How Hard Is driving Doubles?? (Tankers)

If you drive in the pnw for anytime you will end of pulling most types of combos. IMO the maxis(40ft./20ft.) are the worst. T&T is a well designed combo. Problem is your hauling gas! Pay is around 26/hr and crazy hrs. Triples are in their own class. Doubles are fine as long as you don't get ####y and watch the corners. They do get sketchy on snowpack with a single screw in the mts. You can't put too many chains on. Every leave the city with a train (3) and hit snowpack half way over the hill. Should I drop 1 or should I keep trucking. Lol

 

NO. the combination is longer so you are tempted to swing wide. DON'T. Go around corners like the rear trailer is not there. it is easier to take the doubles around corners than a 53 ft trailer. Backing is out of the question until you have lots of experience. Drive like you have no R. When I first pulled doubles, because of the longer combination, I almost got myself stuck trying to drive into pull-thru spots. I swung to far and couldn't get into 1st spot. I couldn't backup. I waited 10 minutes for the truck beside me to leave, then I pulled into the spot. The second trailer will roll almost exactly in the wheel tracks of the first trailer.

IMO, it is more work making up and breaking down a set of doubles than driving them anywhere. It is a little more attention in a few instances than a 53 ft. You do have to remove "panic stops" from your "toolkit"

 

I hauled 53 ft trailer over 20 years and recently finished my first year in tanker. Surge can kill you, but you only have to make a couple of changes to prevent that. It is easy to start form a stop and accelerate such you feel like a truck just slammed into your back. It is easy to avoid that situation. Mostly you learn to slow early for curves and on/off ramps. once you are slow before the curve give it some "gas" and pull it through the curve. The thing to be avoided at all cost is heavy braking and sharp turning at the same time.

Tank surge is nothing any safe driver cannot handle. When you are learning tanker always go slower in curves than you would in a dry van. You can always speed up later. Drive it slower and smoother than van until you know your limits. It is not something to be avoided, just something that requires small changes in your driving. Also, with tankers you are either loaded near max gross weight or empty. Vans carrry loads from1,000 pounds to 50,000 pounds. Tanks are usually loaded near 78,000 gross.

 

About as hard as Miss Daisy.