Questions about what it's like to drive a tank

Thank you!

 

Thank you so much. I'd appreciate it.

 

Okay guys I have a really long update about my Groendyke experience so far, so I will divide it into two posts. Here goes nothing.

PART ONE--MY UNOFFICIAL START
First things first, I must say I don't like how things started out. I put in my application and they took 2 weeks to respond. They called me in and asked me to do an interview with the terminal manager, do a road test, do a physical and a drug test. I did that two days later on a Wednesday, and I wasn't really happy with how that went down either. With all the other trucking companies, they get you transportation to the drug test and medical place and all that. With them, I had an interview. He asked me how much I needed to make a month to cover all of my bills and survive and they would try to make sure I never made less than that. He told me that I am eligible for 401k matching the first Friday of the week I start, but I would be eligible for Medical insurance the first day of the month after 60 days. He said they have Blue Cross Blue Shield, and it would be about $160 a paycheck for a single person. They get paid every two weeks instead of every week. We discussed mutual expectations. Then they gave me the directions to the place to do my drug test, and I had to Uber there because I didn't have a car. Then I had to Uber back to do my drive test, etc. They told me I should have an answer no later than Tuesday of the next week.

Well Tuesday came and I heard nothing. I called and they said my drug test and everything came back good and they were waiting to hear from Corporate. He said I would hear from him on Wednesday, the next day. I said okay. I heard nothing and couldn't get ahold of anybody. On Thursday he said they should know by Friday. This was the Friday before Memorial Day. I couldn't get ahold of anybody all day Friday. Of course they were off on Memorial day. I called Tuesday of this week in the morning. They said they needed to hear back from the Regional Director. Then he called back an hour later and said I could come down to the terminal and start orientation. I couldn't make it until the next day though. Then I find out they do two road tests, and I had to do another road test and I would be local during training. I stay at a friend's house because I've been otr for 2.5 years so I haven't gotten a place yet. Instead of telling me things as they go it would have been nice to know what to expect beforehand so I can make the proper arrangements.

So I was unhappy because they left me hanging for two weeks, and it took 4 weeks to even start orientation after I applied. Also their communication sucked right off the bat. It appears that they don't believe in advanced notice. They seem to like to tell you things as they go and now that I'm in training it has been confirmed by my trainer.

Anyways, I filled out the usual paperwork and then I was left alone in a room upstairs to watch 14 videos of various lengths (some were 40 minutes, one was 8). I was told I was allowed to take an hour lunch break if I wanted (again, would have been nice to know beforehand because I would have brought a lunch). There's nothing immediately near the terminal. It's kind of out there as far as location.
Then they gave me my PPE equipment, which brings me to my next dislike. They make you rent your uniform. You have two options: you can 'lease' it for $5 a paycheck, but you must wash it yourself and you only get 7 pairs. Or you can 'rent' it for $8 paycheck, and they will wash it and you get 14 pairs. You drop the dirty ones in a bin whenever you get back to the terminal and some company picks them up and returns them the following week. There's no option to buy them so they're not coming out of your check forever, and you must wear Groendyke's uniform; you cannot bring your own.

But I have, as you know, 0 tanker experience so they are willing to train me so that makes me feel better. I am still finishing the process to get my hazmat so I'm training on asphalt. I make $19/hr while I'm in training. One thing I like is I will get paid a minimum of 11 hours a day no matter what. If I work 8 hrs, I get paid 11. If i work 13 though, i get my 13. I work Monday through Friday and have weekends off. They decide how long they think you need to be trained and they assign you a program of x amount of days. They decided I would be on a 10-day training program. However, if I get the hang of it sooner and I can show them I can do the job by myself they will turn me loose. In the same stroke, if I need more time, they will give it to me. They are very serious about making sure you know what you're doing and the dangers involved.
I am based out of the Denver terminal, which is in Henderson, CO.

Once I finish training, I can get into my truck and start out on my own. They already have a truck waiting for me. HOWEVER, I am told by my trainer that they don't hire cleaning crews and the mechanic they had that cleaned them before quit so there's no one to clean the trucks. I have to clean it myself. NOT HAPPY about that and will be asking the TM to double check.
I am told by the TM that somewhere within the next 60 days I will have to go to Enid Oklahoma to do the REAL orientation at headquarters. They do it this way to make sure that you are really interested in working for them and don't quit because it "takes 15,000 dollars to orientate a driver at Groendyke." My trainer told me they would probably have me park my truck at the terminal and rent me a car. Then I would drive to Enid. When you get to headquarters THAT'S when they start taking care of you the way I'm used to the companies doing in the beginning. That's when you get the hotel and the food and all of the accommodations. I guess it makes sense. They domt burned and the driver gets a job.

