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Originally Posted by Prodigy
......, I'm not convinced that tankers are all that great. (I don't care what skywalker says)
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Then you shouldn't pull a tanker. If you don't care about what I say, I say fine....its not necessary for you to care...but are you referring to my comments about Bynum or tankers in general? Because if its about Bynum, then you don't have a good handle on the food grade tanker segment at all.
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I highly doubt that I could get to go as many places as I can on the national board with Crete, variety in other words. Also I'd have to take a 12 CPM paycut, and I'm all about working smarter, not harder. Why don't you crunch some numbers to figure out how much harder one would have to work to make that up?
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For me to work for Crete.... I'd have to take anywhere from a 10 to 17 cpm paycut, as my pay generally works out to anywhere from 52 to 62 cpm after you add in my accessorial pays. You have to remember, when it comes to "chemical" tankers....we get paid for everything except fueling the truck and PTI's. Nor do we have to sit for 48 hours to collect 24 hours layover....which with most companies is $30 to $60. We sit for 15 hours and then we are paid $13.30 per hour for up to 8 hours($106.40), then if we are still sitting....we only wait 10 more hours and then are back on the clock. Paid for all loading and unloading time...all of it. If we have a breakdown....we go on the clock at $13.30 an hour until repaired. And there is far more. Based on our pay schedule.... I could sit absolutely stationary for 7 days straight, and still get paid $745.20 for the week. If a Crete driver sits for the same time....what do they get? I also get TWO weeks (not 10 days) vacation after the first year....not the 2, 3, 4, or 5 year. I also get 9 paid holidays, and two paid "personal days" a year, and can bank the personal days up to 5.... How many paid holidays and personal days do Acklie drivers get?
On the guy with lukemia....I feel for him, but....in the absence of empirical proof that his job caused his illness....I have to say your BS meter was malfunctioning. As Cyanide said....not all of our loads are hazardous, and when they exceed a certain degree of hazard....we have nothing to do with the handling of the product at any time....thus there is zero exposure to the chemicals. In the chemical tanker industry...SAFETY is paramount.
The companies are more critical as to who they hire...and training is far more extensive than a box or skateboard driver will ever encounter. And that training is also compulsory for "experienced drivers" as well. In addition to our initial familiarization training with a trainer....I had to ride with one for a week, even though I previously pulled a chemical tanker, as did Cyanide (both of us at CTL a long time ago) and I still had to do it with 1,300,000 safe miles.....then within 60 days we have to attend an intensive one week course in tanker/hazmat training & procedures at our company training center in Kingsport, TN....where incidentally the same instructors (ours) train DOT in hazmat and tanker operations. The course is "pass or fail". In other words...if you can't make the grade, you're gone.
Frankly, Cyanide is right that pulling a van...you have a greater risk of being exposed to hazmat in a van....even after its been unloaded and dropped, and the placards pulled off of it. If a package leaked or spilled on the floor of a van....and it wasn't properly washed out....you suffer exposure the second you walk in it, and even worse you are severely exposed when you sweep it out before the next load goes in it. Been there and done that.....and almost ended up going to a hospital because a heavy duty insecticide leaked out in a VAN, and I had to sweep it out.... Have never had that problem with a tanker.....
Further....a company like ours has drivers who have been doing this for many, many years.....alot of our drivers have been at it for over 20 years and suffer no ill effects. This is due to the fact that we are trained properly, and know how to prevent problems and protect ourselves when we are around hazmat....and in reality....we're not really around it because its in a stainless steel tanker that can survive rollovers without leakage. And again, the level of safety procedures is phenomenal when we are in a chemical plant. And we are never involved in loading, and sometimes when unloading. Often times, when we go to pick up a load, its been preloaded and closed up completely. We just do doublechecks, and roll, whether its sitting at a plant or on our yards. In my opinion, the only existent danger is in reality....a poor driver. But you won't find many of them around tankers...food grade or chemical. They aren't tolerated.
As far as "turnover"....the bulk of our turnover is nowadays related to the oldtimers retiring, and some of the new drivers not being able to handle the surge...or in the event that some have been BBR's not being able to adapt to an environment where "its NOT all about miles". A turnover rate of less than 37%...which I am inclined to question as when I have seen the reports....they are posted in the terminals....I have seen it to be closer to 25%...but then again I haven't "crunched the numbers", so Cyanide could be correct. Whats Crete's actual turnover figures?? Or the industry average other than "tanker"?? Generally its range is from 100% to 150%.
If I choose...I can get home every week...not once every 3 to 4 weeks. Its up to me....in fact, if I want to stay out longer than a week.... I have to tell them to let me "run". Can a box driver do that? 99.9% cannot.
Granted, not everyone is cut out to be a "tanker yanker". I believe it takes a desire to do it. It takes a desire for challenge, because the job has challenges..... And one has to be brighter than the average duck. Its a more involved and detailed job than probably any other in the trucking industry, with the exception of the guys who handle "radioactive" freight.
Not everyone can handle the surge, nor can they adjust their driving to accommodate it. And others are just too impatient to handle the slower pace.
I came back to tankers with an accumulated 1,300,000 safe miles of driving OTR....I've only pulled dry van and chemical tanks. So, you may have noticed.... I don't comment about flatbeds or reefers, because I know little about them. So, having said that.... I might suggest that you limit your comments about tankers to your experience with them. While you are entitled to your opinion.... you have to remember, "opinions are like anuses....everyone has at least one"....so lacking experience in a particular industry segment, one should limit their opinion to facts as opposed to raw opinions.
Cyanide a National Spokesman for "tanker yankers"?? He gets my vote
8) He knows what he is talking about, and backs its with pure facts. And I personally know that to be truth. He and I have known each other for a long time.
Am I "condescending" to you....NO! Just offering some "food for thought".
8)
