The Pneumatic Tanker Thread

i think i get what you are saying. I might have to experiment.

So, i forgot the best part. This trailer (that actually works, has brakes, working lights, i don't think it leaks air and it mostly (although a bit slowly but I think i've got some ideas on how to speed it up, i've knocked off 15 minutes so far. Anyway, the manufactuer's tag: Made in 1974

yeah, it's almost as old as me.

it's got new (well this century anyway) running gear, but still. 1974. dang.

 

I went to work Sunday night for the first time in over a week. Apparently the power plants decided to fire up and run. But their lime silo was almost empty when they fired up on Sunday. They can run two days on a silo.

Knowing there's a storm on the way that'll cripple the roads until Wednesday night, we had to have the silo full when the storm set in Monday night. But someone (my boss) sent too many trucks, and had the silo full on Monday at 7am. So me and one other driver ended up going back out Monday afternoon to fill them back up. Luckily I made it back to the shop before the snow got too bad. The other guy ended up getting stuck about 10 miles from the shop. In the middle of nowhere, at 1230am. He finally got back at 330 am.

 

I unloaded in Duncanville, TX this morning then off to get a clean trailer then pick up a load in the morning going to Atlanta then bump home after that. All in all a 1600 dollar week. Not too shabby for leaving the house yesterday around 9:30 in the morning.

 

Air Cooled beat me to it. You open the blowdown and send all your blower air into the discharge line (so that line pressure will be much higher than tank pressure), and then cycle the hopper valve until all of the product is sucked back into the tank.

And don't be scared when the trailer starts hopping up & down, that's normal.

 

well it's been an unbelievably bad couple days. so, i think wednesday I"m supposed to do two loads, then drive the truck and trailer down to the shop and switch out the tractor so they can do a long list of fixes to the tractor. I finish those two (with the on site blower because of course my hot air hose is busted). I call in to make sure the tractor is ready (that it's still the plan). Oh, we need you to drive 1.5 hours north, get another load bring it 2 hours south and unload it. Yeah, I'll be out of hours. Well go get it and bring it to the shop. I'll still be over 12. (we run the 12 no breaks rule). remember, I have to drive back to my domicile. blah blah blah, whine whine whine, we can't plan anything help us.

Drive 1.5 hours north. Get there, get on the scale and a guy runs up from the unhatching catwalk and says "hey, you need to look at this before you load"

Go back and high quality rough riding spring suspension 1974 trailer has busted off one of the brake chambers. Just hanging there. Wasn't like that at the last unload (I mean ti's super obvious and I"m always back there checking the hose). Hmmm, well we're not loading. get off the scale and get out of the way. Call it in. STart crawling around more. Both brackets that hold the chamber on have busted off the axle. looking more i see that one bracket on the other brake chamber is also broken. This is a major job. I'm 2.5 hours north of the shop. I weigh 27k (total, still amazed how light these trucks are). I tell them i'll wire it up so they don't fall and drive back roads and get to my yard anyway (1.5 hours south) and we can hot swap tractors/trailers there. no no, you stay there.

2.5 hours later they show up with another tractor and trailer so they can wire it up and drive it back. Makes zero sense to me. I made it back to my domicile with 4 minutes on my 14.

Next day I run the first load. The trailer they gave me was the one that originally plugged up (few days back). ALL kinds of new parts. new welds, new valves, etc. Yeah, thinking this trailer wasn't so hot. Go do first unload, then supposed to go to another plant to load and then downtown (where I"ve been, they make cinderblocks, building probably been there 70 years or more). I get in line at the plant and there are 5 trucks in front of me. Fantastic. Wait wait wait, nobody moves. Ummmm, at least someone should have gone. trucks have rolled in behind me. A guy comes walking out the plant "yeah, plants broken, should be 10 to 15 minutes, blew a main breaker". 2.5 hours later, they get it up and running and I get loaded. But I only get one load in, I"m out of hours to get the 2nd load in, so I just get pre-loaded and tell dispatch I"ll do it first thing in the morning.

