Truck Driving Jobs

greg3564 · Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 1268 Location: Leander, TX

Useless wrote: You just don't get it, Greg3564!!

It's "The Bay"!!

It's a place where Women are Women!!......and..... many men are, too!! :shock:

This is true!!! :lol: It's amazing how a troll can sidetrack an entire thread, isn't it?

Orangetxguy · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 1757

Da_Raider wrote: meanbone79 wrote: Should a new driver start driving a tanker?

I started off driving tankers... For a company called: "Helena Chemicals"

Helena Chem is a decent enough company. Do they treat ya right?

Cyanide · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:55 am Post subject:

Maybe the original question should have been, "Should a new driver coming out of school into O.T.R. drive a tanker?"...

I say yes, but only if the new driver (read trainee) is properly trained and understands that the training period will endure as long as necessary to prove his/her competency and retention of the knowledge passed on by his/her said trainer. I feel that a new O.T.R. tanker trainee coming directly out of school should train at a minimum, for a couple of months before being released solo, and that their road training must include as much 48-state driving as possible, with heavy emphasis placed upon mountain AND city driving, and also preferably seasonal driving.

Of course, perhaps this is why I may never again train a driver without any experience. True, many things out here must be learned on your own, but if the situation allows for you to be taught as much as possible then take full advantage of it.

Driving a tanker locally IS NOT the same as O.T.R., regardless of the location, and especially not if you have a baffled or multi-compartment tank versus a smoothbore tank. Does it have it's perils and hazards? Of course it does, just like everything else...

However, it is not the same as running day in, day out across the national interstate and highway system. But more importantly across the curving, mountainous stretches of the west, such as I-70, I-80, or I-90. Why do I bring up the terrain driving? Because in instances such as hauling food-grade tankers that are smoothbore, loaded with upwards of 53,000 pounds of product, hooked to a truck that is capable of running 75+ m.p.h., and on a very time-sensitive schedule you better have the proper skills to do the job safely and efficiently, and that usually means having at least a couple years' worth of all-weather and terrain experience. Though I do personally know one exception to the rule (Baby Bullseye)...

Simply put, tanker is not for everyone, just as pulling doubles or triples isn't, or oversize loads.

Y'all be safe and have fun :wink:...

LilBit · Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 318 Location: Alabama, USA

Cyanide...thank you for putting this back ON TOPIC!!!! :P

I was thinking if it was me, I'd want some experience hauling something other than a tanker on my belt starting out.....I remember reading some thread on here somewhere (was that ardmore farms josh? been awhile and not for sure) about differences with tankers and other loads

I remember pulling some liquid filled containers on a flatbed awhile back, not the same as a tanker I know but just being able to see the liquid in those containers and wonder how that all works inside the tankers had got me to look at that

Blacksheep · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:13 am Post subject:

LilBit wrote: Cyanide...thank you for putting this back ON TOPIC!!!! :P

I was thinking if it was me, I'd want some experience hauling something other than a tanker on my belt starting out.....I remember reading some thread on here somewhere (was that ardmore farms josh? been awhile and not for sure) about differences with tankers and other loads

I remember pulling some liquid filled containers on a flatbed awhile back, not the same as a tanker I know but just being able to see the liquid in those containers and wonder how that all works inside the tankers had got me to look at that

You can get away with more with a freight box than you can with a loaded tanker.
A tankers contents are always in motion and need more care when taking exit/on ramps and other maneuvering.
It's not rocket science, if you're a safety minded individual you'll love this kind of work.

Orangetxguy · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 1757

LilBit wrote: Cyanide...thank you for putting this back ON TOPIC!!!! :P

I was thinking if it was me, I'd want some experience hauling something other than a tanker on my belt starting out.....I remember reading some thread on here somewhere (was that ardmore farms josh? been awhile and not for sure) about differences with tankers and other loads

I remember pulling some liquid filled containers on a flatbed awhile back, not the same as a tanker I know but just being able to see the liquid in those containers and wonder how that all works inside the tankers had got me to look at that

Doing Tote work like that is actually harder than smooth bore. With Totes like you describe, you have fluid in individual containers, each fluid doing it's own thing..very annoying.

I love it when some snooty person hurrys to get in front of me before a light, then end up right in front of me stopped...and the ole trailer is doing the bang bang thing, because the product is heavy, and there is a big air gap in the bore...Lot's of slosh...LOL...Gotta hold the brake or be pushed forwards & backwards.

LilBit · Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 318 Location: Alabama, USA

Yeah, seems like when we had that load I'd gotten on here about hauling liquid on flatbed and someone told me somewhere here or out there somewheres that the tankers have like baffles in them to help with that. It all in all wasn't that bad of a load, just different than a plate of steel to chain down on there..........

Orangetxguy · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 1757

Smooth Bore is just that..smooth the length of the barrel. Chemical Tankers, and most food tankers, cannot have baffels, because the baffels, and the barrel of the tank, can not be cleaned completely. So you have surge that runs the entire legth, as well as climbing the curve of the barrel.

Blacksheep · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:06 am Post subject:

Orangetxguy wrote: Smooth Bore is just that..smooth the length of the barrel. Chemical Tankers, and most food tankers, cannot have baffles, because the baffles, and the barrel of the tank, can not be cleaned completely. So you have surge that runs the entire length, as well as climbing the curve of the barrel.

Baffles only help with front to back surge, it will nothing for the side to side slosh.

Orangetxguy · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 1757

Blacksheep wrote:
Baffles only help with front to back surge, it will nothing for the side to side slosh.

