why no baffles in tankers

Point taken. However, it just seems physics-wise that this would improve stability/handling/tracking etc?

i don't know---i've never driven tanker and never will.

 

I drive a gasoline tanker that has baffles and compartments. Rarely do I feel the load. There's alot of safety designing going into tankers that people are not aware of and that's why they think they're nothing but a bomb. Just like eliptical design you talk about. The most important reason they are like that is if they do go on their side it's harder to rupture the tank when it's built like an egg. You know the trick trying to break an egg when you apply pressure on the ends.

The lowboy design would never work because of the piping. Our trucks unload by gravity and if you take away the piping then you would need to install a pump. Then you would add weight which means less product. If we need a pump truck we hire it out because we seldom need one. If you look the tanks they are already designed like a banana so the product flows out.

Common sense does play a huge factor in hauling gasoline right along with defensive professional driving. You also have to know the product and how it acts. The object is to keep your tanks either product rich or vapor rich. You don't want any air induced into the tank. You can take a loaded compartment and open the dome and set it on fire and all that is going to happen is a fire burning off the vapors around the dome. You kick the dome close and the fire goes out. People think that if a fire is at a gasoline station the tanks underground are going to explode and kill everyone. For gasoline to burn without any spark or flame in an air mixture it has to reach it's autoignition temperature of around 600°.

It takes a little extra when hauling hazmat and I was very lucky to work for a company that paid for that knowledge and effort.

 

Don't knock it till you try it ,some of the best money I made was loads that were in motion. And dry-bulk was what I hauled the longest !

 

Do you think the dry-bulk truck was more likely to turn over than a regular tanker? I pulled a set of doubles once and didn't care for it and I've even pulled box triples.

 

Only if it is a single pot . I have pulled a short single pot that was on air and it could scare you sometimes. I had a long single and it was perfect.

 

I only had one scare hauling asphault it was my issue I dropped a steer tire off the shoulder and over corrected.

 

5300 gallons of condensed milk in a 6200 gallon tank will leave seatbelt burns on your chest and shoulder if your not used to it. Even being gentle ive pulled up to the fuel pumps before and just about be swung off the step getting out. Now I dont even look in the mirrors to see people flashing thier lights and waving thier fists at me when i pull out of a stop light, I dont care how long it takes to get to the high side, all that matters is Im safe and Im not destroying the truck getting going. I take the time that the truck needs to get it done. Running a tank will either smooth you out or destroy the truck.

 

No dry bulk has more stability. Dry bulk is (We call it liquid state) unsatbil when it has been airated. After were loaded you have to take it easy for about 5 miles while the air works it way out. The powder will pack down tight enough to actually stand on it in about 20 miles. Its the first 5 when it moves around.

In dry bulk its the rear that goes and most of the time the driver hits the brakes, the load shifts after braking and pushes it over. Once there packed down the load is center and below. Some loads like sand do not pack down but there more stabil than liquid.

We do pull liquid in our dry trailers thats kind of bazaar. The reason theres no baffles is because we have to be really clean when we change products.

 

Your joking right?

 

Powder tanks do.