1st tanker job, help!

Thanks everybody for all the great advice so far. It's great to hear that most people are happy to help a greenhorn like me, my classmates at orientation are giving me the same impression. I've got 3 more days of orientation, then I find out what I am going to be hauling and go out with my trainer. The hardest part so far has been staying awake in class after being taken out for a BIG lunch.

 

Finished up orientation on Friday, lots of tests and a whole day of hands on, had to absorb a huge amount of information. The highlight of the week however was Wednesday night when the shop foreman and one of the drivers from my terminal came to pick up a truck from the headquarters terminal. Our dispatcher took us all out to dinner (awesome texas bbq) and afterwards we all hung out on the patio of the hotel. I learned more in those couple of hours than almost the entire week in the classroom. Being able to talk to my dispatcher in person along with a very experienced driver and the man who will be fixing my truck was amazing. Not once did they feed me a company line and they shot me straight on answers to all of my questions.

Found out I am going to be hauling chemicals and lube oil on 4-6 day out-and-back runs. There is the potential to haul some pretty funky stuff after I settle in, but those loads are all no-touch load/unload. I start with my driver trainer on Monday morning and will spend the next 2-3 weeks being trained on loading/unloading and paperwork for everything under the sun.