Tanker Jobs

I just moved from Florida. There are almost NO jobs that pay anything above minimum wage there so trucking is about it.....except there are almost no trucking companies hiring in the southern half of that state. I know, I tried.

 

The best paying tanker job is liquid nitroglycerine. Dunno exactly how much it pays..... nobody has ever made a complete run.

 

urbancowboy your post worrys me greatly. No dis respect on my part. Till you have 5 years behind you stay away from Gasoline, jetfuel, and snything else that goes BOOM! They pay well for a reason. One mistake and you die. 9500 gallons of gas will take out one square block! The driver always dies. Shifting on the tide is an art. A 1/2 empty tanker is one if not the most dangerous things a driver can pull. Dead people don't need money. It's very rare but things happen. Hope this helps.

 

My first paid driving job was/is hauling diesel in the oilfield. I've also hauled a little gasoline as well but mostly diesel. You learn real quick about floating gears and up shifting while the load is held in the back and down shifting while holding the load up front. You also need to watch out for curves in the road and don't just slam on the brakes either. If you get sea sick easy, I would also reconsider hauling liquids as well lol It doesn't seem to matter, that fuel tends to slosh around and it feels like a boat out to sea.

Anyhow, I consider my self a decent driver with above average driving skills. Now with that said, I would agree that a person should get a little experience before swtching to fuel, especially gasoline!

 

Just jerk a load of sulfuric acid once.... 3....2.....1.....BAM. You'll think you just got hit.

You've been-----\/\/\/\-----Thunderstruck!!!

 

go to pumpkin driver dot com and find the tanker forum section and read up on some of the posts there. it is very enlightening into the chemical side of tanker hauling. And certainly, at Schneider, they aren't getting rich but there are a few members there that tell it the way it is. At least with someone like Schneider, if you wanted to bail out of tanker, there would be oilfield and van options and you wouldn't have to change companies.

I don't work for Schneider and in no way recruit for Schneider but have researched them extensivly and from what I can gather they have a pretty extensive tanker training program as of this posting (Oct 2011). On the flip side, it is my opinion Schneider's days in the tanker business are numbered.

 

I haul fuel for Gemini which is a Loves company and "love" it. The work is great and steady plus I make around 65 a year. I am home every day sleeping in my own bed and have two days off each week. Hauling fuel is quite tricky and takes an added level of caution when dealing with the other crazy drivers out there. Driving an 80 thousand pound bomb around can be a little scary. lol

 

I have been doing tanker all except about five years since I started driving in 89...I pull industrial gases (cryogenic and compressed) the money is top notch..most of the big boys ( Linde,Praxair,Air products,Air Liquide) all pay about the same ..its not for everybody tight schedules,slow trucks,nightshift,weekend work..lots of safety training....if you can play the game they will fill your pockets..local 60k-75k, team and rest and roll 75k-95k+...(IMHO) its the best of the best..my average is 2600 miles weekly 4 loads 12-16 deliveries average around 67-70 hours....sleep in the holiday inn everyday....stay away from contract haulers(cti,jack b kelly,genox) they pay low wages co. drivers are averaging 50 cpm contractors are averaging 39 cpm...I did foodgrade years ago it was enjoyable but the money was low..I also did gas and diesel fuel for a contractor and pay was very low...I figure if you could haul fuel for an oil co( marathon,exxon,etc) the money would prob be top notch as good or better than industrial gases....stay away from any contract co.s and get on as a company driver the monies way better....hazmat will pay way better than foodgrade...good luck

 

I agree making 6 figures and being home every night is great. I wish tho that you would learn your truck and never ever refer to the truck as a BOMB. If you think it's a bomb then you're not doing your job right and you've caused an unsafe condition. Always use vapor recovery at both places. When you load and unload. When you do that you take the vapors from the tank in the ground and put them in your tank. When you get back to load you push the vapors out back to the tank farm. It what we call being vapor rich and product rich. No fire can happen inside of your tank with that type of mixture. It's up to you not to induce air into the mixture. If you're into an accident and the tank rips open then you have a huge problem. If you're in an accident and nothing has happened to the tanks relax. Unless there's a fire then put it out. If you feel your truck is going to explode because there's a small fire at the pump then you need some training. We've had drivers disconnect the trailer from the truck and move it away from a fire. 9 times out of 10 the fire is put out with your equipment on board. It takes gasoline 600 degrees before it will self ignite. All other ignition sources are your problem and it's you job to make sure the area gets cleared of those problems. Good Luck.

 

I do cryogenic but have done petroleum. Wages are all over the place but I would not haul a fuel tanker for less than $19.00 an hour. Remember you're pulling a bomb around. The only good thing is that if something happens it will make for a cheap funeral.