Finally Quit OTR work
 

I finally quit my aspect of OTR, even thou the last 4 months I have been on a Dedicated account. That I was home everyday and off weekends... Well that contract was up 10-26. And I guess after doing LTL kind of work for 4 months I couldn't handle going back OTR. So I found me a job hauling fuel tankers delivering to 100 mile radius and home everyday and off weekends.

So I took my truck back to the Swift Terminal in Columbus and as of now Swift free. :lol: Don't get me wrong everyone that is going to them they treated me fair. I had my ups and downs with them. But was a good place to get your feet wet. My TM in columbus said if anything don't work out to give him a call first and he will put me back on.

As of hauling fuel im sorta nervous, I start at 5am on Monday. I have never hauled fuel. I drove there truck around for about an hour before they hired me. Was alot different then the Sleeper trucks. Actually HAVE A BACK WINDOW! But everyone there said tanker trucks is easy work... So guess I will find out! Well good luck everyone.

Watch it. A tanker can control you if you do not control it first.

Not a gas tanker, it has 5 seperate compartments. You almost can't feel it.
I did it for 3 years and never once was I in danger of it rolling. It's good work, except if you are in a big city. I was robbed at gunpoint and that's what made me quit.

I plan on taking it easy with it, I have 2 weeks of training. 1st week I don't drive I observe and help out at the different places. Then the 2nd week I drive, and do everything and he observes. And is there if I need any help with anything. It will definitly be different then pulling vans... I guess OTR just wasn't for me. I gave it my best. Did it for about 19-20 months. I just want to be HOME!! lol

Yah those fuel tankers have bulwarks and baffles to greatly decrease surge. I drive a milk tanker with neither baffles nor bulwarks, and if Im about half full it beats the crap out of me.

I haul fuel too. It isn't that bad. The thing that you have to remember is not to put the wrong fuel in the wrong tank at the station. Some of the smaller stations can be a pain to get into. You'll probably want to do this at night because most of the stations are closed and you won't have cars pulling in and keeping you from leaving or moving to another tank. Trust me, they park anywhere that will block you in. Then you have the ones that park OVER the tank you want to drop in. It's fun though. People tend to stay away from you on the road too. They all think they are going to blow up. :lol: Have fun with it and be careful.

While that is true with a 5 compartment tanker....it is still a tad topheavy and caution is still advised. When I pulled fuel...we had 5's, 3's and some that were smooth bore without baffles. The smooth bores were used to deliver JetA to the airports. Even with a compartmented tanker....you have to corner easier...as in slower, and interstate loop ramps need to be handled a little slower as well.

I got out of fuel because of all the fools who would walk up and want to talk to me when I was dumping gas....and they wanted to light up while standing there :shock: :shock:

Oh you got those too? That was almost a daily occurance here in Atlanta.
Sometimes they would run my cones over or come really close to running my hoses over (while unloading), that was always fun to see their reaction when asked " what the @*$& are you doing" lol
Night shift was definately the best with less traffic at the station, on the road and at the refinery, but it was also the most dangerous as far as safety to yourself. (no weapons allowed in truck) After getting robed, things were never the same for me, I would always be looking over my shoulder and should someone walk up to me to ask directions, I would prepare for the worst. I tried to hang in there, I lasted 2 years after the robery and finally lost it (mentally).

Let me guess..... at over 3 bucks a gallon now, they wanted the GAS, right?? :wink:

lol, no...........it's not gas they wanted. It's the stuff that buy's the gas that he wanted.