question for experienced liquid bulk haulers

Most of our trailers are equipped with transit heat lines. You plug them in to the tractor and the engine coolant runs thru a heater line on the bottom side of the tank. It then keeps the product warm. And there are steam lines that you connect at the shipper or reciever that can maintain temp.

 

A lot of trailers are also insulated which can give you a couple of days before the product starts to gel

 

It depends on the products. Solvent type liquids rarely freeze. Fatty acid & molten sulphur will be solid below 140 degrees. A lot of resins will thicken up the colder they get. If you get a load that requires intransit heat watch the temp gauge on the trailer. I've hauled molten sulphur from Oil City Pa to Freeport Texas, about 1200 miles, in the winter. Even with intransit heat I would spend 12 hours on steam after I got there to heat the stuff up enough to pump.

 

LMS melts at 235 degrees. Even shorthaul in the winter needed steam to get the valves open. We only pulled it around 60-70 miles and needed steam half of the year...

The insulated DOT407 type trailers only loose a degree or two a day.

The problem is you come in w/ a clean, dry and odor free tank that was washed yesteday and is close to ambient temp. The product needs to warm the interior of the tank so it initially looses a fair amount of heat until things stabilize.

They are usually equipped with a steam pan on the floor to allow steam heating. This same equipment can be filled w/ glycol mixture and serve as in-transit heat when connected to the tractor coolant system.

Some carriers order tanks w/ both steam inlet/outlets that have a 'T' and a quick connect coupler to connect to the tractor for a simple conversion to in-transit.

 

Yes. Been with them for 9 years. There not bad, we have a lot of dedicated and fuel runs that keep us busy. the terminals in Tx and La are the busiest.
You need a hazmat tanker endorsment and a TWIC card. you don't need tanker experiance as long as you have a year or two OTR. and a clean record.

 

We have some tanks that we haul rosin at 380- 390 degrees. They have a electric heater on the valve and a steam pan.No transit heat. I can haul a load to Wisconsin from Fla in the middle of winter and only lose about 20 degrees. Some good insulation in them!