Looking forward to yanking tanks

I have been saying this for years yet the rumor persists, lol!

 

Baffles? I don't even know what those are. It's like ufo's, unicorns, Bigfoot and honest politicians. I'd heard rumors, but never seen one for myself.

 

With the movement allowed to the dome lid hinge, tank cleaners used to #### the lid open enough to vent the tank as it cooled but not let rain in by closing the one dog next to the hinge locking it open.

Parking a freshly cleaned tank, especially an insulated wagon, with the lid closed is another way to suck a tank in. They used the dog so the lid wouldn't bounce closed as they parked the trailer.

The only baffled tank wagons are 306/406 elliptical fuel trailers and cryogenic trailers. Cyro drivers were trained to report feeling slop which indicated that the baffles had broken loose and it could be time to send it out for rebuild.

Vacuum trailers have 2 internal braces on opposite sides about 1/4th of the way from each end to help resist sucking the tank in. Vacuum pneumatic trailers have extra bracing too.

The biggest reason chemical tank wagons don't have baffles is that the customers cannot determine if the wagon is clean behind the baffles. Cleaning technology exists, if there are enough cleanouts, to clean behind them but the shippers can't really check.

 

All our tanks have baffles except one, a 1964 model.

 

Well, let's just say there are a few trucker tales going on here. I have never seen it happen. I think it was Brenner, they make tanks, that actually did one on purpose. You can find it on YouTube. They used a stronger pump than is typically on trucks and it still took a long time.

You won't suck in a tank, don't worry.

 

Chemical and food grade tanks tend not to be baffled because of cleaning reasons. On the other hand fuel tankers are baffled. Hauled chem and fuel. Our chem loads tend to kick pretty hard but that's expected from stuff that weights 12 plus pounds a gallon.

 

ethos, normally I agree with you, but you are mistaken. Being from the former "Dairy State", ( Cal. now) with lots of milk tankers, I've seen 1st hand a "suck-in" ( not me) and it's not pretty. Perhaps chem tanks are a bit stronger, but a thermos bottle WILL suck itself in. ( and it happens fast)

 

Just YouTube tanker suck in. There's numerous videos. Here's one of a controlled stuck in demonstration.

 

But that's the thing. It's incredibly overblown, just look at the video above and see how long it takes with a strong pump and doing it on purpose. The way things are said on here you would think it's an everyday occurrence when nothing could be further from the truth.