Should I haul fuel instead of chemicals in Madison, WI?

[sooundman11568]

Fuel is easy thats why i went back to it , after a 3 year break from going otr pulling food grade .

I got lucky and went to work with a small company that put on a 2nd truck. i get the old truck and a new trailer . have about 10 years exp. pulling fuel.

another thing you may want to keep on your trailer is some orange cones. people will try to run over your hoses while you are dropping at the stores. and here in alabama it's law that you must have your cones out. or thats what i have been told since i started in 1993 doing this .

if i can answer any of your ? about hauling fuel i'll try .

[Mackman]

Yes there is Mack. It stipulates no less than 25 feet from the truck, loaded or empty. Many companies put a smoking restriction at 50 feet from the truck.

There are plenty of driver's out there, running under flammable placards(Fuels or Chemical), whom would have racked up numerous tickets, if cops were paying attention and pulling those smoking folks over.

I know several drivers in LA, the Bay Area and in the Seattle area, whom have received tickets for smoking in the truck. I know one guy who got fired, for smoking in the truck. He was caught by the regional manager and the company's president at the time.

Learn something new everyday.

[Phreddo]

"With Phreddo deciding to hauling fuel, unless he is on a lunch break, he logs everything as on-duty not driving, when he is not driving."

This new company runs a 5 day work week, and they require a 10 hour break each day and 34 on my weekend, so that will simplify my life. Logging duty time won't be an issue for my 70, but I'll want to pay extra special attention so I don't wind up getting stranded in BFE, WI! These guys seem pretty laid back and know what's going on, so if I call up and say I'm going to wait until after the icy roads get salted, they won't blow a gasket.

At the risk of jinxing myself here, I'm starting to feel better about this decision every day.

Just out of curiosity, is it hard to get a job hauling fuel? Like, is there little turnover because it's a good job? I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself one way or the other career-wise. I've already decided i'm going to give it a 1-year minimum just to try and simplify my work history, and beyond that, time will tell.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the change in work environment, not having to sleep in the truck, the regular schedule, and so on. I think it'll be fun.

[Orangetxguy]

"With Phreddo deciding to hauling fuel, unless he is on a lunch break, he logs everything as on-duty not driving, when he is not driving."

This new company runs a 5 day work week, and they require a 10 hour break each day and 34 on my weekend, so that will simplify my life. Logging duty time won't be an issue for my 70, but I'll want to pay extra special attention so I don't wind up getting stranded in BFE, WI! These guys seem pretty laid back and know what's going on, so if I call up and say I'm going to wait until after the icy roads get salted, they won't blow a gasket.

At the risk of jinxing myself here, I'm starting to feel better about this decision every day.

Just out of curiosity, is it hard to get a job hauling fuel? Like, is there little turnover because it's a good job? I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself one way or the other career-wise. I've already decided i'm going to give it a 1-year minimum just to try and simplify my work history, and beyond that, time will tell.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the change in work environment, not having to sleep in the truck, the regular schedule, and so on. I think it'll be fun.

Hauling fuel, you will see just as many "Unhappy Campers" as you do in any other type of truck. That is just a fact of driving truck! Make the job what you want it to be. Don't let the negative folks get under your skin.

Prepare yourself to deal with drunks, druggies, and "Inna hurry" worker bees. There are going to be X number of people every shift....who didn't see your truck.

Double check every tank "Veeder-Root" level against a tank chart, before dumping anything. Make sure the tank can hold the product you are supposed to deliver. Holding back full compartments is far easier than holding back partials!

Give yourself a chance to get a handle on the job, and you might just find that it is fun. Ask Belpre. He likes his job.

Read labels......over and over. Your going to cross dump. That is a fact of life. Make it a simple cross though and your life will be less miserable afterwards. So...before you attache a fitting, hook a hose or open a valve...read the labels...at each end.

[TimberWolf]

Pulling fuel is a great job,
I am just at the one year mark, no mixes no spills, and no incidents, knock on wood... I do just what has been stated... double and triple check and then recheck one more time just for ****s and giggles....
Find a pattern or procedure that works for you and stick to it every time and you should be ok.
Dont think about you're teenage daughter and some idiot guys she likes. Expect everyone to pull in front of you and enjoy the fights you see at the station when guys get pissed off that they have to back out of the station because your truck is blocking them off. This is an old mans job and you can do it safely with a clear mind...

Timberwolf

[Phreddo]

You're a living on borrowed time in a fool's paradise, Timber.
That tank is a bomb ready to blow at any second! And the surge will send you flying off into space!!! They'll see you all the way over to Texas!!

Just kidding. Personally, the more people that believe that sorta stuff just means that there'll be less competition in the field

[mike3fan]

Just kidding. Personally, the more people that believe that sorta stuff just means that there'll be less competition in the field

Yep I agree, let them compete with the grandma's pulling dry vans for peanuts. I work at a place that doesn't believe in scraping out old damaged trailers and I have checked out alot of them. Have yet to see a rolled over tanker with the main tank ruptured, the out side skin in the other hand...not so much.

[sooundman11568]

No spills, come on timberwolf what about that little bit that drains out of the hoses when you put them back on your trailer . . just kidding i know that not considered a spill.

