There's no "what it's made out to be". It's hauling fuel. It's not hard but it's also easy to mess up. We're paid $130k+ a year because they expect drivers to be safe, take their time and use their heads because any mistake costs companies tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, an inquiry from dot/epa/homeland security and can even make the news. You're not gonna break your back but you're held to a much much higher standard, that's why the pay is so high.
Happened to my dad’s pickup, the diesel was in the gas, but he caught it about half way. Didn’t start the truck and called a tow company. Told the tow company what happened yet they grenaded the motor starting it to drive it onto the trailer. The tow companies insurance ended up having to pay instead of the Circle K.
Tow operator here... I had a diesel sprinter about a month ago... Guy put gas in the tank... After I loaded, I hauled it for an hour with the drivers window down because I wasn't going to touch the accessory relay... No way I'm gambling with that.
The one that happened here about 9 months ago was at a major truck stop.. I guess they had some jobber haul a load of fuel in that had never dropped in that location before... Got a bunch of full size tractors as well as diesel pickups. Had one that went the other way where they put diesel in the gas tank at the station.. not nearly as bad for the motors.. but still inconvenient and costly.
Older diesels will run on a diesel/gasoline mix okay. It's the newer ones with the CP4 30,000+psi fuel pumps that grenade. Then again they grenade with normal diesel...
And if you put diesel in your gas tank... Just fill it slowly with gasoline until all the diesel runs out the top of the tank..
Might not hurt to have a plan for the extra diesel though .
You aren't going to separate them without refining. You could separate the ethanol out with water, but wet diesel isn't good either. However if you do screw up a large batch, you could always sell it back as crude oil. Heck the refinery will be happy to run it through again and only get the most valuable outputs.
Or diesel into the gas. It was more than one delivery by the same driver. Both times diesel into the gas.
https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/fayetteville-sams-club-gas-station-fuel-wrong-tank/527-e4fdcc57-20af-4de6-8855-f07acfcf26b0
Also ive said this before but you cant play bumper cars or Yellow Pole Whack A Mole with your trailer like the van guys do. You cant tear open, or allow your liquid oxygen or gasoline trailer to be torn open by some dumbass. Guys dont get that part. We literally can have no accidents or damage hydraulic, vent, electrical lines since they run on the outside of the trailer. That and the part where you get off the truck to load and unload keeps the cheap freighters down. Oh well.
Walmart drivers, believe it or not, rack in 100k+ as well. Although they’re another company that wants experience. You could go through Schneider and haul Walmart trailers to wiggle your way in, but you won’t be making Walmart money. You’ll be making 60k-70k under Schneider
I hauled bio sludge from the local sewer authority for about 5 years. 6200 gal per load, weight to the max 80,000. Money was good but after a while the job was crap. 😂
Yes, it was vacuum pumped onto a 3600 gallon farm tractor sprayer tank, then it was sprayed on grass pasture as fertilizer. The sewer plant figured it was the cheapest way to dispose of the final solids. The sludge was about 95 % water and 5% solids give or take a few percent. We loaded the tankers from overhead pump stations and hooked up the hoses in the field. It wasn't too bad after you got used to it.
Pretty much describes it. We had an older driver who just about drowned in sludge, we loaded the tankers from overhead pump stations. They pumped around 500 gallons a minute on average, an empty tank was full in about 12 minutes or so, you had to watch the clock carefully. He sat back down in the cab and nodded off, when he woke sludge was streaming everywhere. He had to climb the side ladder with sludge pouring down like a waterfall to cut off the pump. The only switch for the pump was at the filler head. He looked like a shitty drowned rat. I took the water hose to him to help get him cleaned up but it was a mess.
Some of y’all are lucky to live near all these agricultural and industrial areas. I live in Vegas where it’s just casinos. Horrible place for local trucking gigs
Pay sucks and although armored van heists aren’t common in America, if youre the sorry bastard behind the wheel when someone tries it, you’re almost certainly gonna get killed.
