Questions for Tanker drivers

This sounds ok for a newbie, in fact, it might be perfect....you will get really good at shifting and watching the traffic lights. Once you have made the trip 10 times, you will feel real comfortable with it and you will learn how to shift quite well.

Three trips a day would be 240 miles and four would be 320 miles a day...so about 1,600 miles a week or 80,000 miles a year for 50 weeks of driving. At about 20,000 miles you should be able to start driving it with one eye closed, and at 40,000 miles you can sleep while you are driving. This works out to $.43/mile for a 50 week year doing 4 runs per day. The question is, can you do 4 runs per day? With a 12 hour day, it would seem reasonable, depending on how long it takes to get unloaded and loaded, and I am guessing on 2nd shift you would have less waiting time for that. Also, some lesser amount of traffic.

The free training they give you is worth about $4,000....what is the penalty if you don't stay with them the full year?

 

What's the chemicals? No reflection on you driver, don't know you, but not sure I'm comfortable with a total rookie hauling the real "hot stuff".

Do yourself a favor and check that out first. Learning Hazmat on top of learning to drive is quite a challenge and the consequences of error are a whole lot more severe.

 

Tankers are not that hard to learn. You should be lucky that you will be home all the time. You want filthy, try hauling diesel fuel down dirt roads all day. You will smell like diesel for a week and dirt sticks real good to it too. Get whatever protective gear you need and take it easy until you know what to do automatically.

 

I worked for CTL for a year and a half. It's hard, dangerous work. You will go home smelling of Sulphur every night, you will run your full 11 every day, and you will NOT enjoy it.

Having said that, CTL never lied to me, never asked me to go over on HOS, and did everything they promised. I got more experience from them in different kinds of hauling than most people get in five. For them I pulled Hazmat Tankers, Bottom drop doubles, Water tankers, Pnuematic Bulk trailers, and even Dry-Van.

It is what it is.

You will start out on Sulphur in the most ungodly contraption you have ever seen, called a 'Dry-Double', see below, but will also get to move up to hauling powdered Limestone, then Coal Doubles. If they're still pulling water from one pond to the next, it's the best duty you can get. If not, then coal is best. Stay away from hauling Sulfuric Acid, those people are just crazy. If you can, get first or third shift. On third, there is no traffic. On First you get to go home at a reasonable time and traffic is still not too bad. 2nd is rush hour. You do three runs a day between New Wales and several spots in Port of Tampa for a total of six loads (3 Sulphur, 3 DAP). It's nothing that can't be done. Beware, some times they go through slow periods and you will not get the full three. That happens around the new year. Sometimes DAP is down, so you can only haul Sulphur. If you do, you'll be able to get 4 loads in.

If you have any more questions, PM me and we can talk. Hauling Sulphur sucks, but it's a start.

If you get down by Fort Lonesome, they used to make an awesome Cuban sandwhich with Garlic Butter on it!

 

I was looking into them as well. They say on their site they take out of state students and I'm sure I'd be working out of the Atlanta terminal. Any idea what they haul out of there?

 

No, but it's probably pretty much the same. More helping companies that rape the Earth...