The Cryo Hauler Thread

Are the gauges and tank issues related to design, current process, or maintenance issues?

 

My last contract was with a strict carrier. I am fine with following rules, but can get annoyed if there is no consistency, or if trailer maintenance issues require an act of Congress to be addressed. In your experience, how are the tanker carriers and their customers fixing things that need fixing?

 

Great question.

Previously -- I left a tanker job, without even another job waiting for me....in part because I was not satisfied with their trailer maintenance. I felt like I needed to get out -- before my "luck" ran out.

I think most others here would likely agree -- when I say that trailer/equipment maintenance will vary from one terminal to the next -- some will be pretty good about it....while others....well, not so much.

When you visit a terminal...look around. If you're observant -- you can see if trailer maintenance is generally a priority. Also: talking with different drivers there will also help fill in the blanks, as well.

Some customers I delivered to had great maintenance & upkeep on their tanks, etc; others...well...it varied. You take the bad with the good.

If your last gig was with a strict carrier -- & you have lots of driving experience...& an immaculate safety record -- you may well in fact be a good "fit" with one of the private cryo fleets.

To keep your quality of life at worthwhile levels -- you really need to keep you daily commute to/from a terminal within say....30 minutes, or less.

In hindsight -- I'm glad I kept that daily commute short.

-- L

 

Does lack of trailer upkeep factor into personal safety hazard?...would a driver get cold fluid/gas on them because of poor trailer upkeep?

 

Hilarious! At our last safety meeting, they didnt show us the vid, but gave a story about how a guy recently was caught watching movies on his phone, which he had taped to the steering wheel. Asked if he was fired, and got a chuckle that no he wasnt, because he wasnt using his handles to hold it and never touched it while he was driving. So they just yelled at him for being distracted. We all eat and drink while on the road. We have a few of our guys that walk to the truck with plates of food that they put on the dash. So many of these so called safety regs are Manager specific. Ours doesnt like anyone telling him what to do, and he has an iron backbone. Its admirable on one hand and negates things on the other. Most of our people would be instafired in a week in they worked at your terminal.

 

Absolutely. Various connections in the doghouse can leak as bolts get loose from temperature changes and pump vibration, then add lazy drivers that wont do the bare minimum in taking care of everything. Seals can also get blown or crack. We dont have a shop at our barn, we only have ourselves, one third party Cryo mechanic that services all the cryo carriers in the Portland Area, and an on call mobile mechanic. I get teased all the time because I carry a tool box with me, and a giant set of pliers. Them:"Why do you carry all those tools?" Me: "well, did you know that fitting was leaking?" Them: "Yeah, so?" Me: "Did you report or even tell anyone about it?" Them: "No. What does that matter?" Me: "Youre the reason I carry tools"

But you wear your required PPE and proper clothing , and be methodical with your procedures, and you'll be fine, even if there is a leak somewhere. . Its not like the movies where you get hit by liquid and it instantly flashes your hand into brittle glass. But you do have keep in mind where the hazards are. You dont lean up against cold plumbing or lines while unloading. You keep your visor anytime youre at the back of the trailer or near a connection. Any leak will have Vapor. Depending on humidity, there is usually fog with unloading, but vapor from a leak with be different and experience will show it to you. You almost have to deliberately stand in an open flow for several seconds or deliberately put your skin in direct contact with croygenic liquid to get cryoburned.

 

all 3. Each tank whether it be a tanker or a customer tank, has their own personality. There are some tanks that simply behave and dont offer any drama. Then you have some, especially loading multiple tanks at once(We have some sites where you fill 5 tanks from one connection) where you have spend every minute adjusting valves to the customer tank pressure in line. Each tanker has it personality. Pluming in the back is different on every single trailer that we have at my barn. So sometimes the muscle memory makes you reach for a valve that isnt the valve you want. Sometimes the gauges dont work right or read just a little bit off. Or one builds pressure super easy, while another, you have to summon pagan Gods and sacrifice chickens to get it to build pressure.
Then add that sometimes a customer tank will behave 5 times in a row and then the next few times it raises hell and makes you pull your hairs out and then is fine again for several more times. no rhyme or reason. It just hates you that particular day.

 

So dual tanks I'll fill both but any more and I split the fill depending on levels.
5 tanks all about equal?
Each gets 30. The fill takes the same amount of time and no running back and forth imho