[Phreddo]

Training starts 8AM monday.

[sooundman11568]

Good luck starting your training, keep us all updated on how it's going with you . will you be working for a company that hauls to there own stores or a common carrier .

[Phreddo]

stores, mostly, as far as I can tell.
but i think there's something about getting ethanol from minnesota ?

[Phreddo]

That reminds me.
Where can I get anti-static, flame-resistant gear? I'm thinking specifically of pants and a winter coat. Most winter coats have nylon and/or polyster that can get all sparky. I found one place that sells a nomex flight suit for $40, but i think i would prefer just the pants, or else easy-access coveralls.

[Orangetxguy]

That reminds me.
Where can I get anti-static, flame-resistant gear? I'm thinking specifically of pants and a winter coat. Most winter coats have nylon and/or polyster that can get all sparky. I found one place that sells a nomex flight suit for $40, but i think i would prefer just the pants, or else easy-access coveralls.

I would not wear a $40 set of nomex. The 2 coverall sets I have cost me $176 each. They are the light-weight "Gulfcoast" version. I will need to replace them in 3 more years. Already have had them 3 years.

[Phreddo]

this was a military flight suit knocked down from $200. but it looks like something i would have to wear all day rather than a quick-remove coverall.
i'm sure my company probably has some channel for buying stuff, but my guess is i could do it cheaper myself if i knew where to look.
i would ideally prefer something i could just wear regular, because I was not impressed with the nomex coveralls Transwood had gotten for wearing at the terminals. Figure if i have to wear pants anyhow, might as well be fireproof. then for the terminals that require a suit (i think currently there's just one i'll encounter), have something for that. then i'd like something for cold weather that won't throw a spark. that's about it.

[teamster]

If it is required at any terminal, then your company should provide them. We only have one terminal that we are required to wear them, but the company provided. Make sure you check before dropping $200.

[Phreddo]

When I was talking to the boss, he said something about how the drivers got coveralls if they needed them. sounded like they bought their own. I've decided i'm just going to cheap out for the bare minimum coveralls, whatever they require that i can throw on at the terminal.

first day went smooth, worst part was that i scraped my finger on the doughnut case at the gas station and i didn't have my first aid kit with me.

Me and my trainer are both wondering why they delayed the pee test until wednesday. seems like an arbitrary delay. guess they don't want to spring for the test until i've done this a day or two. I go in for some training tomorrow, maybe I'll get a gate card out of it. I was going to watch a training video today, but the terminal manager decided he was going to make us sit while they ate and BS'ed, and then he gets a phone call saying his kid is in the ER cuz he cut off part of his finger, so he doesn't feel like waiting around for me to do that. Whatever.

So, I did a few hookups, loaded one trailer, delivered 2 loads, didn't drive. Got a bit dirty, no big deal. So far so good.

[TimberWolf]

No Spills, well at least thats what I tell everyone.... Seriously I was told if it is less then one or two gallons get it cleaned up right away and hope no one sees it. The worse I have had is maybe a gallon or so from a time I rolled my hose and it slipped from my hand, got it picked up pretty damn quick but I did lose some product when the hose hit the ground, good thing I keep spill rags real close... Other then that this job is a great job, I think we got it pretty easy in Florida, for the most part our rack is user friendly, they really don't mess with you unless you are a total screw up, Orlando driving can be challanging but so is Atlanta, NY, LA, and a host of other cities. We have rain so you sweat you're azz off in the humidity and lose a few pounds oh well, I kind of think I would rather do that then have to dig out a foot of snow to find my drops. Like every other job it has its ups and downs but there a far more ups then downs...
People ask me whats its like to drive a 9000 gallon bomb, I just tell them it is great for my testosterone levels. 600 and still climbing at 46 years old, oh maybe the andro gel helps a little too..

Timberwolf

[1catfish]

Fuel is easy thats why i went back to it , after a 3 year break from going otr pulling food grade .

I got lucky and went to work with a small company that put on a 2nd truck. i get the old truck and a new trailer . have about 10 years exp. pulling fuel.

another thing you may want to keep on your trailer is some orange cones. people will try to run over your hoses while you are dropping at the stores. and here in alabama it's law that you must have your cones out. or thats what i have been told since i started in 1993 doing this .

if i can answer any of your ? about hauling fuel i'll try .

your kinda stuck on letting everybody know just how much experience you have, being a fuuuel hauler. did any body else notice that?

[Phreddo]

Well, today I tried a solo loading.

The hoses were kinda running into each other, so I had to unhook and rearrange them so I could fit them in. It was the end of the day, and while I'm starting to fight with the thing, the terminal manager comes out to observe me. Well, loading goes much better when you open your internals, so no card for me. Fortunately, no mess, either.

I'll feel better when I have my own equipment rather than sharing with a trainer who's in a hurry.

So, tomorrow I go for my road test, pee test, paperwork, and so on. Maybe then I can go for a card, again.

[Phreddo]

Well, I got loading cards and a third gate card for training purposes.
All the ducks are in a row, and I report for duty on Monday. If I can't get my truck Monday, I'll most likely have it by Tuesday, as I live in Madison and the trucks all stay in Milwaukee.
Either way, it's all looking good so far.