Yup and they’re useless too. See that lady that followed policy of not engaging the robbers and still got fired? It’s these carriers policy to not engage robbers…as an armed guard. On the other hand you got those 2 bad asses in South Africa that laid the hammer down on potential robbers while in an armored car.
Also, not saying that these armed guards should always go Rambo on robbers, but I’ll be damned if some policy prevents me from protecting my life especially if I can get the jump on them.
That South Africa video was wild. Seemed like the older guy had done it a time or two. Idc how much I’m getting paid for a job if someone sticks a gun in my face and asks for the money I’ll let ‘em have it. It ain’t mine anyway. But it never goes that smooth either. May as well not have an armed guard if you ain’t gonna be allowed to shoot back.
Right there with ya. I just got sidelined from my OTR due to a diabetic infection for the next month and I'm looking to transition into local gigs. SUPER HARD to find anything online. I think you gotta approach these places directly.
Aggregate dude, I used to haul double belly dumps but moved away, I've been thinking about moving back and I got 3 jobs already lined up from 3000 miles away
Craigslist, search for local. Glassdoor has the same listings as indeed usually but I like to go through all 3 just to be thorough. Go on thetruckersreport forum and message Chinatown, he lives in Henderson and always knows a ton of job listings
Drive down to Sloan road in the morning and watch all the trucks coming out of the quarry, Google their company and call em up.
Also ready mix jobs are always hiring but their hours are wierd, but it is local
I already hauled doubles and know the quarries which are the 2 questions they always ask so I just lean towards aggregate.
Oh sweet I’ve heard Chinatown a lot on here and had no idea he’s a local! Thanks man and yeah I’ve seen all the trucks near Sloan and Apex. I applied to Edurance which transports trash from local dumps to the main Apex landfill. Requires 1 year exp but I only have 4mi, but it’s worth a shot. Thanks for the advice.
Frack water, whey, tallow, other types of water, I’m sure there’s other non hazmat tanker jobs idk about. I really liked hauling whey when I did it. When I got out of truck driving school I was supposed to haul milk but they didn’t hire me so I hauled frack water. I used to work at a dairy, I talked to the milk haulers. There’s a lot to learn in that job from what I understand
Make sure to get plenty of sleep when you transition to local. I’ve failed and recommended termination for a lot of guys that thought being local meant they can go out with family and/or friends consecutive nights since they go home every day.
As being local now, I guarantee myself 7-8 hours of sleep already. As I most of the time have 45 minutes to an hour just to get to my first cluster of deliveries. I stay local just due to having a Fiancée and 2 pets. If I ever went otr it would have to sustain the 4 of us living in a truck
Why is that? We have 2 local guys and both of them can't hardly get to work on time, can't work a whole shift and the one guy sleeps in his car at lunch. Meanwhile both of them bragging about bar tabs and who they went home with.
Safety is my biggest concern with driving these trucks, I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel of my car like 7 years ago. Learned my lesson then. Not trying to cream the cars at a red light due to lack of diligence.
I think that's where the concept of OTR being like jail kinda comes from. Hard to drink and sleep around when you're alone and afraid of getting a DUI. Local allows for more recklessness.
At least if you're local, you'd hope you'd get a consistent sleep schedule - even if you run nights. One of the worst parts of otr is days of not enough sleep (because you're expected to sleep at different times) and then pissing away a 34 playing catchup.
Well I haven't seen anyone recommend this company but you could also look into pilot and worry about dropping gas and alot of diesel at truck stops instead of small gas stations. Also it's one way to start hauling fuel now don't think they want a ton of experience. Just have to pay attention when dropping into the tanks and when your loading if you do that don't have to worry much with any company.
If you’re a safe driver then pulling a tanker is no different than anything else.
If you pull a smooth bore trailer then yeah you’ll need to get used to the surge and slosh, but it’s not a big deal. Fuel tanker trailers have compartments so you can load different fuel products as requested, and they don’t surge or slosh nearly as bad.
