The Fuel Hauler Thread

It's not terribly physical but it adds up if your doing that many loads a day. It's bending, squatting, lifting etc. I'm no expert but I'd say one station is probably the equivalent of 25 stops for a UPS driver. I was a UPS driver before fuel so I'd say it's close. That would be 100 stops a day- not exactly easy money but it's an honest way to make a living. I only did 2 a day so it wasn't that bad. I had a harder time just sitting in that seat. I'm doing 5 loads a night now hauling dry bulk which is pretty cool.

 

Thanks alot for the info I appreciate it

 

It's just constant movement and mild lifting. Not bad by itself but added together at the end of a 5 load day and you will be beat up. But then again I double hose everything (check my avatar) so that's twice as much work.

 

It's the walking out fully charged hoses, that gives me the most trouble. Especially if your compartment has drained, and the hose is like "air locking" where you have to lift up the thing 5 or 6 times to get the last bit of fuel to flow down into the tank. Sometimes fuel will be backed up into the plumbing. You'll be holding the hose, and you'll feel the vacuum suction on the hose as the last few gallons are sucked out of the plumbing. Sometimes you'll want to put a bucket under the hose, right in the center of it, to keep things flowing as close to downhill as possible. You know what I mean? You'll figure it out. Come back in a year and read this and tell us what you think, haha

 

I'm a night guy myself. Been hauling fuel for 25 yrs. I can do more at night and don't have to deal with the traffic and busy stations. Although now a days a lot of stations are open 24/7. I also like waking up without an Alarm clock. I tried days for a while and couldn't do it. Always fatigued and just seem to wait in line to load a lot. When I was younger I delivered fuel in San Fransisco. That was 6-8 loads a night. Nights went fast and yes it was physical but when you get your routine down you find ways to make it less demanding. I use to strive to do at least 6 a night. I'm a little older and wiser now.
You'll either love it or hate it. Most the drivers come from over the road when they get into it. Ya you work 12-14 hours a day but you are home every night and get your days off each week. Better than living in a truck three weeks at a time.

 

Right on. Wow 6-8 loads a night? Sounds like my kinda gig- short runs and lots of out of the truck time. I like driving a truck but not being a 'trucker'. I did the 560 miles a day with one load as a local driver and I hated it. I loaded fuel out of San Jose but then went South along the 101. Never delivered fuel in the city. Now I'm doing dry bulk tanker and go back and forth each night between San Jose and San Francisco 4-5 loads a night.

 

Used to pull out of KM Brisbane into the city in 5-10 minutes. ARCO dedicated. Had our own rack back then no waiting to load.

 

Yep I ran the 2am shift when I was training and it was miserable. I felt like crap until the sun came out. Now I wake up at noon naturally with that glorious sunshine blasting through my bedroom window. Some people are early birds but I've never been. On my days off I set my alarm for 8-9am and that's about as early as I want to wake up ever.

Did the same thing when I was OTR. Ran about 11am-10pm. I was that guy always parked in "creative" places at the truck stop because there were never any spots.