How do I get Tanker experience?

If you have driving experience, but not with tanks, the first thing most tanker outfits look at is your driving record and work history. If you have tickets, accidents or any safety violations your chance of getting hired are slim. A stable work history is important. Getting hired on as a rookie with no driving experience is possible, but not likely. I've heard that Schneider Tank will train you right out of school.
As far as making more money, it depends on the job and what you want to do. If you want to run local, toting a gas tanker around town, you need to go with one of the major oil companies, but hose jobs are hard to get, simply because the guys that get them don't quit very often. For hire gas haulers tend to make less than the oil company drivers. If you want to run otr hauling chemicals, again it will depend on the company and how their pay scale works, and how they operate. Some pay a % of the load. Thats okay as long as the rate is high enough. In percentage pay all your clock time will be included in your percentage, so don't expect to be paid extra for loading, unloading, and any time spent at a tank wash, or for empty miles. When I worked at Chemical Leaman we were paid mileage for driving, and then we were on the clock for everything else. A lot of companies that pay % run you out and bring you back empty. If they have a reload system in place you can make more money but you will be gone longer.
When I done this I always made a lot more money as a system driver, about double what I would have made as a local driver. I was there from the mid 80's thru the mid 90's and then I was making anywhere from $800 to $1300 a week, depending on how hard I ran. I was usually out 10-14 days when I ran the system. If I stayed local I could count on $500-$600 each week.
The one thing with tanking is that when you get to a delivery, most are pretty glad to see you. Not like a grocery warehouse where you show and are ignored and then have to pay a lumper to unload you, and get you out in timely fashion. Something else I noticed over the years, unless the inspector is gung ho and looking to put notches on his pistol, they pretty much leave you alone if the load is a placard load. Hope this helps a little and gives some perspective.

 

I'm paid percentage and get 40 cents a mile for all bobtail and deadhead miles . Also get detention time after 2 hours and accessory pay for using my truck compressor or pump .

 

I just got hired n kc but my co wanted 200,000 or more verifiable miles i get paid by the drop running local with horly wait pay at the rack its a goo job make 13to1500 a week

 

I can confirm Johnny99 assessment on working for a major oil company. That's where I retired from (early at that) years ago. It's almost impossible to get hired on and getting harder every day. The majors are starting to hire out the loads and closing the smaller terminals. You can still work for them but you'll have to move where the larger terminals are. For us that would be larger cities on the west coast like Los Angeles,Portland,Seattle,San Diego, and a few others but the smaller the city the more you have to deal with the rumors that the terminal will be closed.

The requirements to get hired are the strictest I've ever seen. They want in town gasoline tanker experience. That has more creditability than OTR, in fact they will take a driver that's never been OTR if all he's done is deliver loads to a local gas station. Of course your record has to be spotless including your credit rating unless they are in a jam and need a driver and then they pick the best of what they have. My company had a 5 year waiting list of applications. It pays to keep you application up to date because that shows them you're still interested. You should check once a month.

What most drivers do is work at or near the terminal where the majors are so they can keep up on what's going on. Any gas hauler here can tell you it's worse than a bunch of old ladies when it comes to gossip. As soon as one driver leaves a major it's like a feeding frenzy. So keeping your record clean and having a good reputation is a must. I left in 2000 making $1650 week with only 60 hours a week. Thay will say your base hourly wage is one figure but they will not guarantee any over time. But OT is there and I used 20 hours every week for over 10 years. Our schedule was 4 days a week at 10 hours a day. Any time over that was OT at time and a half. The bad deal with oil companies is they operate 24/7. Most companies bid on the shifts once a year so you can guess what the new drivers get. The only difference seniority has is in shift and vacation bidding. The trucks are assigned to the shift and not the driver. If you want a certain truck then you bid it no matter where it's assigned. No one does that because all the trucks are top of the line and it would be foolish to give up the days you want off. Any one can PM me if they have any questions. I'm retired now and I do not mind answering questions.

 

I just got hired on pulling tankers for a local family operated co in md delivering to nothing but gov,state,city, police etc. Places only !!! I'm glad to be back pulling tankers and if u want to do it just stick in there and some one might give u a chance , but most companies don't include school as exp. Period !!! Good luck

 

Your buying coffee I here. Good Luck mig

 

I think there should be a school for tankers , not for people with no experience driving but for experienced drivers with no tank experience .
I don't know about orientation at other carriers but our orientation sucked . Too little was covered and was a total waste of my time .
Nobody got time behind the wheel moving a tanker , PPE instruction was inadequate , not one word about decontamination .
Everything was shown as it would go in a perfect world . Consignees have to sign the ticket saying they product is hooked to the proper storage tank and there is room in the tank for the product . Sometimes they are wrong !
So what do you do when the tank starts over flowing and you have a pressurized tank with a few hundred gallons left on it ?
New hire agree on the application to have the cost of orientation deducted from their pay if the don't stay 3 months (I think ) after orientation . We have had several drivers quit within a month or so and my boss never held them to that agreement . He ate the cost .
Here's the problem with the current system . If a driver leaves without notice it will take over a month to get a replacement in the truck and that driver may not last long .
I think the major bulk carriers should come up with a training program acceptable to all of them and required for hire . The applicant would pay for the training but it would be reimbursed with payments spread over a year . Drivers should be able to switch carriers and have the second carrier pick up reimbursement . This is only fair . What if a driver works six months for one carrier then loses a job because the carrier lost a contract ?
The school would turn out a pool of trained applicants available for immediate hire . The number of trainees should be based on anticipated need not turned out by hundreds when there aren't that many potential jobs .

 

I agree but I think it should be extended to include other types of trucks too. Like doubles,triples, or any types of loads that require more than just loading and go.