer as the product moves. I haul gas and ethanol and sometime have to load split loads, you just have to load the trailer in the compartments that are not back to back. For ex. if you have a 5 hole tralier and you are to load it for a split you will TRY to load pots 2,5 for the first half and 1,3,4 for the second half. sometimes that just isn't possable so you just have to take extra carefull when that happens. On the other hand a full tank is not bad.

 

Kittyfoot pretty much summed it up nicely. And while kwf was probably using a little hyperbole, you wont get whiplash with a shot gun trailer, but if you forget to put the lid back on your coffee cup, you might get a little spillage sometimes.

 

Tankers are the best and I would never go back to vans or flats. When you first start out you can pretend or even place a cup of water on the dash that's filled 3/4 the way up. Then drive and don't spill a drop. You've got enough experience to know how to drive smoothly and that's what you'll need to do until you know the truck. Luckly, most gasoline tankers have compartment with baffles in then. So you'll have bulkheads and baffles. Most gasoline tankers have 5 compartments.

You'll need to slow down in your turns and don't make a sudden lane changes. Safety will be your number factor and you'll always need to remember wants behind you. Always keep you tanks either vapor rich or product rich. I suggest using vapor recovery everywhere for gasoline because it's just safer. You can drop diesel with one hose but gasoline you need to use two. Set yourself a routine and stick to it. Always check your product tags by looking at them, never assume. And when the product is loaded on the truck always make sure your tags for that compartment are correct. You'll get it down and I'll bet you never switch.

 

Loading a tank without going over-gross weight can be a challenge involving the temperature of the product.

Whereas reefers wait at grocery warehouses, flatbeds wait at steel mills, tankers wait at tank washes.

Tank drivers wear protective equipment when handling hazardous liquids. Emergency showers or a hose with the water running are provided by the consignee, but their employees are nowhere in sight. The tanker driver is required to flush his pump and hoses with strong solvents provided by the consignee, but they often fail to provide enough solvent or a legal way to dispose it.

Tanker drivers often load unassisted from rail cars, or deliver to farm co-ops at night when they are closed.

 

SOME tank drivers do all that .
We always gross under 78,0000 .
We have a tank wash at our terminal and all loads are dedicated . I get empty , bring it to the terminal and drop it .
All loading and unloading requiring a chemical suit is handled by our customers . I have never had a suit on . They use their pumps and hoses .

 

I have NEVER been required to wash my own pump at a cust. (but to be fair, I have been offered a water hose to rinse stuff out if I wanted). Pump is washed at a tank wash. Tanks are also dropped at tank wash and a trailer that has already been washed is taken. No waiting. Overweight, not hard, weigh light, load (if you are lucky load on scale) weigh heavy. Overweight, don't leave, take product off. If you are over gross it is your own #### fault.