Pulling smooth bore tankers

You feel it, it's just a part of the job. No matter how smooth you are surge is going to happen. It's not complicated and it's really no big deal. I'm surprised no one has come on and told how surge pushed them all the way through an intersection or some other nonsense.

 

So, now I'm going to talk complete nonsense about how one time in my rig the liquid surge pushed me through an intersection...I was so lucky I didn't hit... Oh.

Yeah, I couldn't resist the idea. Especially after someone mentioned it...

 

I guess the best way to tackle this is to slow down way before you come to the intersection and when in doubt on a corner, drop at least 10 mph. Eh??

 

The first word tells you all you need to know about smoothbores... SMOOTH. The best trick is learning to slowly change your acceleration rate: ease into the throttle after a shift, and come off fairly slowly before a shift. That spreads the impulse out, making the surge far less severe. And you'll learn real quick to time your shifts to the surge, you upshift when the product is moving forward, the acceleration when you get back on the throttle helps counteract the surge, and the push that's left helps you accelerated after the shift. The opposite is true when downshifting, do it when it's headed to the back. Accelerating during the back shift, or braking during the fore, will teach you how nasty surge can be.

Like much in life, you have to learn to deal with the inevitable. Either you use it to you advantage or you'll fight it everyday.

 

Are there any videos out there illustrating some of these concepts?

 

Oh, maybe. YouTube has like 8 Billion video's, and I know, nowadays we go right to a video for how to do something, and that's great, we never had that, only what old timer's told us, kind of like what I'm doing now. It's all hands on experience, and it's best to be OVERCAUTIOUS at 1st, until you get the feel of it. It's not like trying to fly the Space Shuttle( I know, that dates me), you'll see right away. It's really not that big of a deal. You'll be fine.

 

OP, I hope you appreciate all those that have given you some great information gleaned from years of experience pulling smoothbore tankers.

Respect the load and weight and you will be fine. Drivelines where mentioned, only to pass on situations that may... crop up. I have never damaged a clutch, u-joint, rear end or even. have never had a turbo fail, and that includes 2 4-wheelers with turbos, both with over 245,000 miles on them. Out of the estimated 20 tractors or so that I have used on tankers, I only had one for a couple of trips that had a super sensitive clutch. Down in WVA and NC it was a challenge, but I got the job done. My second job was pulling smoothbores at age 22 in 1973.

A lot of those with experience choose to be a splenetic, old, super trucker, unwilling to pass on any knowledge to the new drivers coming on board, so hopefully some here have helped prevent a future rollover, that may end a career or involve a fatal. Be carefull out there and don't.......... tailgate.

 

Yes, this thread absolutely generated many, many more replies than i originally thought. I should know today whether or not I was hired thanks everybody.

 

The technology exists to clean behind the baffles BUT the shipper can't inspect that area for the overused standard "Clean, Dry and Odor Free"...

 

I used to instruct new drivers to take exit ramps @ 1/2 the posted speed...

Surge is compounded by product weight per gal.

Provost closed the 401 when a 1000 gal of high temp flammable resin on a large compartment climbed the side and flipped the whole rig over at 10 KPH...

Old timers used to admit that they would take a local ramp fast enough to raise the front inside duals off the ground.

J J Keller does have a slosh video where they mount a bubble of colored fluid on a elliptical gas tanker w/ 'training wheels' on the Federal proving grounds and you can see the fluid climb the space as the outside wheels came off the ground.

Hooking up at a 90 degree angle can cause a loaded tank to rollover too...