Indian River

Tanker_82 · Apr 22, 2025

Redtwin said: ↑

Seals and wash tickets. Very important and I know you aren't used to dealing with either of them with flatbed.

Every tank will have a top opening (dome) and a rear opening (outlet). Make sure every clean or loaded tank you pick up has seals on both openings. Make sure you check the numbers on the seals and match them to the paperwork. If a seal is missing or numbers don't match, don't move the tank until you make some calls and get that squared away.

Wash tickets are like gold. If you don't have one for a clean tank or there isn't one with the paperwork for a loaded tank, don't move until you get it fixed. You *will* get rejected if you show up to any customer without a valid wash ticket. Hopefully dispatch can get a copy of the wash ticket from the tank wash or shipper, but if they can't, they won't be happy about eating the cost of whatever the product is and it can be very expensive.

Tank washes also expire, it can be anywhere from 24-72 hours depending on the customer so double check the time and date on the ticket. Call dispatch and confirm with them that the ticket you have is valid for the customer. Sometimes tanks can sit at a tank wash for too long and the ticket expires. Dispatch *should* know which tanks are good, but cover yourself if they send you to a tank wash to pick up a pre-cleaned tank.

Dairy plants will wash the tank after unloading it and very often they will seal the wash ticket inside the rear outlet dust cover so you can't physically check it. Those scenarios are the only ones where you would move a clean tank without being able to check wash ticket. You should still check that top and outlet are sealed though. Most dairies use plastic seals so be careful handling them if you have to twist it to see the number. If the seal breaks you have to deal with it before you leave.

I have had a tank rejected for a broken plastic seal. I really don't think I broke it when I was checking the number, but the shipper said it was broken and they get the final say.

Metal wire seals are best...if you have a good cutter to remove them. Occasionally you may run into a customer that doesn't have the means to cut a metal seal or have a policy that their employees are not allowed on top of tanks which means you will be climbing up to open the top.

As for driving, tanks are only about 45 feet long and the tandems are at the back so they are easier to back up and you don't have trailer tail swing to worry about. The load surge is real and it can hit very hard if the liquid is thin and you need to make sudden braking/acceleration movements. If you have ever been rear ended in a car it can feel as bad as that. Thicker liquids will surge much less. Something like frozen concentrated juice you probably won't feel at all. Single strength (NFC) juice or water, watch out.

This is probably too long, so any food grade specific questions (I don't know Bynum stuff), feel free to ask. It will help any new Indian River drivers also so hopefully Tanker82 won't mind them in his thread.
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Definitely good input. I completely agree about the cable seals. I hate it when they put the plastic ones on with the numbers facing down where a person has to bend it to check the numbers while hoping it doesn’t snap. Personally, I take pictures of my seals until the load is delivered in case one gets removed going across the country. It proves the shipper did their job putting them on and proves I checked them before leaving with it in case something happens between locations.

nextgentrucker · Apr 22, 2025

Redtwin said: ↑

Seals and wash tickets. Very important and I know you aren't used to dealing with either of them with flatbed.

Every tank will have a top opening (dome) and a rear opening (outlet). Make sure every clean or loaded tank you pick up has seals on both openings. Make sure you check the numbers on the seals and match them to the paperwork. If a seal is missing or numbers don't match, don't move the tank until you make some calls and get that squared away.

Wash tickets are like gold. If you don't have one for a clean tank or there isn't one with the paperwork for a loaded tank, don't move until you get it fixed. You *will* get rejected if you show up to any customer without a valid wash ticket. Hopefully dispatch can get a copy of the wash ticket from the tank wash or shipper, but if they can't, they won't be happy about eating the cost of whatever the product is and it can be very expensive.

Tank washes also expire, it can be anywhere from 24-72 hours depending on the customer so double check the time and date on the ticket. Call dispatch and confirm with them that the ticket you have is valid for the customer. Sometimes tanks can sit at a tank wash for too long and the ticket expires. Dispatch *should* know which tanks are good, but cover yourself if they send you to a tank wash to pick up a pre-cleaned tank.

Dairy plants will wash the tank after unloading it and very often they will seal the wash ticket inside the rear outlet dust cover so you can't physically check it. Those scenarios are the only ones where you would move a clean tank without being able to check wash ticket. You should still check that top and outlet are sealed though. Most dairies use plastic seals so be careful handling them if you have to twist it to see the number. If the seal breaks you have to deal with it before you leave.

I have had a tank rejected for a broken plastic seal. I really don't think I broke it when I was checking the number, but the shipper said it was broken and they get the final say.

Metal wire seals are best...if you have a good cutter to remove them. Occasionally you may run into a customer that doesn't have the means to cut a metal seal or have a policy that their employees are not allowed on top of tanks which means you will be climbing up to open the top.

As for driving, tanks are only about 45 feet long and the tandems are at the back so they are easier to back up and you don't have trailer tail swing to worry about. The load surge is real and it can hit very hard if the liquid is thin and you need to make sudden braking/acceleration movements. If you have ever been rear ended in a car it can feel as bad as that. Thicker liquids will surge much less. Something like frozen concentrated juice you probably won't feel at all. Single strength (NFC) juice or water, watch out.

