Pneumatic Tanks. Any advise?

What rockinchair said is mostly true, but the ONE thing I totally diasgree on is using a rubber mallet to check the level in your trailer. There is NO reason, and I mean NO reason to beat on your trailer with ANY hammer of ANY kind. I work for a small company, hauling crushed lime and cement, and I can tell you that beating on a trailer with a mallet WILL certainly get you terminated. I have seen people use claw hammers, rubber mallets, and steel pipes to check their levels, and to loosen material. I have seen people poke holes in trailers with hammers and it it NOT a pretty sight. If you wanna know how much is in your tank, simply tap on it with your hand, if it sounds solid, it has material. And ALWAYS USE SOME SORT OF HEARING PROTECTION!!!!!!
Oh, and one other thing, the pressure relief valve is just what it says, a relief valve. If you hear air coming from it, your pressure is too high. We have a guy that unloads at 18 psi with the relief valve screaming, and about every two months he needs a new one. They have a spring in them, when the spring gets weak, they open at lower pressure and will eventually break. At around $175 a piece, it wont take long till your company gets tired of replacing them. Good Luck!

 

I'll second on the hammer! I remember Chem Leaman cement tankers w/ 'dished' spots from the guys w/ claw hammers!

 

Good info all over, thank you all--- i begin my trainn 2moro!!!!! yeay!

 

Can someone tell me what kind of places Dry Bulk companies deliver to ? Are they mostly in the City or Rural area's ? I was thinking about applying at Bulkmatic, but I don't know any more about bulk than I've read here.
I know Bulkmatic pays percentage pay, but again, that don't tell me much about what a person could expect to gross for the year .
Any info about Bulkmatic and the type of places they deliver to would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

 

Dry bulk goes everywhere! from large manufacturers and steel mills to small town dairy's in little po-dunk towns all over alot of the country (most dairys blow their own gallon jugs)...

pnuematic tanks can end up anywhere, and haul everything from chemicals to powdered sugar.

 

It's kind of funny Iv'e never seen a Dry Bulk truck delivering anywhere. I've seen them picking up product from rail cars but never delivering. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention since I had no interest until recently.

 

That ain't no lie.

No 2 trailers unload exactly alike, even with the exact same product at the same site.

 

Had my interview with Bulkmatic, and I just thought I would pass on a little info since it seems like info on them is a little hard to come by.

It turns out they do more OTR than I thought, You're out 2 to 3 weeks at a time. The good part about that is you don't have to sleep in the truck they get you a room instead.

Pay is good, they told me I would make between 60 & 70K with 2 weeks vacation after 1 year and I believe it was six paid holidays also.

Three weeks training with a trainer and one week at their training center near Chicago.

They seemed very professional unfortunately that's more time on the road than I'm looking for.

If this is posted in the wrong place I'm sure Admin will move it.

Bill

 

Thats alot of training! Mine was only a 2 weeks with 1 full week being the paperwork and company policy and relearning the Smith system. The 2nd week was Me and a trainer for 12 hours a day and one load at the same facility with their own air. He was a good trainer, but I would have liked to do a bit more.

 

Training time has a lot to do with the time you hire on. My hire in date was three weeks before the Chicago training was scheduled. If I was hiring on two weeks prior to the Chicago training was scheduled I would probably only get two weeks training plus the one week in Chicago.
They did say they make sure you know what you're doing before they turn you loose on your own.