Any Tanker Truck Drivers On Here ?

What type of tanks ?..., Heavy Fuels, Compressed Gas, Food Grade, Non Food Grade....Hazardous, Non Hazardous ?

 

I've driven tanks for most of my 16 years. My last company was Quality Carriers. I'm taking a much needed break now and I'm contemplating going back to pulling vans - as long as it's no touch freight.

From what I know, Schneider only carries food grade stuff and it's tanker division is very small. I could be wrong, by I always saw them at the tank washes getting food-grade certified. From what I heard at the wash facility driver's room (but you shouldn't believe too much there), Schneider guys got paid crappy, and didn't get home when they wanted. Enterprise was a much better gig as was Superior, Dana, Suttles (now a part of Dana), Oakley, LTC, and Indian River Transport.

The great things about hauling tankers is getting loaded is much quicker (as long as the sample lab has their stuff together that day), there's almost NEVER a wait to unload, and the most you do is drag some hose, make 2 connections, open the vent and valves, and let 'er flow! Alot of times you'll go to the consignee's and they won't let you touch a thing! Either stay in the truck, or the driver's lounge - just keep out of the unloader's way! I was once told I would be banned from the property at Sunoco in Philadelphia, PA because I went up top and opened my vent without being "Sunoco certified!" The people you deal with are mostly professional, as opposed to what I experienced pulling vans full of food and dry goods. The downside is when you're only 60 - 80% full in a single-holer, you get sea-sick in traffic!

Let me know what you decide.

Sean

 

I've seen Schneider tanks with hazmat . Schneider isn't that great but everybody has to start somewhere and Schneider is one of the few that will take drivers with no OTR . Signing up for Scneider tanker is no guarantee you won't pull vans . Schneider will move tanker drivers to van freight if tanker loads are slow and tractors are needed for freight .

 

i just got out of schneider bulk training and into my own truck last week. all in all it was about 2 months of training: 2 weeks in carlisle, 2 days in pittsburgh for bulk training, 2 weeks out with a trainer, 2.5 weeks for ohio cdl training (ohio test is supposedly the worst, and i failed the road test the first time and had to wait a week and a half to retest) then another week and a half with the trainer, and finally two days to take the final skills qualification test. the reason i was with the trainer so long is mostly because they want you to do so many pump, air, and pump-over-air unloads before they release you, and with the light freight the unloads just weren't there.

the product surging back and forth can get a little unnerving... the trailer and truck weigh 30000 lbs empty, and you can carry up to about 45000 lbs of product. if you jab the brakes at any speed, you will know when the product hits the front of the tank LOL. i just try to accelerate really slowly and smoothly to minimize the effect. in rush hour traffic i just leave a biiiiig cushion in front and try not to brake at all. at merge points it gets really annoying when people burn down the berm to cut in front but otherwise people really don't cut in as long as you're keeping up with traffic. 7 yrs of contracting with fedex ground got me some good instincts for anticipating traffic patterns, but i have to remind myself i'm a little longer than 26' now ha ha.

here's a tip i just figured out: make sure the shipper didn't crossthread the &^%$#$ washout caps. in two months with big orange i've seen two tanks with crossthreaded caps that were put on by shippers who do not allow drivers on top of the tanker on their property.

the first one wasn't so bad because we figured it out early enough in an air unload that it didn't take too much time to fix. the second one really kind of sucked, because i drove about 2000 miles before i figured it out.

 

xXMelonie74Xx Did you write that you were going to Green Bay the end of December? I most likely will see you there if so. I am scheduled to be there 12-26-08.

 

I would expect that Schneider being Schneider, must absolutely give the cheapest rates around to their customers (the ability to do this comes from paying their drivers squat) ... these are of course customers who will stick with the cheapest carrier they can find because they are getting a $50 break over what Dana, Superior, Quality, LTC, Krajack, et al, are offering. Thus, these same shippers have a pervasive mindset which extends right down to the loaders themselves. "Get 'em outta' there quick, no matter what" is the mantra of many 'cheapie' shippers I've been to so spills, cross-threaded washout caps (although the wash racks are notorious for doing this as well), missing wing nuts and gaskets on manholes as well as washout caps are the norm for these operations. Places I've loaded like Benjamin Moore, Cabot, Ashland, IMTT, Sunoco, Hess, General Chemical, and other top notch places are those where I have NEVER had a problem. Then again, I've NEVER seen Scheider at ANY of the above place either... get it?