Tanker to ready mix

Discussion in 'Tanker, Bulk and Dump Trucking Forum' started by Fold_Moiler, Apr 20, 2018.

  1. Fold_Moiler

    Fold_Moiler Road Train Member

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    First day went well. Rode with and watched my trainer do a curb. Then we went back and I drove there and ran the truck the whole time while he watched. I got laughed at by him and the finishers because I couldn’t figure out how to slow the thing down so it was on discharge at full blast but I knew to push the kill switch right away so it was all good. After he showed me how to slow it before it turns on it was smooth sailing.

    The finishers and him both said I did really well for my first time so that was nice. Then we went and got another load and just made some blocks for something in the yard. Not a bad first day. Everyone was nice. I’m the youngest by 10 years so that’s a good sign. People actually stay there. Worked from 6am to 3pm.

    My truck isn’t bad. It has ac so that’s good. It’s a really old t800 with an 8 speed.
     
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  3. motocross25

    motocross25 Road Train Member

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    That’s great man glad things went good! And can’t beat those hours.
     
  4. Fold_Moiler

    Fold_Moiler Road Train Member

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    Thanks man.

    Yeah I won’t say it was easy because it’s totally new to me and a lot to remember from the hand signals to what I’m calling out to the batchmen on the radio but it’s not stressful either.

    This is maybe the one truck I’d want in an auto though. At least for doing curbs lol.
     
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  5. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    It seems like guys either love driving mixers and make a career out of them or they absolutely hate it and don't last long.
    I drove mixer to be close to home for a family medical thing but it was never my favorite kind of driving.
    I agree on the automatic. We didn't have any but I used to wish we did when I was doing stop-n-go work. We had one job that was filling 4" fence post holes with a sand based mix...hundreds of them every day. The holes were about five feet apart and by the end of the day my left knee was shot. LOL...you could tell the guys assigned to the fence post job, they all limped.
     
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  6. Fold_Moiler

    Fold_Moiler Road Train Member

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    Yeah I could see how people would hate it but I like it so far. I logged like 60 miles today in 10 hours which is great for me because I really don’t care about driving a truck but pouring concrete is fun.

    All I’ve done is curbs and fill a buggy though. Curb is a lot of clutch but the buggy was super easy.

    They are switching over to autos as long as I don’t destroy this truck or keep it caked in concrete they said I’ll be getting a new truck whenever they buy more. I do like that my truck can do like 40 mph in reverse though. I guess they used to have some Mack’s that had 4 reverse speeds or something and would go just as fast in reverse as they would forward. I never cared about backing fast until I had to back a half mile today down a straight road that was just too small to turn around on.
     
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  7. motocross25

    motocross25 Road Train Member

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    Hey here’s a question. I saw a Dirty Jobs episode one time when he was in the drum jackhammering out dried up concrete. Is this a fairly common practice? As in say it needs to be done 1 or 2 times a year? Or is this just in instances where fit hits the shan so to speak, and the material starts setting?
     
  8. Fold_Moiler

    Fold_Moiler Road Train Member

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    I think that’s what happens when guys don’t clean their trucks well enough. I flush my drum until the water is running out clear. The stuff on the outside you can just hammer off though but you can keep it clean by just washing it constantly. Like that’s a quarter of my day is spraying down my truck.

    There is also a chemichal you can use to strip off dried concrete if you really can’t hammer it off but no I don’t think that’s common.

    It’s gotta be expensive.
     
  9. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    It used to be common for drivers to chip out their own trucks. It was a miserable job.
    There were injuries, respiratory ailments, and loss of hearing was a big problem.
    The outfit I worked for hired contractors to do all the inside drum work. It was more cost effective and it kept the WC rates lower.
    If the driver is diligent in his cleanout a drum might go quite awhile without being chipped. I'm wanting to say once a year but I never really paid that much attention.
    I only drove mixer for about a year and in that time we only had two loads that set up inside the drum. One was a wreck, one was a breakdown. If an entire load sets up inside the drum they usually don't even bother trying to get it out. What I've seen is that they just remove the drum, hardened concrete and all, and sell it to somebody for scrap. They also make great anchors for mooring buoys.
     
  10. Fold_Moiler

    Fold_Moiler Road Train Member

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    Lol I never even thought of that.

    But yeah we aren’t allowed to go in there which I’m thankful for.

    I could definitely see this place doing that. They don’t even patch tires they’ll just throw a new one on. Like I said my truck is 20 something years old but I’m really good shape. Old Smokey.
     
  11. SidewaysBentHalo

    SidewaysBentHalo Medium Load Member

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    Looking forward to updates. Ive been eyeballing mixer jobs but 17.00 an hr to start is a little pay cut to switch just to be local where i’m at. I hear the raises come steady though. Only other downside is losing combination experience if i were to hop out of it.
     
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