School me on Fluid Hauling

Well, I dunno about oil, but when I hauled water around, we did it in trailers with baffles and that's just like pulling a van around, its a cake walk...

Now I haul heavy food grade syrups and its all smooth bore 3/4 full tanks, it takes a few weeks to get used to the surge but once your used to it, its just part of the job...

I always try to do progressive shifting, and always drive like i have an egg under the pedal...after the first few days you wont get slammed around so much, unless you need to come to an abrupt stop or something...

generally speaking, hauling fluids is infact harder on your equipment if your an o/o, getting slammed around with a smooth bore is inevitable, it happens no matter how good you are, and eventually that wears on your truck.

I'm not from the Canada oil field, cant help with job...

 

Its a racket like anything else, long haul or fluid transfer?? << meaning on leases hauling from well sites to batteries?

 

I pulled tankers for 10 years for the oil recovery division of a large environmental services company. we hauled everything from waste oil, oily water, luwa bottoms to refined oil.
Our trucks had dual product pump systems so we didn't have to wash out the pumps all the time. Most were set up with Viking pumps for the waste system, (also used for fuel and bottoms) and Ropers for pumping refined product. Both worked fine, and some trucks,(mine being one of them) used Ropers for both systems and worked just fine.
The trucks in the US fleet used Blackmer pumps, and they seemed to have issues with those.
I used to school new hires on driving open bore tankers. Shifting, braking, and twisty road handling are all different than freight in a box. The dynamics change with the product. Water responds differently from light viscosity oil, which responds differently from heavy viscosity oil.
Outage will affect responses as well. water is heavier, so you can't fill the tank as full as you can with oil.
Another factor is the shape of the tank. A double conical tank (shaped sorta like a football with the valve in the middle), will subdue the surge more than a straight cylinder.
Shifting with a surging load requires a bit of seat of the pants science. A bit of patience after a shift before walking on the pedal, you will feel the surge pull you back, and then start pushing you forward. This is a perfect application for skip shifting. Take the time for the revs to drop for two gears, and you don't have to wait as long for the load to start surging forward, assisting in acceleration. an observer in the cab would think you are taking it slow and easy, but in reality, you're getting the truck rolling pretty quick.

 

Nothing like 'shift on the surge'. 'Seat Of The Pants Science' ...... I like that one I learned me how to do that in a milk truck. I can only imagine hauling food grade tank is worse for rules and regulations now then it was in the dark ages.

 

Doesn't sound like you know anything about tanking yet you're ready to put a truck on as an o/o...

Start by getting a tanker job and start learning about the job and the players involved.

 

Exactly. Pinner nailed it. Learn the ropes on someone else's dime. Then, when you know and understand that part, it's time to look into getting your own. I think you are trying to get all the answers way too soon here. You are asking about 2 separate areas, one being hauling fluids, and the other, being an o/o. Find a company willing to train you and then spend time learning about dead heading pumps and what can happen, avoiding frozen pumps (if hauling fresh or produced water), u joints (both pto and driveline), taking corners too fast with sloshy fluid (oops, that was close,), pressure and the physics of fluid flow, mud ice snow, triples, singles, quad locks, etc. If you are a reasonably good driver, and a keen learner, get the experience, and only then, start looking at getting your own. If you wish, pm me with questions, I don't mind, I have worked in the ab oil patch many years, as well as been in trucking most of them.

 

I thought he said at the beginning that he wanted to start working for a company, then buy his own truck.....

Llyod is a good place to find work, everyone is always looking for people to hire... A good company is ecan out of elk point, ab. They hire newbies and have a good training program.

As for pumps, if only hauling water guys use a Berkley pump which is a centrifugal pump. If hauling oil or oil and water they use t&e which is a gear driven pump.

P.m. Me if you have anymore questions.

 

Centrifugal pumps are OK if you don't have to lift liquid out of a hole. They won't do that without priming, at least any I've dealt with.
A good gear pump will self prime from 10 ft down or more, depending on what the product is.