thinking about propane

Winter is our busiest time for propane.

And yes it is definitely easy work, but it really sucks trying to maneuver in and out of all those tiny little dealers that are not designed for a transport.

 

I delivered propane via a bobtail truck in a remote & rather poor area, and while this experience is perhaps not the norm, it was my experience nonetheless.

Many of the racks where I had to fill up were in poor condition and had noticeable leaks. Management did not want to hear about it, if I didn't like it I could quit. I had to deliver to some places that required crossing bridges overweight, this really bothered me. But they had been deliverung to these places for years (remote homes, remote chicken farms, radio towers). The only way to access them was across bridges not rated to carry the truck. Again, if I didn't like it I could quit. I think it is inherently dangerous, some other drivers were real cowboys. There are occasional snafus, like getting "stuck on a tank" that require some real macgyver like tactics to figure ones way out of. Also, the odorizing agent is called "Ethyl Mercaptan" and I have been told it is a nerve agent. The guy who I trained with had a rare form of throat cancer and I believe it is likely it came from 30 years of being around the stuff. When you work with it day in day out you wind up smelling like it, you have to open bleeders all day and smell it (breathe it). My personal opinion, all things considered, is it is not desirable to work with. As a transport driver, if the situation was right perhaps it's ok, but it is inherently dangerous in large quantities and in time I think just about everyone, even following protocol will have an incident or two that really makes them think.

That said, propane itself is a lifeline to folks that live in really remote areas. I was in the mountains and would get to go some unique places, like to the tops of remote mountains to fill emergency generator tanks for radio towers and such. During long blackouts, like during an extended length ice storm for instance, might have to make multiple trips up questionable roads, in ice, to the top of remote mountain to keep filling up emergency generator tank.

The transport driver's at rail ports have to add the Ethyl Mercaptan into the tank, as rail propane is not odorized yet.

It's definitely not for everyone, but God bless those who out up with the bull for those whose lives and livelihoods depend on it.

Synopsis: I don't recommend it if there is other work available, the pay differential is small. If anything ever goes awry the company vwill likely make you the scapegoat. There are continually greater and more honorous regulations (the road to hell is paved with good intentions).

 

@Transit_lifer I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about driving a transport. Bottle trailers are very expensive, so companies tend to keep them for many, many years. I have pulled a bunch of trailers older than me, and I was born in the late 70s.

In my experience most of the dealers we deliver to are not really designed for a transport to enter and exit (their guys drive bobtails, after all), so getting in and out can be a bit tricky especially at some of the older places - and don't even get me started on the plumbing. But once you get past all the peculiarities of any particular location, the work itself is pretty straightforward.

One thing about the propane itself: do not expect propane to behave like any other substance you've ever encountered - because it won't. Always load through the spray fill, if possible, or through the vapor line if your trailer is not equipped with a spray bar. Both of these terminate inside the top of the trailer. If you attempt to load through the liquid line, which opens into the bottom of the trailer, the pressure will get too high. If that happens, you have to disconnect all your hoses and then "shake" the product, which means that you drive forward a few feet and then stop suddenly. Then drive backwards a few feet and stop suddenly. Repeat a couple of times until the pressure gauge drops. Then you can reconnect and continue loading.


I have never done metered home delivery (bobtail) or cylinder exchange so I can't speak to those from first-hand experience but I have visited with some of those guys and I could pass along some secondhand knowledge to you.

Anyway, hope this helps a little.

 

The pay is really good, and winter is definitely the busy season down here. The colder it is the more demand there is for propane for home heating, and also it's blending season so the refineries need butane hauled in.

I think up on the plains they will haul anhydrous ammonia when propane slows down.