from skateboard to tanker yanker

You sir already is a elite flatbedder. You know all about smooth management of the freight back there.

The tanker surge is most evident in milk type tanks without baffle. I have talked about how to manage them by stopping with a single force from speed to a few feet short of the white line and then easing up on the brake to drift a bit forward as the fluid surges forward. It calms it down. Taking off from the light requires you to shift as the fluid tries to flow forward off the back upshifting. Otherwise it piles up in the back. Downgrade off the light you can walk off in 3rd or something and that fluid will stay piled in the front.

You will be fine.

If I was company and you are perfect with nothing I will start you off at something like .48 or higher.

Tankers don't wait much. Except those in which the fluid has to be heated or otherwise processed to offload. That takes a certain amount of time. You are probably going to make so much money hand over fist you wont care too much. Cement Bulk tankers only need a hour to blow off, 45 minutes at 15 unless it's Mortar or some other really sticky stuff. Milk trucks unload really fast it's the steam chemical sanitizing process that takes longer. Gasoline trucks are empty as fast as they can gurgle the stuff down 5 inch hose. And so on.

I choose not to haul hazmat. I have hauled them for decades under endorsement until I ran into a dispatch who gave me a hard time about taking hazmat routes around a city because dispatcher does not know anything. After being abused by same after hundred or so hazmat with perfect delivery and no incidents ever in my life I walked to the revenuer office and told the state strip that hazmat.

Dispatch got really, really angry when they found out they could not abuse me anymore It went down hill from there like a really bad kardishan episode. Eff them.

 

what's a good training company to start with?
Any company that will respect you, pay you hourly, and preferably pay you time and a half after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Do some research, ask around, check out what other drivers have to say. A lot of advertising = high turnover rate = bad work environment. Great jobs are the best-kept secret--they don't need to have a recruiter fill your head with BS and lies to get you to sign on.

pros and cons of hazmat vs non hazmat
Any error you would make in a hazardous material tanker, would likely hurt you or get you killed in a non-hazardous material tanker. The HAZMAT product, is arbitrary. You have to stop at all railroad crossings unless marked "exempt," with your emergency flashers going. This will upset lots of stupid idiots behind you. I am almost rear-ended daily by these people. I have to hit my interrupt signal and flash my lights a lot when I find the people are not stopping. Also, changing placards is tedious and time-consuming.

is the surge as hard to control as people claim?
No. As a flatbed driver, you probably know not to slam your brakes lest the flatbed load fly through your back window, impale you and kill you. It is the same principal in a tanker. The liquid surge will be more noticeable, the closer you are to being 2/3 full. This is usually only in chemical tankers or food grade tankers, where baffles are not permitted due to cleaning and wash-out regulations. But just maintain a good following distance between you and the car in front of you--and this applies to distance between you, and the crosswalk at a stoplight or stop sign. At a complete stop, when you have a surging smoothbore tanker, the wave will hit you and push you forward, and then hit the back of the tank. When shifting, you'll learn to time your shifts to upshift when the wave hits the front of the tank, and downshift when it hits the back of the tank. The intervals at which this happens, are predictable and you will learn when the wave will hit, and how to time this, on your first day.

is the pay decent? what can I expect to start out at on average as an 11yr driving veteran?
With this much experience, you should go straight into hauling fuel. As an entry-level fuel driver going on about 1 year of experience, I make about $1200 a week to work 10.5-12 hours a night. And also, regarding fuel hauling; the benefit is, there is no liquid surge to deal with in fuel hauling--all tankers are compartmentalized, and that kills the "wave" that will hit you when coming to a stop.

is there a lot of wait time at customers?
It depends on what product you are hauling. I have hauled milk, and cream before hauling fuel. The thicker products, take FOREVER to load and unload. Cream will take 3.5 hours to unload and washout. But now, I haul fuel. At my local Chevon refinery, I can load 8700 gallons of fuel in 18 minutes flat. This is how we can do 4 and 5 loads a day. In short, food grade tankers will have longer waits, because you must wash out the tankers, and the product is thicker than say, gasoline.

 

There's dry and liquid bulk tanks. Dry is not like a dynamic liquid load. I did both plus hzmat/gas,ect. The worst is smooth bore with heavy specific gravity loads. Syrups or Condensed milk. Wit time in the seat you will learn how to use the surge to your advantage. Watch the corners. The load will walk up the sides of a tank. Its a good job.

 

Tankers is the way to go but don't haul gas,bulk or food grade as none will make you good money meaning 1400 plus.Hauling gas is a rat race about the same as pulling dump trailer hauling stone and sand.Pulling chemicals or lube oil is where the money is at.

 

You can do really well hauling gas if you get on with the right company. That means, not taking the first job with the first company that offers you employment. It is very labor-intensive sometimes.

 

Yes, I had a trucking instructor from my actual school stop hauling gasoline after decades after throwing his back out behind my station. Not a good day. We remembered each other. One of the best I say.

There are 5 pipe line from Baytown, Houston that meet in North Little Rock and there is a huge ternimal for all sorts of fuels. A tanker's dream but considering how fast they roll on the freeway, not really given much time to sit around and roll easy.

 

Indeed I am, and you pretty well covered the bases there.

When I was driving I was in the 65 area, but I'd stay out 2-3 weeks. I enjoy working for Superior, and they'd pretty much have to chase me off with a stick. I started off as an entry level driver like wsyrob and some others, and from that perspective they are a difficult (nearly impossible imo) company to do better than.

With 11 years experience, it really depends on what you are after in a company. If you like running OTR, it's a great place to work. If you're after a local, home every night gig, you may be better off looking at some of the gas hauling companies.

Hazardous vs non really makes no difference. Even if something is non hazardous, you almost certainly don't want to take a bath in it.

If you have any other questions I might be able to help you with, fire away.