So friday I get to the site and it's dark, but unlike truck parkign lots, cement related plants all are well lighted. I get backed in and get hooked up and running. Theres' a big light overhead. The main hatch is leaking, I can see the product because it's top lit. (once the sun comes up you can barely see it, only because you know what to look for). Finish that unload go back to shop to switch back to my tractor (above) while they fix the hatch. He puts in a new gasket, i get the truck hooked up, etc. Now they have me running all the way to the south side of Denver. on a friday. Twice. I'm domiciled an hour north of Denver. Now i've lost an hour, i'm going to eat rush hour on teh way home. oh, i'm thrilled. Get to new to me concrete plant. Have to take a 5 mile out of the way road (with like 10 stoplights) because "we can't take toll roads". (it's one exit, it's $1.55 and 5 miles and 15 minutes closer, but screw the driver's time, we don't care about that).

Getting close to finishing and another guy unloading walks up and says "hey, your blower shouldn't sound like that". ok, news to me, this is the only one i've had. "yeah, yeah, see this is a heat plug and it's gone bad, ti's leaking". Still works great though. So, call that in after finishing. Yeah yeah, come in and we'll switch it out. So, get loaded again and go back to the shop. Another 30 minutes. Back all the way south across town, get hooked up and unloading. 10 minutes in, that hissing sound comes back. yeah, heat plug blown again, except this time it's blowing a lot of air and I can't hold pressure. Unbelievable. That's THREE TIMES today. Get hooked up to the onsite blower. Get that slowly running (way less power, plus the hatch is still leaking, the new gasket didn't fix it). And am within 10 minutes of finishing and I get a "high light" (full silo). Are you fn kidding me?

Go get the plant guy. "yeah, hook up this"
so, have to depressureize everything, hook up somewhere else and finish out the tiny little bit left. Now it's 3pm. I'm on the far south side of denver and I have to go an hour north of Denver. My clock expires at 5pm.

I make it back to my yard at 4:45.

At 5pm I get a call, "can you work saturday?'
Fine, half day.
Ok, take two loads to that downtown place.
Yeah, that's 8 hours of work. Not doing it. Oh, plus I don't have a blower, it broke again and that place doesn't have an onsite blower.
oh, well you could go to ft collins, and then drive to aurora and then home. (probably 5 to 6 hours). Fine. Ok, the appointment is at noon.
oh hell no, that's my entire day. I won't be back home until 3pm. No, not doing that. I've already worked 60 in 5 days. (place is a scam, they use a 70/8 week, so you reset on sundays, bullcrap)

Then 20 minutes later another dispatch guy (who all sit in the same small room). Ok, i have your monday loads, need you to take 2 loads to that downtown place.

Ummmm, I just told the other lady 20 minutes ago my blower is broken, can't go there.

Ok, we'll call you back.

its now saturday, no call back. Barely care anymore.

I left MBM despite making huge money for working ridiculous hours and the stuff broke down all the time. Here we sit not making big money, working ridiculous hours and stuff breaking down ALL the time. (oh yeah, it was payday, nothing got deposited, i've been there 3 weeks, it should have showed).

Beyond frustrated.

 

Ouch. That's not a good way to end the week.

So it sounds like they have some shoddy equipment, and they're giving you the worst they have. And making you jump through hoops to run it. Just a bad run of luck? Maybe. But if it keeps going like that, then I'd be moving on. Nobody should have to deal with that. Not even a newbie.

If u lived around here, our company is hiring.

 

everybody is hiring here. I really only took the job because the yard is really close to my house (and almost nothing is), but every day I end up back in denver to get the truck/trailer fixed. How does that help?

sometimes stuff just breaks, I get that, I used to own my trucks. But some of this is just old (the trailers, the tractors are actually pretty solid) and some is nobody cares (previous guy who had this truck didn't write anything up) and most of it is a total lack of respect for my time.

I think i'm going to take the truck into the shop today and have the wife follow me (oh, they are getting charged for both sides of my drive) and they can call (or not, I don't care) when it's done. Dont' think i'm going to leave anything in the truck either.

 

Try a penny in the saddle where the latch goes on that leaky lid. It'll form to it and give you a lot more pressure down. Had that on some fly ash trailers I used to pull.

 

from what I can see (13'6" below) it's leaking out underneath the side where the hinge is. (even though there are 6 dog legs that hold it down, set evenly around the lid)