How hard is tanker ?

Does one generally have to get experience in food grade or non hazardous tanker before moving on to fuel or other nasty chemicals?

 

Fuel haulers are a high caliber of driver , no room for error. I had a guy from my hometime blow up and die working the night shift . You can't have a stinky turd driving habits and have a long career as a fuel hauler

 

In truth -- it really depends on the carrier you have in mind.

Some require prior experience with their product(s) -- and some do not.

As a fuel hauler -- I later saw the value/wisdom of good previous "seat time"...before moving on to the riskier stuff.

Some hazmat carriers will require a year of previous experience elsewhere...and some others will want two (or even more).

Again...it just depends.

--Lual

 

Depends on the company. It use to be no reputable tanker company would hire a driver unless he had a year or two of OTR experience.
Now it seems experience doesn’t matter, just fog a mirror, here’s the keys.

 

I'll have a year of OTR but it's reefer. After reading some of these threads it's got me thinking of looking at local tanker options...

 

It helps, but it's not necessary. I had been pulling non-haz loads in a pneumatic for years before I switched companies and started hauling fuel. A lot of companies will count pneumatic experience as tanker experience even though you don't have to have a tanker endorsement to pull one, at least I didn't when I first started.

 

No. Start applying and enjoy life.

 

Here in CA you have to have a tanker endorsement to pull pneumatic trailers, you can load liquids into them as well, and I have. I used to pull cement to Las Vegas and reload heavy water in Mountain Pass back to Santa Paula Water treatment. You need flocones not pads if your doing liquid.

 

Heavy water in a non-code trailer?