This is probably too long, so any food grade specific questions (I don't know Bynum stuff), feel free to ask. It will help any new Indian River drivers also so hopefully Tanker82 won't mind them in his thread.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!! You said dairy plants put the wash tickets inside the outlet, do they email us the tickets, or do we just assume that they put them in the trailer, connect to it then hit the road?

Redtwin · Apr 22, 2025

Tanker_82 said: ↑

Definitely good input. I completely agree about the cable seals. I hate it when they put the plastic ones on with the numbers facing down where a person has to bend it to check the numbers while hoping it doesn’t snap. Personally, I take pictures of my seals until the load is delivered in case one gets removed going across the country. It proves the shipper did their job putting them on and proves I checked them before leaving with it in case something happens between locations.
Click to expand...

Great idea, I never thought of doing that.

Redtwin · Apr 22, 2025

nextgentrucker said: ↑

Thanks!!! You said dairy plants put the wash tickets inside the outlet, do they email us the tickets, or do we just assume that they put them in the trailer, connect to it then hit the road?
Click to expand...

You just have to go on faith that they put it in there. I suppose you could go stand at the back of the tank to check but I have never bothered. Also, some plants won't want drivers out of their trucks as we don't have hair nets and sanitary clothing etc.

nextgentrucker · Apr 22, 2025

Redtwin said: ↑

You just have to go on faith that they put it in there. I suppose you could go stand at the back of the tank to check but I have never bothered. Also, some plants won't want drivers out of their trucks as we don't have hair nets and sanitary clothing etc.
Click to expand...

Cool, also I'm kinda nervous to drive tanker on the mountains, I was coming from Bridgeport took I-75 north, to I-81 north then I-77 South going to Winston-Salem, and I was going down that the Down-Grade and man, I was thinking Man... What if I was in Tanker and the surge go to the side and roll me over on the side mountain, LMFAO!!! That scares me more than anything, I already don't like the mountains...

BM 58 · Apr 22, 2025

Unless you take some sort of local gig your going to get in the mountains at some point.

drvrtech77 · Apr 22, 2025

nextgentrucker said: ↑

Cool, also I'm kinda nervous to drive tanker on the mountains, I was coming from Bridgeport took I-75 north, to I-81 north then I-77 South going to Winston-Salem, and I was going down that the Down-Grade and man, I was thinking Man... What if I was in Tanker and the surge go to the side and roll me over on the side mountain, LMFAO!!! That scares me more than anything, I already don't like the mountains...
Click to expand...

You’re overthinking everything..

Tanker_82 · Apr 22, 2025

nextgentrucker said: ↑

Cool, also I'm kinda nervous to drive tanker on the mountains, I was coming from Bridgeport took I-75 north, to I-81 north then I-77 South going to Winston-Salem, and I was going down that the Down-Grade and man, I was thinking Man... What if I was in Tanker and the surge go to the side and roll me over on the side mountain, LMFAO!!! That scares me more than anything, I already don't like the mountains...
Click to expand...

You’ll be fine. Just go slow on your curves. (10 mph below the limit is a good rule of thumb) Don’t whip a loaded tank around in a U-turn the way you would a box or flatbed. Be mindful of pulling off the road in areas where the trailer tires will drop down or tilt the tank too much. Running into tight curves at high speed is what will get you faster than anything. Don’t base your driving off of what the tanker in front of you is doing. They might be empty when you’re not. If they give you a road test, ask them to do it in a loaded tank. Ask the person with you if you can purposely stab the brakes somewhere or let them drive a few miles to do it for you and get it surging so you will know what it feels like before hauling your first load.

nextgentrucker · Apr 22, 2025

Tanker_82 said: ↑

You’ll be fine. Just go slow on your curves. (10 mph below the limit is a good rule of thumb) Don’t whip a loaded tank around in a U-turn the way you would a box or flatbed. Be mindful of pulling off the road in areas where the trailer tires will drop down or tilt the tank too much. Running into tight curves at high speed is what will get you faster than anything. Don’t base your driving off of what the tanker in front of you is doing. They might be empty when you’re not. If they give you a road test, ask them to do it in a loaded tank. Ask the person with you if you can purposely stab the brakes somewhere or let them drive a few miles to do it for you and get it surging so you will know what it feels like before hauling your first load.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was going to be my other question, do you guys ever get used to the surge or will it be that annoying thing everyday that come with the job?

drvrtech77 · Apr 22, 2025

nextgentrucker said: ↑

Thanks, that was going to be my other question, do you guys ever get used to the surge or will it be that annoying thing everything everyday that come with the job?
Click to expand...

I can tell you from experience pulling tankers… Always come to expect a surge with any load you pull… some will be more than others. That way you’re not caught off guard… The other thing pull in tankers is you’ll have to learn how to properly stop leave more space than you normally would because the surge could push you forward not much but it could be enough to tap somebody if you’re too close to somebody… But overall, I think you’ll enjoy pulling tankers

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