So why doesn't everyone drive fuel tankers?

Forgot to say about rate that you also have to take into account all that was said hear about the danger, crazy hours, and being in N.Y. witch is usually a higher rate, hell most company's offer more money to cross the bridge because no one want's to, i live here so i can relate to that...

 

We have several tanker drivers that park there rigs here, the pay fluctuates depending on where they drop there loads,the company they work for is run by a family of stupid rednecks out of Gainsville ,Fla. the woman that handles the payroll is a real piece of work, she uses any excuse to not pay the drivers what she is supposed to,charges the owner operators and extra 10% when they need tires to keep legal ect" will not pay the owner operator for his time to card the company driver to get fuel from the terminal(FYI>each terminal requires drivers how get fuel there to have a saftey class before being issued a fuel card). so they stay because there are not many companies hiring owner operators anymore, so they just add up everything the company holds back on them so when the day comes when they leave, the company will have a lawsuit on there hands . but there are some good days when they make good money too!

 

Hauling gasoline and other fuels are just not like hauling general freight down the road. A gas hauler can make 6 figures if he or she sets their goals to it. The money is there where other jobs it isn't. One of the big differences with petroleum is the requirement to know all the rules and regulations of the product and what to do if there's a problem. The load is loaded and unloaded by you which requires more knowledge and requirements. Knowing the characteristics of the product and truck is a must and there's a lot of drivers out there that have no clue. For example, a lot of drivers think the truck going down the road is a rolling bomb. That couldn't be more from the truth. Everyone should know from school you need three parts for a fire. When I load or unload the truck I keep the tanks sealed from the outside. It's part of the vapor recovery system. When the gasoline goes into the tank it pushes the vapors out and back to the tank farm. When I unload the gasoline going in the ground tank pushes the vapors out of the tank and into my truck. So the tanker truck is either vapor rich or product rich. That means no air is in the tank to cause a fire. Sure there's been tanks blow up but really they are only burning fast and when contained with the air they will blow. You either have to rip the tank apart or inject air into the tank. You rip a tank apart and it's full you are going to have one big fire. Hopefully I'll be far away when that happens. With my company on the west coast we have only lost 4 drivers in the past 40 years. In my opinion having fuels has been the best job I have ever had. The job is challenging and never dull. All cities have gas haulers and at those terminals you have the companies that are the best. You can work up to great jobs if this is your line of work where other types of companies offer no path to the top.

 

I have seen job listings for cdl a gas haulers for 50k. I laughed, cried a little and then moved on.

 

When I first started hauling diesel I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of rules and regulations that were required knowledge. I came from expediting and the prerequisites for that job weren't even in the same ballpark (Do you have a license? Great, you're hired). At my current company I had two interviews over the phone, an in-person interview and a road test. They also gave the opportunity for ride along to various job sites to get a scope of the magnitude of the position so you could gauge whether or not you were cut out for this line of work. I must say I'm much happier in my current position than I was previously. The work is way more challenging and requires a lot of critical thinking. Training lasted three weeks and it took me almost two months to get "carded" at Shell - lots of paid internet training, reading the life saving rules, supervised loads, etc. My company had to invest a lot of money into my (and our other hires) training before we were able to get out on our own. We have monthly incentive bonuses, great benefits and half-decent pay (55k/yr to start). The advancement opportunities are out there as well, in fact after only six months my boss has sat me down to speak with me about my future at the company and where he envisions me in a few years. I'd be hard pressed to name another company with that kind of forward thinking and respect for their drivers. It's good to feel appreciated. I also get the sense from fuel haulers that it's almost like an unspoken bond out there, regardless if you're hauling doubles or driving a single axle straight. I get waves from other drivers and have great conversations with the guys at the rack. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with my situation. I'm sure you feel the same.

 

And for everyone reading this, it's not complete roses either. Just today I had a 15-hour backbreaker of a shift. Started at 0450 and punched out at 1950. I delivered 17,000 litres (almost 5000 gal) which doesn't seem like much, but when you're dealing with trucks and construction equipment that are only taking 50gal per tank, that's a lot of work lugging the hose around and climbing up and down from dozers, cranes, excavators, etc. I'd say this job is 80% physical and 20% driving. I think our compensation could be slightly better also, but considering I'm still new to this position and I'm trying to learn about the energy sector and the business of fuel, it's a start. I have to work really hard but I'd much rather sleep in my bed every night knowing I put in an honest effort in.

 

You're kind of in a different field than us. Your job is what we called a jobber. Going from job to job refueling equipment. I know it's back backing work but I'll bet you that job is entry level work and passed over by many if not all the experienced drivers. Don't get me wrong because you are gaining experience and have a fairly easy transition when or if you want to. You are right, there are some down falls to fuel handling. It's a 24 hour 7 days a week job. When you start out it's most likely you're on the night shift working weekends. However. hauling the amount of gallons that I hauled is no easy cake either. I've have 6 loads and 12 hours to do it in. The time is not a problem but I can tell you you're dragging tail at the end of the shift. That's 12 times loading and unloading for a amount of 74700 gallons delivered at the stations. Our trucks are called super tankers because we can load 12450 gallons per load. It's only about 150 miles of city driving but that too can get you down. But every driver that's at the job they want will tell you that the pay and benefits outweigh the downfalls by miles.

 

Curious: Does all the lower 48 states allow super tankers ? Is that 1 trailer or 2 total ?
Tanker new mandated 2013 endorsement allows me to haul crap for LTL, far from removed calling my self knowledgeable in your direct line of work.

Did not know about "super tankers"

 

Out of curiosity, do u mean Super B configuration? I am rated at 63,500kgs or 140,000 lbs. So if I was
hauling fuel in that configuration, I could haul 47 cubes. Do you need a cheater axle on the trailer?

 

NO. We can only run these trucks in OR, WA, UT, and NV. There's more but that's where we run. What we call a super tanker is a truck with a tank permanently mounted pulling a 4 axle trailer. It's just a large truck and trailer. We can hold 15,000 gallons but that would exceed or permit of 110,000 lbs. But any over sized tanker can be a super tanker. There's so many combinations out of Las Vegas because the trucks run all over. I've seen a full semi truck pulling a pup, and even two 40 foot trailers. It's however it is set up for your company. For local deliveries of gasoline I wouldn't want any thing else that out there. There's no fifth wheel, the long drawbar allows you to fit in smaller stations. Believe it or not I can take that 85 foot truck and trailer into more places than a semi. The trailer tracks a lot closer to the truck. If you look close you'll see a drop axle right after our steers. We had to have that to make the steer weight legal. You can see all of our trucks on the move if you go digging around Hanks west coast tankers.