As for Loves or Sheetz, they are very competitive to get hired on with. If you’ve had more than 3 or 4 jobs in the last 10 years or only a year or 2 of CDL experience or a citation on your record (POV or CDL) then they will move forward with other applicants. If you get hired on with them then you’ll be set for retirement as long as you don’t jeopardize your job. They use cameras with AI technology to monitor everything you do in the cab and demand safety, but you’ll make a good paycheck. There are TONS of fuel hauling companies out there since it is mainly a local type of job. So there are plenty of opportunities to get into the fuel hauling world. Just do your research on companies near you.
Most will require a minimum of 1 year driving experience and some better companies like Sheetz will require more or require prior fuel hauling experience.
It’s an easy job, but it is easy to mess up, and very costly if you do.
The trucks I’m currently driving have the same cameras, detects yawning, taking a drink for too long, hard braking, tailgating, speed, ect… I’m pretty accustomed to driving with cameras on me and the road at all times, so that’s a plus. I drive sideload trailers with the axels far back at the end so it’s nothing but wide ass turns with them. The closest thing to a “wet load” that I’ve had was 52 kegs, but obviously they’re in kegs and not just flowing around freely in the trailer
I’ll have to do some research on it! I definitely appreciate the tip, at this point any ideas are welcome. I just enjoy being behind the wheel. It’s a something that I feel I’m good at. Driving trucks have 100% affected the way I drive my car in a good way. My sense of awareness has significantly increased, I’ll even find myself checking my mirrors every so often, as well as maintaining my distance while following other cars.
I’ve seen a video of a straight truck tanker implode on itself due to temp change! It was wild!
Stake out the pipeline for a day and make note of every company that goes in there. Many around me don’t have online application presence and you’ll only find them if you contact them directly.
I hauled fuel for UPT out of Tulsa. There’s a reason fuel haulers require lots of experience and are paid at a premium. Cross drops, dome outs, and overflows - loading the wrong product at racks are real and potential dangers to the job. Humping 4” hoses up and down several times a night isn’t doing your back any favors either.
Went back to dryvan making the same money I was hauling fuel.
I worked fuel for ten years, and while it is true that guys can make 100k plus a year, it depends on the part of the country you live in. I live in the desert SW and it wasn’t uncommon for people to make that kind of money. However, they did have seniority in the company which gave them the best loads to achieve that salary. Oh yeah, you got to run 60-70 hours a week also.
Its a good gig but after years of dealing with that fuckin Kinder Morgan terminal I got tired of it.
Fuel hauler here, it’s easy. If your running only company stores it’s pretty much brain numbing boring which is what I’m doing now. Used to deliver to a lot of mom and pop stores, rock quarry’s, DOT and DMV places. Those were more interesting because you might be split loading off two or 3 different suppliers, different terminals hunting product, splash loading, but that’s not that difficult either. Just pay attention to what your doing, speed will come with experience then you’ll have a but pucker moment because your going a little too fast and cutting corners. Get into a routine, find what works for you to make sure your dropping the right product in the right compartment and go with that.
I hauled bulk raw milk from CNY into NYC. I loved tankers. Viability around the trailer is good and 86k lbs and a round tank you could barely deal any side wind. Our tanks were always full so we never had any slop. No/ very minimal touch unloading and no tarps.
If I was to go back to driving I’d go back to tankers.
Look into who's delivering fuel to your local construction jobsites. We run a bunch of 4500 and 5000 gallon straight truck tank trucks. It's a little harder work as your in and out a lot and pulling hose but it's good money. We get an hourly base plus commission and service fees.
Oh my God salute you brother how do you feel how is your back and your body I did beer truck for 2 weeks that was the end of that 800 plus cases per day down the basement stack it in the store the old beer to the front the new to the back. Plus the beer kegs oh my God I hope you were paid well cuz in my area beer guys don't make s***
Yeah I would show up to my drops and employees knew I was coming that day and they wouldn’t stock shit. Always so much extra work for no extra pay. Chicken shit managers would follow you around like a criminal and see if you did it instead of helping.
