Potential job offer Delivering Propane~have to pass drive test

If you can pass your driver training school test you should not have an issue passing the company test their main goal is to check to see if you are a competent driver so be alert and wise take your time watch your speeds be careful around corners do the right thing etc etc and you'll get through it now worries oh the other thing is if your checking the tanks to see how low they are don't use a cigarette lighter.

 

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Good luck with the new job. I think dragging the hose is the hardest part.

 

You won't feel the surge when it's fully loaded. Imagine a 2 liter bottle of soda halfway full, with the liquid sloshing back and forth. 3/4 full, 1/2 full, that's when the center of gravity is highest and you can feel the surge or risk a rollover the most.

 

obey all the curve warning signs, you wouldn't believe the g-force you and your truck experience going through a 40 MPH curve warning. sounds stupid but its true, wouldnt attempt going any faster.

and drive like you dont have brakes, remember your driving a 15 ton truck, loaded with flammable liquid.

the tanker truck I drive, loaded holds about 2800 gallons of propane. sometimes less.

when its sitting loaded and the truck is running you can see the tank every so slightly rocking back and forth.

also depending on where your'e at, steep hills, and driveways that slope to one side, sometimes make me feel as though the truck may tip, thats when I straighten the wheel back up. as much as I can....

watch out for dirt roads with lots of pot holes, and wash outs, just go slow,

a good speed to start out just driving, probably would be 45 until you get use to it, and use to the tanker. and after that if the truck isn't 'governed' it can easily do the speed limit and then some on the highway.

just a tip if youre new to driving, if you turn the wheels all the way to the left or right, your truck will swing really wide, you only have to turn the wheel a little bit, the truck will still make a wide turn, but not as wide.

I took a safety course in college, and am constantly analyzing what could go wrong, and how to avoid a potential problem. I can remember one lesson where it was "what can you see wrong in this photo" .......

be careful loading, anything over 50 degrees outside your suppose add vapor while loading.

propane may not blow up, but it will catch on fire, so keep that in mind driving, and be respectful to others on the road, and take your time driving. because when it gets bad outside, you have to work over....haha.

these trucks do not do well on really muddy terrain or ice. if you're on a road or driveway and you're not sure if the truck can handle the road conditions, get out and walk the road, if its icey , do not try and drive on it, and if its muddy and your boot sinks in the mud, most likely the truck will sink in the mud also. I've had to be pulled out once, and you learn fast.....

dont listen to customers who say 'oh yeah you can drive through my muddy yard today in the rain its OK". while your'e backing around their car. and be aware of crappy wooden bridges or any bridge you have to drive across. if it has a 'ton rating' on it, its a legit bridge, if it doesnt, you're responsible for the truck, and if youre not sure if its OK to drive across, call someone.... not worth the risk sometimes. sometimes you just gotta put your safety and whats best for the truck, over filling a propane tank. for example.

I know there are a few customers, one of which no one would deliver too, because of the so called 'bridge' , the only bridge going to the guys house, and no one was sure why the propane tank was put there in the first place. and then there are some bridges that the boss said "its ok" but pray to God everytime to make it driving across the dang thing.

a gps will help, if you have route books, you can add about 25 stops in the Rand Mcnally GPS software, and also you can get apps to optimize a route, making your day easy. and you can take your time, and still get a lot done.... after lunch.....

get along with all your customers, some will give you food, drinks,

and some will give you money at christmas time.....

if you're use to getting paid standing around, and like to drive occasionally, driving a propane truck is for you, because come summer time, if your like me, you wont have much to do. you might get to set some tanks, which can be entertaining......

 

thanks for the advice

 

Watch out for septic tanks

 

Consider the chance of a rollover. The posted speed limit sign is NOT for you. I dare say, a bobtail truck is even more top-heavy and prone to roll over since you don't have a back trailer with 40,000 additional pounds stabilizing the power unit.

Do a quick google street view of the 880S to 101S ramp exchange in San Jose, CA. The posted speed limit is 15 MPH for trucks. If you take that thing at 15MPH in a tanker, you're going to roll it. It happens all the time. I take that off ramp in 5th gear with the jake brake on low, at about 9 MPH. Pissing everybody else off behind me, those idiots in their Tesla hybrid cars and their BMWs... you're gonna go home alive at the end of the day, so look out for yourself.

 

thanks for the advice

so all the trucks are automatic & the driver i was talking with was telling me he hardly uses the jake brake when going down a hill. his reason is cuz these trucks shift pretty good. so what would u do. the truck im going to be driving is a 2015 peterbilt. for going down a steep hill fully loaded,which setting on the jake do i use. high or low?

