Having problems reading the tank measuring tape.

sometime when your having trouble reading the tape it helps if you compleetly whipe it clean with a rag. and then re gauge, then when you are pullingit back in take a step back away from the tank strech the tape out a couple feet from the hatch look at your tape at a 35* angle or so look for the wet line. baby powder works good but i very rarely ever needed it. the good thing about baby powder is its nice to have around anyway. helps with monkey butt and foot rot...lol

 

Ezrider is right. Drop it get a rough estimate, pull back out wipe clean, then gauges it. If you have no baby dust available then grab a handful of sand or dirt before you go up the ladder. Good luck

 

I count of my turns to hit bottom. For 16 foot tank it's 20 turns- that speeds up the process rather than watching the tape. I drive at night and use my UV led purple flashlight clipped to my hardhat on every load- works great. The oil shows up like neon. Only works at night tho- ######.

 

They don't give you guys kolor kut?

 

Some companies we haul for do not want you to put Kolor Kut in the oil tanks unless you are a water hauler.

 

Black light flashlight. Not sure if it works in the day, but I saw another driver use one and the oil glows like crazy at night...I'm getting one tomorrow!

 

I don't think any colored light works- at least the red one I tried didn't. A UV (purple) light definitely does work. I won't run nightshift without it. Like the purple lights they use on the crime shows to illuminate blood- same principle here. It makes the oil sorta glow neon greenish. Works great up to about 70 gravity. Got it online, never see them at stores. It's an LED UV and has worked over 3 years- still works great.

 

I agree with baby powder. Hit up a dollar store and buy it all up, then when you get up on the tank drop the tape and get a general idea where it is. Even after you wipe the oil off the tape the residue will make that powder stick, send it back down and you got it. This is how we did water and condensate, I imagine it is the same for other crude oil. If there is good sunlight out you'll also find the tape easier to read if you turn it so you are looking down the tape (can't even read the numbers just looking along the tape) and looking for where the tape changes color - hope that makes sense.