 

PART TWO--MY OFFICIAL START

So after I finished on Wednesday, they told me their certified driver trainer would not be available until the next week, but they figured they had held me up long enough (I agree!), so they asked a local driver if I could ride with him for the rest of this week. I was to show up Thursday morning with my PPE (I'm wearing the safety director's jumpsuit until my uniform gets here) at 4 am.

I happened to pass my trainer and we were talking about something and he mentioned me needing to wear steel toe boots. "You know it's a requirement, right?" No. No, I did not. Yet another thing they neglected

 

Sorry, my fingers hit the post button too soon. So this is P2 continued.

Yet another thing they neglected to mention. So I ran to Dicks Sporting Goods at the last minute and grabbed some steel toe workboots.

The next morning, my trainer was late. We ended up being late picking up and delivering. We went to this asphalt plant to load and we found out yet ANOTHER thing they forgot to tell us. I was supposed to be driven to the plant on Wednesday after watching the videos to get my badge. I cannot enter the plant without one. So we had to turn around and leave and go get me a badge. I had to fill out paperwork, watch videos, take picture, etc. That made us late for the subsequent loads. We had 4 loads that we had to load and deliver.

Anywho, I picked up loading pretty quickly. I made a rookie mistake and stepped in a GIANT puddle of asphalt oil while standing on top of the tank trying to open the lid on top. It was cooled off (asphalt is heated to over 300 degrees), so I didn't burn to death but that stuff is still on my boots.

My trainer was nice and laid back
He's been at Groendyke for 6 years, and he was very knowledgeable about what we were doing.

The only eventful thing that happened is at the plant we delivered to, a dump truck driver decided he would crawl under a rack without his hardhat on despite the plant rules, and he stood up too soon and split his head wide open from the forehead to the nape of his neck. It was BAD. The fire department and ambo came. His company had to send someone to move his truck because he was holding up the dirt line. I learned something very important. Always follow safety rules. Even if you think you're just going to do this one thing for like 2 seconds.

All in all, we made it back to the terminal at 4:40, so it was a loooong day. But I had fun and I learned a lot. One thing I learned is there's minimal to no surge in less you slam on the brakes with asphalt oil because it's too thick. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I was hoping I could use training to get used to surge, but I couldn't feel anything. Also, I didn't drive I just did all the loading and unloading.

They let me put my stuff in an empty locker and said the cleaning crew would assign me a locker tomorrow. (That would be today). They told me to keep my phone on and they would call me to let me know when I have to be there tomorrow (that is today).

Conclusion: I think I made a good choice trying to switch to tanker.

 

I forgot something. A little more on pay. They said when I get out of training I will get paid a percentage of the load. My percentage will be 24%. They gave me a list of how much I would get paid for x amount of miles. The percentage would work out to whatever the number was. For example. If I drive 10 miles away from the customer, i get $51.00 which is supposed to be the equivalent to 24% of the load. If I drive 440 miles, I'll get $411 and some cents, which is almost a dollar a mile. My trainer says you don't get paid empty miles to go to the customer, at least not on the Asphalt side. They pay you from the shipper to the receiver, and from the receiver to the yard. That's it. I don't know how I feel about that because I still drove to go get the load, but that list of their pay looks good.
If you drive in the mountains you get a little more money.

Also, a word on equipment. Trucks look nice. I'll have to ask about inverters (I don't see one in this sleeper truck we have) and they don't seem to have APUs. But they're nice. They seem to drive smooth, they SELF-CHAIN, and no cameras in the cab. They are flat top freightshakers with no top bunk. There are cabinets in place of the bunk. They do have the stuff that beeps at you in the newer trucks. Lane alert vibrates in the speakers, and if a car gets too close it beeps. They also have Bendix, which will tap your brakes if the camera on the front detects an obstacle it thinks that you're going to collide with. They are going to all automatics because they said "they're just safer." I don't know about that, but I'm one of those drivers who prefer them so that's just a heads up for anyone reading this who isn't. There are still some older trucks that don't have the beepy stuff and are manuals but they're being phased out.

Ok, now I'm done until next week. Sorry for being longwinded. ☺

I get the weekend off and I'll post about today when today is over. Y'all be safe!!