 

also be aware of people in cars behind you when you are rolling up the propane hose.

I had one truck one day get as close as it could, to me!, before I seen it behind me and it nearly missed the bob tail in the process. leave your passenger door unlocked in case you have to get back in your truck and your not sure how much traffic is coming down the road,

another thing, dont know if its just me, but it seems everytime I deliver to a suburban area, suddenly when I show up, the homeowners or neighbors in the street, suddenly run out and have some excuse why they need to leave, and wish I would hurry up and move. somehow I am suddenly blocking their car in. I always say I'll be a minute, and try to ask them how their day is going and then proceed to take forever to fill the customers tank. it seems like it happens everytime I roll into a suburb. I've never had anyone really get upset, I just see it as a way to get to meet someone new.

new hires are suppose to go to a bobtail/propane operations safety class. so be on the look out for that this summer, its suppose to be required, I'd ask about it.

be cautious filling customers tanks, because sometimes the gauge is not accurate. your suppose to fill tanks by the 'spit valve'. I like to fill them until about 3 steady streams of propane come out, then close the valve. I carry a 7/16ths stubby wrench also, to close the spit valves, because I'm paranoid I wont get the valve closed tight enough.

watch out for dogs, if youre not sure if it will bite, dont get out, there isnt much you can do about it. A couple guys I work with have been bitten. people will swear their dogs "wouldnt hurt a ham biscuit". I have refused to get out unless certain dogs were put up. One lady on my route keeps a Italian Cane Corso, A mastiff, and she was out on the porch the first time I was there, it about pulled her off the porch while she held it, said I could pet it, and it about bit my finger off. I told her, I would not get out, if the dog was left to run around in yard alone, for good reason. the last thing you want is a tetanus shot.

I had one elderly lady say her dog wouldnt bite, then she tried to get it inside by throwing bread at it, then when it got close enough, she grabbed it by the back of the neck really hard to get it inside and it bit her, twice, then she said, "oh its never done that before, its really my sons dog, might be time to get rid of it". I tried not to laugh. but by the way the dog was acting, I knew it would have done the same to me.....

one customer I wanted to ask if their septic tank was leaking, because there was so much dog poop around the propane tank, and there always is, almost like they tie their dog up to it. nothing will ruin your day quicker than dog poop all on your hose reel, and on your shoe, with the heat on. some people like to use the 'firemans hose technique" to pull the hose, but I'm always paranoid I'll get dog poo on my shirt. I just drag it by my side.

I've seen dogs behind invisible fences, the static shock kind, and you know thats the only thing keeping that dog from attacking. you can see the dog trying to run through it, and convulsing when it gets shocked, growling and running around barking with its teeth showing. getting shocked just seems to make it more angry for some reason.

I'm out in the country, and I have seen propane tanks next to cow patties. you wouldn't believe where some people will have a tank set. one customer dug a hole on top of a hill and sit his propane tank in the hole in the ground, the first time I got there to fill the tank with LP he said "its up there, haha". it was up there all right, in a friggin hole. with what looked like remnants of a old hornets nest. for some reason bugs, like the smell of propane and will build nests in the lid of the tank..... remember that......


the craziest thing happened today, one customer who only uses propane for a cook stove, had some kind of motion sensor around his tank, I was standing there checking to see if the tank needed propane, and heard what sounded like chimes you hear when walking through a supermarket entrance door. a moment later the guy steps outside and waves and yells "we dont need any propane".

another thing, if you have some long pulls to a propane tank, and you want to save time and energy, its always a good idea to check the tank before you pull the hose to it, to fill it. I can count the number on my hand how many times I've done that, and its 2. once was enough but the second time I swore I'd always check first. no matter how many times you fill a tank, and think you know your customers propane consumption habbits, you just dont know until you check first.

 

You'll want to use the jake brake first and foremost, before you ever hit your service brakes. The jake brake will gradually reduce your speed. When you hit your service brakes, it also destabilizes your load because it is too abrupt. I always use the jake brake first, then downshift gears, and last , I use the service brakes.

Going down a hill, you'll want to flip the jake back and forth between low and high. High will reduce your speed and low will generally maintain you at a steady speed, depending on the steepness of the grade. When you're going around a tight corner, go as slow as you possibly can or else you can roll the truck. Most rollovers happen under 25MPH. It has nothing to do with speed, and everything to do with the changing of the center of gravity.