This I know...what I was trying to explaining is, the reason smooth bore tankers have no baffels.

If you have baffels in a chemical tanker, the tank can not be properly cleaned. If the tank is not properly cleaned, then No Repairs can be made on it, no product, except the Last Product contained in it, can be loaded into it...provided it is able to be inspected and repaired...which leads us back to being properly cleaned.

Same applies to Food Grade.

Contamination in either is a bad thing, people can become extremely ill..or dead.

Skywalker · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:00 pm Post subject:

Edited, changed my mind.....it was just too easy... 8)

Skywalker · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject:

Dizzy wrote: I get sick and tired of you guys acting like pulling tanker is so friggin hard and only an "experienced" driver should even attempt it.Give me a break.Driving a tractor trailer is driving a tractor trailer.It makes no difference if your pulling a van,flatbed or a tank.Driving a big rig is driving a big rig.

Wrong on two counts.

1. Pulling a tanker is not that easy.
2. There is a distinct difference.

Quote: I'm proof that a rookie fresh out of truck school can get a job pulling tankers.Even if the company says it wants 1-3 years of experience that does not mean u have to have it.......................

Quite possibly a "bottomfeeder company" would hire an inexperienced neophyte to haul a fuel tanker in a city/urban environment..... Probably has little or no current insurance in place. You see "bucko", its not really up to the owner or even management who they can hire.... The insurance companies usually set the experience requirements before they underwrite a company. Now, if the company is fully self insuring, they can do as they please.... But that can be a tad risky, because the "insurance" could be all smoke and mirrors.....and a Chapter 7 right around the next corner.

Quote: And all this talk about surge is a joke.

Right here is where you show complete ignorance of reality. Surge is hardly a joke. But then its more than obvious you have absolutely no experience with a smoothbore, much less a tanker. Tell me, if you can:

How many degrees of lean or tilt can a tanker take before it rolls over?

Can you drop a loaded trailer on its landing gear and leave it?

Can you drop a compartmented tanker on its landing gear if only the front compartment is loaded?

Which placard can be used with one kind of fuel and another, but is not interchangeable under one set of circumstances?

What is one of the most important things you absolutely must do before delivering a load of Jet A?

Take your time.... I realize you will more than likely need help getting the answers......

Quote: With the right truck school training and then proper training with the tankers anybody can do it.

Yep, and thats why all the best of the tanker companies make such a valiant effort to recruit directly out of "CDL mills"......

There is obviously much that you do not know about driving a truck that you presume to know.... and you claim to be a savant at it. Great if there is truth in it, but somehow.... I rather doubt that you are all that great at it. If you don't know about surge its obvious you have never pulled a smoothbore, so please don't shovel "bovine feces" around when you have zero knowledge......its a tad too telling as to your lack of experience and knowledge.

Oh, btw....Useless never asked for any SSN or account numbers.... he merely asked some generic questions that you could have answered based on a closing statement....and most certainly simple questions that a CA real estate maven could answer right off the top of his or her head....

Your dodge wasn't even "artful"..... I think "gauche" sums it up. For all your claims...you've provided zero substance. Pretty much all one might expect from a "troll".

Tell us....how are things in the "tenderloin"?

Orangetxguy · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 1757

HMMMMMM.....Did Dizzy tire of the game and leave?? :cry:

:rock: :party:

Cluggy619 · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 839 Location: Denton, TX

Orangetxguy wrote: HMMMMMM.....Did Dizzy tire of the game and leave?? :cry:

:rock: :party:

I hope so. Tired of reading his BS, but more tired of the rest of you letting you lead you all with his bull. This topic is very useful, even for me, and I would rather read about experiences with the tanker, smooth or baffled, and try to compare them to my own.

Other than that, a very useful posting.

Just my .02 cents.

joettanne · Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 75 Location: Ontario, Canada

I haul a tanker. Smooth bore. No baffles. In the snow, in the freezing rain! NOT the same as a fuel tanker! They have compartments! And a real tanker driver will know all about the 'surge' or 'wave'!
For every action, there is a reaction. Any sudden turn of the steering wheel, hit the shoulder of the road, take a corner too fast, you will find out how many degrees of lean you can have. Not much. A tanker can be very unforgiving. It needs to be respected.
No you should not leave a loaded tanker on the landing gear. Highly unadvisable.
NO! No, you never drop a tanker with nothing in the back compartment and loaded in the front. If you do you will be able to change the tires on the trailer.(in the air)
The other questions I can't answer because I can only speak from my experiences hauling liquid food grade products.

The load will also 'roll' from side to side. It heads to the front and goes to the back with shifting. And before you all think, well shift smoothly. I can. But that takes too long. When entering a highway, ya got to go. It is worse when there is less than a full load. At it's worse when about 3/4 full. And downright dangerous when empty on snow.

And the weights. Tankers haul heavy. A gallon of water weighs approximately 10 lbs. A tandem trailer may have room for 6,000 gallons. A tri-axle, room for 8,000 gallons. Imagine if the tank is 3/4 full and that 'wave' is heading for the front of the tank when you do a hard brake application.

And a note of interest. If you are parked on glare ice or hard packed snow. Your truck may not be in the same place as you left it. The load moves and will actually move the truck. :shock:

So you ask if a new driver can haul tanker? I say yes, with some previous shifting experience. It would depend on the driver. If you like boating, you'll enjoy hauling smooth bore tankers.

Just my experience.

Annie 8)

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