Dry Van Hauler Thinking About Switching to Tanker

I hauled Crude Oil from 13-14', hauled gas for about 6 months in 17'. It's not a bad job as a company man, you'll always be grossed out but, the pay is decent. I would haul gas hands down because your always gonna be 100% no touch freight and usually there is no wait lines. You might be able to find a local gig too hauling gas if you get the right contacts.

 

I only do Hartley to the Denver area and back. There's some that do Hartley to Hutchinson and back. I usually only try to stay out 2-4 nights a week. I mean there's some of that "weeks out at a time/48 state stuff" if you want it too. But I ain't about that life.

 

Indian River is all automatic. Bynum truck I saw was a manual, but I doubt you are going to find any large fleets running anything more than a 10 speed manual.

 

I stay out 4-5 weeks, don't mind going longer if the miles are flowing.

 

With the gross weight of typical tankers and with modern high horsepower engines you just have no need for split gears so most companies don't bother with the extra expense /complexity of those transmissions.

I have a 10 speed Eaton autoshift and it is more than adequate for any mountain I have come across yet.

 

Well, depends what kind of tanker. "Ka-boom" tanker jobs are usually local, and used to be the cream of the crop, but now, I don't think it pays any better than anything else. Milk, same thing, while not a "Ka-boom" tanker, milk is local, but doesn't pay much and they run you ragged. The big bucks, is chem haulers OTR. Lots of advantages, most is one way, so no backhauls, no warehouses, no pallets, and customers are generally waiting for your load, and they pull easier. Areas of concern are the actual transport ( like hauling beer in your van trailer) and loading and unloading can be pretty tense. Not for schmoes. You land a tanker job, I'd go for it. You can always pull a van again.

 

Definitely miss my 10 speed manual daycab. These autos are hit and miss. There's cases where I've definitely been run ragged, especially when I was loading multiple barns per night. Now I just set my own pace and take what I could handle.