The other day when it was like -5 degrees out I drove by a fuel hauler dropping a load at a gas station and he didn't look too happy! So I was just wondering how long does it take at each stop and approx how many stops would you do in a shift?

I run between 2 and 5 loads a night Snowman. I have some fairly long runs like Indy to Richmond, Indy to almost Kentucky, etc that take up some miles/hours. Average 3 nightly.

If I am dropping 8500 gallons of one particular product from my tanker at a station, I average between 23 and 27 minutes. If I have multiple products and can use two hoses, I can be out of there in 15 minutes.

Some of the Shell (Jet-Star) drivers run mostly inner-city and will usually pull between 5 and 7 for the night.

At some major truck stops, Pilot, T/A, Flying J.........the drivers don't even have to unload hoses as the hoses are left permanently hanging on a tree. They hook up to 3 hoses and can dump 7500 gallons of in around 10 minutes.

The real bummer in bad weather is a pump off. (pumping to an above ground tank). You have the time involved hooking up all of the various hoses, then you are at the mercy of the speed of the pump. Lastly, you have to tear it all down when your done. A pump off will run you normally about 45 minutes average. The commercial diesel pump off guys are usually the ones that are filthy dirty. LOL Been there!

Oh yeah, at the other end of things........I can load 8500 of gasoline in about 12 minutes...

I guess that aint too bad. As you know I'm laid off from the road and had to bump into the P&D side. I average around 15 stops a day. Imagine dragging a 48 footer around a major city and trying to find 15 new addresses a day. After two months it is starting to get a little easier but I have a new found respect for city drivers. Even if you know what your looking for you may have to blind side off a busy street or some other crazy chit. I do things that I would have thought impossible 2 months ago. And of course I fill in so I never have the same route. Whats crazy is I think they (P&D) have the harder job but us road guys make more money? Must be working nights and the occaisional lay over, I dunno, But I cant wait to get back to it. I'll take an empty set of doubles in a snowstorm any night over this P&D crap! I guess what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger and I will say this has been quite the learning experience.

Snowman, Cluggy also pulls a rollin refinery. :lol:


That's interesting, belpre. Pretty cool.


What about hauling crude oil in the winter. Like those guys that haul the oil from the field to the pump station (or whatever it's called). Wonder how long it takes to unload a tanker of crude oil in the winter time..

Well down here in sunny Florida even with a 45 minute pump off it is not bad at all, The last two days have been in the 30's and I just dressed in layers was'nt as bad as I thought it would be. However I guess in the snowy areas it could suck having to dig through 1 foot of snow to find your drops and dealing with the hard freeze. I still have my mountain blood from Colorado running in my veins so cold does not bother me too much. In the 4 months of summer heat and rain you just wear rain gear and sweat like a pig its great with burning the calories and you just get used to that as well.
Belpre you aint sh*ting about getting dirty doing ulsd pump offs Damn I got to find a way not to become a hose hugger. All in all I am happy I left UPS Freight to do othis job, Snowman the city guys in the orlando area make anywhere from 18 to 20 bumps a day and you are right it is a lot harder then road work, that was the main reason I left them as it would have been more then 15 years before I would have seen a road job and I want to work smarter as I get older not harder.

I will be pulling fuel for the next 20 years and loving every minute of it.

Timberwolf

Well I actually got a road run last night. Stopped at our Pittsburgh terminal then went to Jimbpard's area to our Irwin terminal. (Over by the Sony plant off Technology Blvd). Everything reeked of Stiller's odor!:rofl:

The best part is I had to reset my 10 hrs so I cant work the city and might get a road run tonite too!