Tanker or Van

i have driven almost 22 years...and the first part of this year, i pulled a smooth bore tanker (no baffles) hauling milk....it is def not for everyone, and takes some getting used to thats for sure.

the first day i was like NO WAY...i wanted to turn around and go back to the yard...LOL


but you get used to it...

 

Chemical tanker is the best way to go.

 

I started out with vans and after 7 months I went to tankers.I will never willingly go back to vans.Just so much less hassle with tankers. As everyone says just have to be a lot more cautios when pulling a tanker. CTL will take a guy fresh out of driving school and train you. Good Luck with whatever choice you make.

 

GasHauler said it right. What kind of tanker? A saltwater hauler, crude, drilling mud driver works in a rougher more construction type, dusty industry and you could sit for 10 hours at a rig sight but you are getting paid. Rule #1 like WorldofTrans said be safe, a half loaded tank is way more dangerous than a full one whereas a bulk or Pneumatic trailer driver hauling white goes to a dirty lime plant or cement powder plant but doesn't get too dirty, loads in the top, dumps out a hose at a plant, little danger since it's preasure but hard work if you screw up and get a clog. Bulk trlrs also haul sand for oilfield so its rougher. Milk tanks=clean. Fuel tanks= occasional splash or spill and you smell like fuel+ the danger aspect. I was a freight hauler for many years pulling dry box and reefer even soft side. I now prefer to pull flatbed but any of the types of tanks I would choose over a box. No offense to freight haulers but I like a challenge and there isnt too much to opening the doors and bumping a dock... if you have seen one grocery warehouse you've seen them all.

 

Okay,... I drive a tanker and have been either bulk or liquid off and on for most of my career. I did reefer with England and some box as well but wouldn't say one is any 'better' than the other in that there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Most tankers don't have to wait in a line for a dock/door assignment so we pretty much follow an appointment schedule which, for those who know, puts us out driving loaded most overnights while many are parked in the local truck stops.

Mind you, driving at night isn't better than driving during the daylight hours. This is the time when most of your road crews are closing off two of the three lanes, drunks are killing themselves (and others) on the highways and a lot of big rigs (tankers included) run off the road or roll over because a driver was hard pressed to make a delivery time and couldn't fight the shut-eye or highway hypnosis.

It's a tough choice and there are pros and cons to either way of going. I do prefer tankers but, as some have mentioned (and mine is a smooth-bore surging monster), tankers are prone to roll-overs because of a high and moving center of gravity... much like a cattle car with moving beef or swinging meat in a reefer.

The posted speed limit is the MAXIMUM speed you are allowed to go,... you don't have to do it to get there on time and safely.

 

I have never driven a tank load all night . Most loads are preloaded or load first thing in the morning .

 

I've carried quite a few loads overnight. Sometimes I just choose to run at night, but occasionally I'll get a load that loads in the evening and delivers the next am. Obviously different plants run different schedules, but at some of the large ones its not uncommon to have appointments around the clock.