Tankers

There's no way to completely eliminate surge. If you shift like a regular truck, it'll kick a couple seconds after you get into gear (up or down shifting), but if you time things right and momentarily lift off the throttle, you can somewhat negate the effect. It's easier said than done because sometimes you're in a hurry to get up to speed merging onto the highway, or need to stop in a hurry.

As as to sitting, it all depends on the customer. Some places are drop and hook, so there's no wait. Others, you can show up and they don't have room in their tank. And there's no real consistency. It's also difficult to compare to the other divisions. I think we sit more, but are paid differently so if we get less miles, still make money.

 

Ok thats understandable. Do you think its smart to go Lease right away or do company for a while and learn the buisness?

 

I don't think there is any single answer to company or lease. It depends on the individual. Some people should never lease. Some people aren't cut out to be company drivers. Until you talk to more than one person who's done both and really understand the differences, I don't think you can really decide. I came out here with the attitude that I'd never lease, and now realize that I wouldn't be happy as a company driver. Some people feel the opposite.

 

Being you live in Savannah area I would recommend you look at tanker companies there or in Jacksonville area.

 

How many miles have you been averaging weekly so far? I know tanker pays .45cpm for company drivers but Im trying to see how much can b looking at bringing home weekly.

 

Asking a TNT student about how many miles they're running and expecting to gauge how much you'll make off that will leave you very disappointed. TNT is designed to run the truck as a team, so miles are nearly twice what a solo driver would expect. Now, that said, I've been between 2000 (and the only reason that particular week was so short miles was we missed the payroll cut off by a day because the receiver wasn't able to take us on a 3000 mile load) & 4900 miles each week in TNT. I was also fortunate enough to get out to California, which is not common in Prime tanker.

 

Do you have any advice for me? I have been driving every truck imagineable for th last 8years in the army but as a fueler(petroleum supply specialist) my main job was driving fuel tankers and 5k tankers. I have already got my CDL in Kansas with tanker endorsement and am waiting on my HAZMAT right now. I am looking for regional tanker jobs but I am willing to do regular trucking to get my foot in the door.

 

I have read many post that say you must lease with prime to run tankers. The person that started this thread is going to lease to run tankers. So if you want to run tankers as otr 48 + Canada do you have to lease or can you run as a company driver with out being pushed or harassed to lease?

I see Prime can be a good match for some but I do know that it was Prime that started the leasing trend back in the day. While they might not be as nefarious say as CR England would be when it come to forced leasing, Prime tends to really push leasing from what I have read in the Prime drivers thread.

Just FYI I am 100% anti lease. If I decide I want to stay in this type of business I will go to the bank get a loan and buy my own truck and trailer. Just the way I fill about it. Thanks for any responses.

 

I wound up going with schneider but talked at length with prime recruiter about tanker company driver position. He stated that leasing agent s definitely not required. From what I found out it seemed that most company drivers wa ted to lease after running company awhile

 

Not a single time was I told I had to lease. It was simply asked which I was planning to do. Company tanker is certainly an option at Prime.