The Pneumatic Tanker Thread

I'm not sure but I think it's a law that they have to show you what the load actually pays when they pay on percentage. I've been on percentage for as long as I've pulled tankers. My attitude on percentage pay is as long as I'm satisfied with what a load pays me, I could care less what the company makes.

$70k to stay out all the time? That's not bad, but I know guys running day cabs around here in PA making about the same, and home daily. But still not bad at all.

I've never hauled flour, but I've been told unloading it takes forever. If you look back through this thread, I think someone had posted about four hour unload times with flour. But again, I've never done it. @Roberts450 could probably answer your flour questions

That brings up another question. Do they pay anything for loading and unloading? Some places do pay for these things, some don't. But if you have long loading and unloading times, this will be something you'll want.

Good luck and welcome!

 

I appreciate the reply. I got the impression that he has had guys expecting $90k for being out all the time. ???
I don't worry about loading and unloading pay. I'm not worried. If the total works out as correct.
I live in a third world country. I"ll be making more than a State's Attorney here.
I have been told to buy a rubber hammer, if they don't provide one. That is to bang on the sides of the tanker. So that the flour falls. Otherwise it will hang up there all day long.
As I understand, it takes 2 to 3 hours to load, unload?

 

Yup long load/unload times are normal for flour depending on the loading/unloading situations. Ive had loads take as little as 30 minutes scale in to scale out but thats when you get drop loaded out of a silo. If they pump it on it normally takes 2 hours to blow the 64,000pound loads that we do here. Unloads take anywhere from 1.5hrs for our shortest run which we are parked right next to the 80' tall silo and thats with 5" piping. Most unloads for us are 2-4 hours. It all depends in the lenght and height of the run. The longer, higher you have to push the longer it takes. We also push through a screen thats filled with 1/4" holes so that slows us down too. The flour type also plays a roll on how it flows. As for the hammer yes it is necessary, we are givin the orange 4 pound dead blow ones from harbor freight (lifetime replacements) Ive tried the rubber ones and it bounces back to much. You want something to transfer the vibrations to the trailer. The key with using the hammer is only use it once you are practically empty as it does no good to beat on a full trailer, make the aerators work for you. If you get a sticky one and just cant get anymore out move to the next one as that will sometimes loosen things up. Just be careful not to blow up bag houses as people get cranky when you make it "snow" on their car and then it rains.

 

Yea what ^^^^^ this guy said x2. Longer the distance to the silo the longer the unload time. Also if the plant says keep er below 12 psi or whatever do just that, its usually cus of the bag house. Trust me you don't wanna be that guy that makes it snow.

I imagine flour is pretty much like doing bulk cement with a few slight differences. Keep your top air closed. Aerators fully open and just enough air going threw the product line to keep from packing off the hose. It seems like its hard at 1st but it really is simple as pie once you get the hang of it.

And you get treated way better than a door slammer

 

Ive done lime, boiler ash, and flour and all unloads the same. Today's unload provides suction to help unload and it still taker 3-4 hours. I think it goes up to the 9th floor but its on the other side of the building. Will see how it goes today as its the first time back there with the new truck which has a bigger blower, but so far Ive just had to slow the blower down to keep my pressure down so not really unloading much faster but definitely using less fuel.

 

I appreciate the replies. Yup.. I think everything at Harbor Freight, comes with a lifetime warranty... even the sand paper.
Sounds a little more interesting loading, and unloading, than I thought. I like it. Do you do much while this is going on? Get back in the truck to stay warm? Should I bring my Pac Boots to stay warm?
I took this partly because it appears to me to be one of the best jobs in trucking. I'm seriously looking forward to it. I'm hoping it works out good.

 

I try to get in and out of the truck depending on weather but most of the time I stay outside babysitting the thing. Making sure hoses or trailers dont spring leaks, adjusting air flow a little if you've got a finicky trailer. Always something to kinda do. Like tonight I had a trailer start leaking where someone bird crap welded a cracked weld where a couple hopper cones meet. Started leaking 10 minutes into the unload so now I gotta drag a full trailer 300 miles back to the shop and let them figure out what to do with it. Lol

 

It's a good idea to stay outside. I've never hauled flour, just cement, flyash, lime, and fertilizer and they can all plug up.
If you're close by your trailer valves you might be able to shoot a little more line air to keep the product flowing. If you're dozing in the cab you might not know you have a plugged line until the pop-off valve starts hammering. By then you have a big plug instead of just a little one.
Sometimes just picking the discharge hose up and dropping it a couple of times will clear a plug.
It's also good to keep an eye on whatever kind of tank you're unloading into. Dust bags in the bag houses can plug or blow out entirely. This usually isn't the driver's fault but shutting a leaker down quickly shows the customer that you're on the ball.
Better to shut down than look off downwind and see a big cloud of material slowly descending on everything in sight.
LOL...we have a couple of fertilizer accounts with long vertical runs mixed in with a few horizontal pieces just to keep us on our toes. I think whoever designed the system hated truck drivers. I swear, you can stand right there and watch the trailer unload and it will never even burp. But if you run inside to take a leak or grab some coffee that thing will plug in a heartbeat. It never fails.

 

Just think of a pneumatic trailer as a woman. Needs all your attention and if you ignore her for a second she will throw a fit and stab you in the back. Just kidding ladies. Hahahahaha

 

Haha truth