Why are 53 ft van trailers the first type of driving job

seems to me like scaling a tanker is pretty easy. tandems do not adjust and you really cant overload it, you will spill it. you dont have to worry about how its loaded because fluid is just that fluid, its going to have its own level...... dont have to worry about heavier product in the front then in the back.

i was not aware that it was purposely used as a flushing system for drivers. kind of glad i abandoned doing it. funny thing is i had a GUT instinct that the training was poor at best and i was no where near ready for driving into heavy metro areas by myself. the trainer really sucked. i went to dump truck because that's what i felt i was ready for and when the work dried up (seasonal) i went to milk tanker. i got some practice handling weight and shifting a large tandem dump truck. now i work for a milk hauling outfit that actually cares about their trucks, drivers, and fleet..... he cant really afford for drivers to leave. i am getting trained by a former werner trainer (he has 15 years of driving) and the owner himself (a 40 year veteran of the industry). im about a week in and actually feel like im learning.

i had no idea that dry van was seasonal, but i guess the freight does dry up after christmas significantly. im glad i left werner and the corrupt system of flushing out drivers. i am accident free, a yesterday was the anniversary of passing my road test. i want to keep a clean record, its of absolute importance, in the local job economy i dont know what else i would do that can support my family.

 

I'm hauling fluid raw milk. The trucks have overweight permits, the farms generally are not filling both compartments to the top anyways. Spring flush will be a different story. I believe the overweight permits cover the maximum volume the truck can carry. I formerly worked as a milk receiver and it was commonplace for them to be filled to the max.

It's also noteworthy that my route doesn't normally take me over a scale. It's almost all rural driving, which I do enjoy. Unless the dot sets up a portable scale somewhere along the route I won't even get scaled. I do know that sometimes this can happen, but it's rare.

Weight calculation is done by stick readings at the farmers tanks. Measure the height of the product and use a chart.

Milk hauling is a different kind of trucking, but so far I like it. Leave out on a trucking adventure in the morning, get back in my own car at the end of day. What could be better?

 

i know one thing, milk is not seasonal...... well even milk has additional volume in the spring, its called spring flush..... when the farmers put the cows out to graze.