Tankers' Choice: ISO vs 43' Food Grade vs 53' Fuel Hauler...

Only pulled smooth bores.

At first the surge freaked me out then you get used to it and it’s just a part of life.

 

I did three months pulling food grade; the pay wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, there was a lot of waiting and screwing around that wasn’t compensated, the truck was slow, and I was gone all the time in a tiny sleeper. Yeah, surge is pretty noticeable with a smooth bore and a full load of food-glop moving around. Seemed to take about 10 miles on the highway before it settles down.

Then I traded for a truck hauling fuel that has no sleeper and is governed to manage the speed limits in the dakotas. The difference in pay is almost as noticeable as the difference in surge (4 compartment trailer keeps it pretty under control). If the food grade paid you for your time like the fuel jobs all seem to (liberal stop pay- like, if the hose has to be picked up and the truck moved 15 feet to go from one hole in the ground to the next that’s another stop, detention that actually starts after a reasonable length of time, on the clock when waiting at the shop, etc) the pay would be comparable.

So I'd say I’d go with a fuel trailer. Although, two of the places to load in my area have caught fire/exploded in the past few months (haven’t yet been to that refinery in superior, Wi, but my company will send trucks there sometimes), and to my knowledge, none of the places that produce corn syrup, milk, and soybean oil are prone to fiery explosions. But, I figure, if you’ve come to terms with driving around with that little picture of fire on your truck, you probably can accept the sorry state of affairs our infrastructure is in that stores and loads all of those flammable liquids.

Haven’t had occasion to pull any intermodal cans, though.