The Fuel Hauler Thread

Carded at 10-12 racks! Ah I'm only carded in at one

 

Things are going backwards. I left ARCO in 1998 and drivers pay was $21.50 at the non-union terminals. Up in Seattle the last I heard they were at $27.50 but the north is much different than the south. Vinvale used to be the fastest rack in the west. Is that still true?

 

Arco in Portland pumps out about 600 gal/min. In and out with no wait in around 25-30, but that includes everything, even paper/computer work.

Kinder Morgan started load time at 1100 ended at 1115. Truck had 2 arms going, trailer had 1, only diesel arm. I've loaded there in 10 minutes before, all 11K+ gallons.

 

Vinvale is fast if you have 2 compartments on the truck and 2 on the trailer. That way you can load all compartments at once. For those of us with 1 truck/3 trailer, arco wilmington is faster, they have 2 reg arms and 1 blend arm front and rear. I've loaded there in 7 mins. Vinvale is 11 mins.

 

Oh yea $21.50 in 1998 is equal to $31 today adjusted for inflation. That's what the grandfathered arco drivers make. So technically they haven't got a raise in 20 years. And new arco drivers take a pay cut.

 

I just need to be able to save $20k per year for retirement and still have enough left over to pay my bills, and I will be good. Hauling gas might have peaked decades ago, but I'm still able to meet my financial goals. Hopefully I can milk another 20 years out of this. We will see.

 

Or when trucks drive themselves I will have enough savings to buy a fleet of robot trucks and sit on my ### while they do all the work. Please excuse my late night ramblings.

 

Yep would be a huge raise for me. I've got some buddies who work for the power company repairing and laying power lines. Make mid $30s per hour all the OT they want. If you have a CDL it's a guaranteed job. Just need to go to lineman school. I really like my job but all things considered, given the liability and responsibility, the pay is low.