Tanker pay

all excellent advice,thank you.I never have seen tankers sit like van and reefer.I'm up for new challenges.

 

this is based on being a company driver..working for a contractor doing cryo works pays well below the national average(CTI,Genox,JB Kelley...) working with one of these you will be living in a truck giving free time ,forced to cross pickett lines..spending hours for free and not making squat when you do work...

 

thank you so much for all the info.Think ill stay away from contractors.One more thing,well I need any kind of special training to haul tankers whether its non hazmats or hazmat?

 

Ive only done tanker work for 2 years and I do agree with the others on their advice. You will run for every minute you have and will do a bit more than most other type of trailer pullers. I do nt do haz mat. I work with inedibles and edibles. Once you get the secrets of the traits the syaing" work smarter not harder" really falls into place and the job gets easier. Good luck Pattyj.

 

Would you mind sharing any of those "secrets" that you know.... either in here, or the tanker terminology thread?

 

On my hazmat loads I never touch a hose . During some unloading I am not allowed to stay with the truck and am able to log off duty .
Our hazmat tanks are dedicated to the shipper , pay roundtrip and only see a tankwash before annual inspection .

 

I would have made that same comment a few years ago but now it seems that most large companies are taking advantage of the fact that we have a very real great depression going on. We have drivers leaving their families for 3 months then getting home for 4 days only to leave again for 3 months, all for less money than they need to buy food and clothes for 2 kids. - Or they could just go on welfare and live better. What a country! Corporations are sitting on more cash than they ever have, where is all that money coming from? Yep, the working class is earning those corporations massive record breaking profits while men are working 14 hour days for enough money to fill one grocery bag with food. No, you dont have to take that job but most of us feel an obligation to do something. I have been very lucky to be able to earn enough money to support my family through this great depression (so far). What are 25 year old newly married fathers supposed to do, demand more money?

 

You'll need to learn to take ramps and curves slower and adjust to surge . You hold your brake when you stop or the surge will push you forward then backward .
You'll need to learn the methods of unloading by air or pump but it's not that difficult . Tank carriers don't require previous tank experience .
With my carrier there is a week paid orientation then a week or two with a trainer at full pay , often on local or overnight loads .
When I did an overnight with a trainer we stayed in a hotel the night out .
Last year they had a newbie team with a trainer . Both the newbie and trainer quit . We don't normally run teams . Tractors are midroofs .

 

There is too much regional and local tanker work for drivers to be out weeks at a time unless it is by choice . The longest run I do is 4 days .

 

With most tanker/hazmat, 50% of your miles will be deadhead, but you get paid the same empty or loaded. You might haul a load from KY or TN to California, unload, then deadhead back to KY or TN. That's why you rarely see tankers sitting in truckstops waiting for loads. Those hazmat trailers usually are dedicated to some company with their product & that company doesn't want any other company using it & risking contamination. Plus to change products, sometimes requires expensive washout and gaskets/seals changed. Those chemical companies are willing to pay the deadhead miles. Of course, from my post, there are variables, depending on the tanker company you drive for and the customer, but basically that's what to expect with hazmat loads. Of course you can make great paychecks doing local & regional also, but, I preferred 48 states & Canada runs.