Y'know, sometimes the little devil on your shoulder can be persuasive.

I don't think so, looks like a simple baffled tank, with a PTO pump on the tractor.

This company has pretty nice equipment for this sort of work, and are rarely more than an hour from the terminal. Four days on, two off... hell... that means I can keep flying! Thought I'd have to give that up for a while if I went back OTR.

 

Just an update. I was hired at an oilfield services company, and it's going well. No recent experience required, though they *do* want experienced drivers. Extra money for tanker and/or oilfield experience. Some of the companies up here are looking pretty hard for drivers, too.

I've set up a small travel trailer at an RV park near the terminal, and am staying there during my quad (what I'm calling the 4-days-on). That's working well, too, once I got everything sorted out. Just gotta fine-tune my eats and stuff, as the tiny little town I'm in rolls up the streets at night.
My first week of training, and I'll be taking home over a grand.

 

Still hauling water tankers around central AR, and doing pretty well. The roads are narrow and twisty, and the experience doesn't count as OTR, but at least I'm back to truckin', and making more than I did as an OTR driver. I'll do this for a while, and keep an eye out in case something better turns up. I figure my ideal situation will involve a regional outfit, maybe even an o/o gig with Tango or the like.

One thing that surprised me, though, and having nothing to do with the job itself... last night's shift dispatch handed me a newer Mack, which was in horrible condition (yeah, some of these guys figure the nature of the job allows for a lot of abuse. Go figure), and I finally had to move into another tractor, a Pete 372.
Now, I've seen 'em all over, but since I started in '91, most of what I've driven were set-back front axle cabovers and conventionals, all of which were pretty darned maneuverable in tight quarters. So, I was a little apprehensive about getting into this long wheelbase large car for oilfield work.

Dang! After a few miles, I was freakin' ADDICTED! Looking out over a mile of hood, with plenty of handy reference points, it was super easy to hold clearance even on these barely-truck-width lanes, and the ride was... well, you Peter-pushers know what I'm talking about.
Unfortunately, the Shop somehow saw fit to pull the balls off the kitty, so I have to gear down on these hills even when pulling an empty can, but I can imagine what this truck would be like with a fully functional CAT under that hood. I also appreciated all the space under there. I could get to everything, and it was much more accessible than in some of the more aero models I've pushed around.
Another thing that felt weird at first was the way the pedals were mounted through the floor. I quickly found that I no longer wanted to use the cruise control as much anymore. Most other models I've driven have pedals that hang, and I find myself having to 'hover' my leg to operate 'em properly. Over the years I guess I just got used to it, but again... dang, it was nice.
Hell. I was perfectly happy with staying on these little roads and hauling water around, but that Pete had me wantin' to hit the road and actually *go* places.

One more night shift, and I'm gonna go home for a couple days before doing another quad.

 

Erp. That t'weren't a 372, 'twas a 379. What the heck was I thinkin'!
Still on a large car, pullin' a pneumatic tanker now. Woot!