Molten Sulphur Trucks? Help A Teacher, Please

If you google (sulphur transportation) the first link will give you a butt-shot of the beast. Best I can do so far.

 

My fiancee lives in Brandon, and actually teaches chemistry at the high school the teacher in the post the OP made teached at. I'm not sure if he still teaches there since the post was from 2007!

I see the CTL trucks with the trailer xls is talking about all the time when I'm down there. I'll try to get a picture of one.

 

Found this on a Google search. Every time I've been down in Brandon I've seen one but can't get the camera out in time.

 

Yep, CTL calls them Dry Doubles. Dry Granulated type products (like fertilizer) go in the Hopper that saddles the Tank. All liquids like molten sulphur and other chemicals go into the Tank. The Tank and Hopper are NEVER used at the same time. This rig just gives CTL versatility with there runs back and forth from the Phosphate mines east of Tampa and the Port of Tampa.

 

if you want a picture just go by there yard 5619 e columbus ave tampa fl 33619. mostly what is in the outside is diamonium phosphate a dry fertilzer and only molten sulphur is hauled in the those tanks.

 

That's as simple as I can make the name, from the builders plate on the type of the trailer in your picture.

I pulled for Commercial Carrier for 5-years, AFI/sulfur was my regular haul.

I worked for Mr. Frank Geisler(Dec.).

The trailers cost about $63,000-per unit back in 1980.

They were equipped with pneumatic top & bottom doors, eventually losing the top door motor to dirty air.

The trailer pulls like a load of lettuce in a reefer with a top layer of ice. The bulk of the load is below the top of the liquid tank.

The molten sulfur was transported at 265°-F. No baffles in the tank caused a slosh effect, but it never was an issue. My Big-Cam Formula VT300 Cummins was not powerful enough to fight the load, with a 7-speed Spicer transmission.

The sulfur load, as well as the dry bulk load was loaded/unloaded in about 8-minutes time.

The dry bulk load was called AFI-animal feed ingredient, a calciumated, defluorinated phosphate product. The molten sulfur was of course used to make phosphoric and sulfuric acid.

The double tanker made almost zero empty miles. We ran 4 & 4 per day at 328-miles. Eventually, there were so many traffic lights added that we could only run 3 & 3.

When started in 1980, it was left open as to whether the run would be a career or just a place to get experience...now, the later is dominant...

I loved it then, we worked 13½-hours per day but we were home every night.

The trucks are way better now than back then, with things we never imagined like A/C, power steering, cell phones, lap-tops, stereos, a pretty darn good Mack truck for sure...

I paid off my 1982-Chevy S-10, had a lot of fun, didn't make a lot of money...

 

Noticed your thread I think this is what teacher's looking for.

Tank trailers designed for molten sulphur are generally dedicated to hauling molten sulphur. A tank that has just carried molten sulphur cannot be easily cleaned so that the trailer can carry a different commodity on the return trip or to another destination. The result is that the tank is full on the delivery trip but is empty on the return trip. To maximize what is known as "loaded miles", a specially designed tank trailer combines a tank for molten sulphur and a bulk carrier. On one trip, the trailer carries molten sulphur and on the return trip carries a bulk commodity such as fertilizers. This type of trailer is called a backhaul double and is used in the Florida region by fertilizer manufacturers to improve the trucking economics. Backhaul doubles are also used in western Canada but instead of a sulphur/bulk carrier, a sulphur/fuel carrier is used.

http://www.sulphuric-acid.com/techmanual/Storage/trans_sulphur.htm

I just hired on to haul this stuff up at Ft Mac AB & was doing some research of my own while I wait to get into 2 weeks of training & orientation, I must be special. 10-4s