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Why would anyone want to pull tanker trailers (as opposed to dry van)?

Discussion in 'Tanker, Bulk and Dump Trucking Forum' started by expedite_it, Jul 11, 2022.

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Northern Nomad Light Load Member

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wis bang said: ↑

I learned dry bulk from Matlack's railyard operator and he had an old filter on wheels from the first trailers they reinforced for Vacuum loading as they moved away from 'bear trap' loading and purpose built vacuums were just starting to appear.

Eventually they re-built the DX with filters so the yard's portable filter was parked.

That yard had old "Cyclone-air" loading machines mounted on old single axle macks instead of trailers that we used for powders and vacuumed the pelitized plastic resins.

I hauled hose to help vacum-dry some of a railcar that had traveled thru flood water. We sucked it out and blew it back into another car and it was dry.

Dry bulk is intresting.
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We’ve got one of those filter on wheel setups, too. We use it for loading our talcum powder, now I don’t have to blow out the filter after every load, the bulk yard takes care of it. Dry bulk is certainly interesting. I like it more than any other niches in trucking.

Northern Nomad, Jul 16, 2022

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Cattleman84 said: ↑

And besides... How many reefers do you see getting to go unload in places like this???

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Exactly. It’s not the west coast, but it’s in the great north woods.

Northern Nomad, Jul 16, 2022

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Dave1837 Road Train Member

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expedite_it said: ↑

Did you make more money pulling pneumatic tankers or liquid tank trailers?
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Paid the same at my last job but pneumatic more irritating. Pneumatic pays less at my current job by about 8 cpm and $3/hr I think

Dave1837, Jul 16, 2022

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expedite_it Road Train Member

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Dave1837 said: ↑

Paid the same at my last job but pneumatic more irritating. Pneumatic pays less at my current job by about 8 cpm and $3/hr I think
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I know that the word pneumatic means air pressure. Why is a pneumatic trailer called a pneumatic trailer? What in a pneumatic trailer is air-pressurized other than the brakes?

expedite_it, Jul 16, 2022

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expedite_it said: ↑

I know that the word pneumatic means air pressure. Why is a pneumatic trailer called a pneumatic trailer? What in a pneumatic trailer is air-pressurized other than the brakes?
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The tank itself. You pressurize it with, usually, a PTO operated blower and once it's pressurized to around 10-15 PSI you open the hopper valves one at a time. The pressure pushes the product down out of the valve into the discharge pipe and out the hose in the rear of the trailer

Dave1837, Jul 16, 2022

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PTO blowers deliver low pressure air at high flow rates [CFM] and the trailer is designed to be pressurized into the void space above the product to push out the product.

Some have a second mechanism to provide extra airation to fluff up clumping products and all have the ability to push out the delivery pipe.

The airated product is pushed out of each hopper into the bottom pipe an out to the customer.

Some blowers are set up to suck on the trailer through a filter to create a vacuum to pull product into the trailer from a railcar or silo.

These trailers have special structure added to withstand 15hg. of vacuum in addition to the 15 PSIG used to off load.

I handled caustic soda beads, a hydroscopic material and the trailer had a large dissicant pack that we hooked to the blower inlet and blew this 'dry' air down the customer's line for 10 min. to insure that the pipe was dry and then we could off load the product.

wis bang, Jul 16, 2022

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Dave1837 said: ↑

I've ran dry van, flatbed, step deck and tanker (both liquid and pneumatic). I didn't like dry van because I hated waiting at shippers and receivers. Plus, if the van wasn't loaded the way you wanted it loaded, you had to ask them to rearrange the load, which could lead to an argument between you and the shipper. Mostly you're loading and unloading during normal business hours. Also worrying about axle weights.

Flatbed/step deck was okay, it was a challenge tarping when I first started. I hauled a lot of lumber and trim board which was stacked unevenly a lot of the time so getting the tarps right could be a pain. There could be a lot of waiting around at shippers and receivers, and again you're loading and unloading during normal business hours.

Pneumatic tanks aren't bad, but every product loads and unloads differently. One day I'd haul injection carbon and had to load it in 2 holes to get the axle weights right, the next day if load cement and load it in 1 hole. Takes some learning to get used to. Occasionally you'd get a place that would load or unload you 24 hrs.

Liquid tanker is my favorite because I don't have to wait around. On occasion I haul some food grade or oil products and have to wait for a sample to be analyzed, but I get paid for all my time. Hauling asphalt, LPG and tar, I set my own schedule. You load your own trailer, customer unloads it (except with LPG). Occasionally you pump the load off but even that isn't hard and you'll go empty within an hour. 24/7 loading and unloading at most places, no worries about axle weights. Backing a tanker is significantly easier than a van or a deck, mainly because you're 45-48 ft in length and if you're backing into somewhere tight and you're jackknifed, you can literally look in your mirror and see under your trailer to see where your blindside axles are.
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What is injection carbon?

expedite_it, Jul 16, 2022

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Dave1837 said: ↑

The tank itself. You pressurize it with, usually, a PTO operated blower and once it's pressurized to around 10-15 PSI you open the hopper valves one at a time. The pressure pushes the product down out of the valve into the discharge pipe and out the hose in the rear of the trailer
Click to expand...

What does PTO stand for?

expedite_it, Jul 16, 2022

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expedite_it said: ↑

What does PTO stand for?
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IH Truck Guy, Jul 16, 2022

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IH Truck Guy said: ↑

View attachment 420089
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My million miles are in dry van and reefer, not tanker.

expedite_it, Jul 16, 2022

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