The Pneumatic Tanker Thread

...and also like a good woman, she has a place to warm your hands in the cold weather if you know where to put them...

 

^^^^ ...sorry, should have logged in on that one so they know where to send the harrassment suit...

 

I treat the truck like a woman already. Even give her a name. It's because she always works better like that. Honestly.... it's because I work better with her like that. Ignore things for a second, and they can go to H!.
I seriously appreciate the input. I have one run, three times a month, going to Dickinson, North Dakota. I know, during winter, it will be punishing, doing loading/unloading. I honestly don't know which, yet. Probably loading. I have the clothes for it. Carhartt extreme wear. Used to be called Arctic Wear. This is the run where he told me he will get me home, 3 times a month, during my 34. I live 6 hours north of Denver. To me, it's a definite plus. I can take care of things at home. Like my mail. Keep tabs on my home, etc. But not taking 'home time'.
I appreciate the input because I'm not bound to this job yet. Still very positive on it. From my talking to this terminal manager. Doesn't seem to be well informed. Things don't seem to be well thought out. A little weary on that point. But still positive. He does seem to be very earnest though. But.... I've seen earnest elsewhere, where numbers just didn't add up.
This has me weary. I know all about making things work, when management hasn't thought anything out.

 

Go in with a good attitude like you appear to be and you'll love it. You'll have the occasional days when you want to strangle somebody....like any job. But I still look forward to going to work everyday. Not a brain-dead job banging a dock plate, actually get to use your noggin for more than a hard hat rack. I love the challenges. Loads by appointment, generally they are happy to see you. You develop relationships with your customers and they appreciate your good service.

 

Yup food grade tanker work is very different from normal trucking. Generally not much wait because when an order is placed they need it and are glad you have arrived and depending on the customers you might get perks. He might not seem well informed because if the flour mills back there are anything like the ones out here there is almost no schedule which makes it kinda frustrating but it's something that Ive gotten used to.

 

Back when I first started pulling pneumatics, my trainer said that pneumatic trailers are like women because they all look alike but what works well for one will give you nothing but problems with another.

 

Ain't that the truth!! That's why I tried to keep the same trailer. I got to know how it liked things and what made it pump off the fastest. Get a different trailer and you have to start all over again. That and you don't know if all the valves are operating well, what's been fixed recently or any of that.

 

Ya know, I really hate using a different trailer. Our first load of the night is usually lime and we load using our suspension gauges. No scale right where we load. It's a major PITA to try and remember what to load each trailer to, only to get to the scale and find you guessed wrong....

 

Would a chart for each trailer help? One of our competitors has quite a few trailers that they swap around and they made up a folder for each truck with all the trailers and their weights in it. It's not perfect but it helps. They load a lot of product off of rail cars with no scales close by.
When you guys haul lime how do you clean your trailers and hoses afterward?

 

Such a chart would require some effort, something my fellow workers, and my boss, is allergic to. I have started writing such things down, and it does help somewhat.

The lime we are hauling isnt too bad, it's just crushed limestone, so there's hardly anything left in the trailer when we're done. We do go through the clean out process twice when switching from lime to cement. And use stainless steel hose to unload. Never had any problems doing it this way.