Dry bulk tanker opportunity

Tanker work is its own animal, you will either love it or hate it. Either way it never hurts to learn new things. Plus, it means your boss must like you, so that’s always good.

 

You have to hook up 2 hoses and watch a couple gauges on your trailer while unloading. You have to open and close handles on the trailer valves. You have to put your hoses away when you’re empty. Your trailer could have air operated lids up top but if it doesn’t you’ll have to open and close your lids for loading.

That’s about all the physical activity.

 

Never cared for it, therefore, never did it. The company I worked for had bulk pneumatic tankers I refused to even get trained on. The "blowers" always seem like they were going to grenade themselves, make an awful noise, strict attention to pressure, product delivery, wrong product can be a hassle, they are top heavy when loaded, loading conditions poor, dust everywhere, IDK, I'd stick to what you know. I remember one story, a driver didn't know the operation of a pneumatic trailer, fired it up, and after a while, wanted to check how much was left, opened a hatch cover and took his head off,,so the story went. The boss may think it's good for you, but really, they probably can't find anyone else to do that. It requires thinking, apparently not covered by most trucking schools. Up to you, I don't see any advantage on your part here.

 

It depends on what they’re hauling, but one of the reasons I liked pneumatic work is that we were always clean and it was easy to keep the truck clean. But we did a lot of food grade so we were getting washed out and cleaning the outside every other day or so. And the places we loaded and delivered had good dust recovery systems. I could also see my trailer gauges while sitting in the driver seat so I didn’t have to stand around outside the entire time I was unloading.

If it’s a cement or fly ash job then yeah, it’s gonna be dirtier work. And if the company doesn’t take care of their trailers it could be unpleasant.

 

I wouldn't hesitate for a second to take the tanker job.
@Long FLD did an excellent job of describing it.
I've done the cement & flyash he mentioned, plus lots of flour loads also and other products.
It's a great job to have and the money is good.

 

Any opportunity you have to learn something new, you should take it. It will be beneficial for you in the long run

 

Good info drivers. I pulled 9 axle pneumatics with 900/90# bags of cement. A word of caution. Be sure you're depressurized before uncouppling hoses,ect. Tanks can roll, easy on the corners.

 

That can freeze shut if cold enough with moisture in the air lines.