Pulling smooth bore tankers

I see. The 10 mph rule is what I will go for then. Yeah it's crazy. When I'm driving at work I can actually look at the tank trailers around me on the road; and I actually see how the liquid jerks the trailer around. Man I am scared but I did the math. If I put in the same amount of hours at this new job, as I do at my current job, were talking 79k a year. 51k on the low end. That's some good dough.

 

Milk isn't exactly the highest paying tube freight, at least in Wisconsin. Chemicals and gas seem to be the big bucks, but the nice thing about milk tankers, is they don't blow up. ( sorry , but it's true) Haven't heard from realsupatruka(?) in a while, Must be on a long one. Usually hops on these tanker threads.

 

Going into my fourth year pulling a chemical tank, smooth bore of course. Best advice just take it slow at first till you get the hang of it. Most stories about surge are wayyyyy overblown. I don't even feel it anymore unless I get a big hit. I get a kick out of what surge will do every time this comes up. You will see soon enough.

 

To me it all depends on the situation, there is no hard rule about it. I assure you though it's not a world's difference and if you use a bit of sense you will be fine.

 

Yeah I think I will use this milk gig as a stepping stone to hauling chemicals.

 

Well, you never know, I have friends that did that (haul milk) for years, and loved it. Farm pickup is a little challenging, but if you just do a transfer thing, it's a gravy job. That's why those trucks are always spotless, is they unload inside,(heated) and have water hoses around,(got to be clean) and sometimes it takes a while to unload. I've heard of guys that ran into problems and spent hours at the dairy, transfer, you pump off into another tanker or a big storage tank.

 

The curve thing is a little difficult. A lot of curves aren't marked with a lower speed, but should be, and a lot are that don't really need to be. As a general rule if I can't see the entire curve ahead of me I'm slowing down to at least 10 below the speed limit, maybe more. If it's marked I go 10 below whatever is on the sign.

You can go too slow around a curve or ramp every time, but you can only go too fast once.

 

I learned to drive a semi driving a milk tanker. Can't add too much too what's been said so far , these guys all gave you great advice. the 3 S's of driving always apply equally to pulling a tank. Always try your best to be....... 1. Smooth .....2. Steady ......3. Slow..... when shifting , turning , going around curves , changing lanes etc.....Good luck!

 

Question kemosabi, why would you use a smooth bore to haul chemicals? I know you can't have baffles on a milk tanker, or you'll have butter by the time you get there, but why chemicals? Are you sure you don't have baffles? We had an old chemical tanker when I hauled waste, and it had baffles.