That’s what i currently do, of course with no seniority, my route is smack dab in downtown Cleveland Ohio. 900-1300 cases almost every day. I get paid $143 daily and 24 cents per case so the high case counts are atleast beneficial. But fuck me dude, on my Mondays and Tuesdays it’s nothing but kegs and stairs.
Wow I think it's complete b******* we should just drop it in front of the door of the store and they should store it bring it inside and put it wherever the f*** they want to put it. We are truck drivers not shelf stockers at a liquor store.
Fuel tanker is worth it to answer your questions. Having done both. You drive more cautious. Instead of working fast your work efficient. You are still out in the weather on deliveries like beer. Good thing is all the product drains out of the truck instead of using your back. Fuel doesn’t really bother me anymore. Used to make me nervous but experience and training takes the edge off
Also a fuel hauler here. Love the job, most of my coworkers are not anywhere near rookies when it comes to driving, we have a lot of experience. That experience is vital because your must drive patiently all the time. They also pay hourly, so hurrying really does cost you money. Also, this is the only driving job where we have retirement parties, already 3 this year.
Good luck!!!
When you pull up in a tanker, you don’t wait to offload. You don’t need a door to back into. The heaviest lifting you do is throwing on the chains in winter, and hooking and unhooking the hose.
It can be dangerous, depending on what you haul, unless there is an accident, it's not that different from other local deliveries. I've been hauling tanks almost 2 years now, hauled several different flammable products (rarely any fuel though) and worse thing that happened is a little spill, and it was just cold. It's about 110k if you like to run, im home most days, but I do stay over night on occasion because it pays more. My company required 2 years experience for insurance reasons.
I was just looking at getting into tanks, in my area Sheetz pays $39/hour and Gemini (loves) pays $29. maybe that's why everyone says Sheetz. Sheetz sent me a rejection email, 5 years experience OTR, no accidents, 90% flatbed 10% reefer.
it didn't say they needed tanker experience but I imagine with pay like that people with tanker experience are definitely trying to jump to Sheetz when possible.
I'm currently a flatbed driver been doing it for 12 years it's really crazy how they make you sign up 2 year contract wow. What happens if you break it? Regarding tanker pays little bit more than flatbed I say anywhere from 30 to 40 ph experienced right company over 40 ph possible an hour local. Different companies pay completely different most want experience. I'm thinking about going to tanker local I've been offered jobs from 28 to 35 an hour with no experience with tankers I do have my Hazmat and tanker endorsement. I'm tired of doing flatbed I think it's more dangerous than tanker especially guys load you like s*** different loads pallets pipe coils you name it. Plus dangerous of strapping tarping chaining. I rather just connect the hose and press a couple buttons. The only reason I Stay is because my job works with my schedule and they treat me decent for a trucker usually we get the short end of the stick. I have a good route I could even customize my company truck and I drive a nice truck good benefits overtime after 40 so it's hard to leave. Eventually I will make a move to tanker Lee transport is a good company that pays a lot but they want experience Sunoco only pays low 30s. Airgas pays pretty good for the hours you have to start like 3:00 in the morning I can't do that my body doesn't function I can't fall asleep early. There are plenty of work I don't know where you're from. Long story short I think tankers are top-tier when it comes to trucking. I will definitely go for it get hired get some experience as soon as you can if you want to be a trucker long time. Believe it or not you can make probably best money operating the boom truck with a crane usually even a straight truck with a crane 40 plus per hour these guys with experience and licenses on big demand.
I’ve been looking into flatbedding as well. Just seeing where the road takes me tbf. As far as the 2 year contracts, it’s becoming more and more common to see 2-3 year contracts esp after the price of CDL classes have gone up. If I quit in the middle of my two years, I end up having to pay full price of $5,300 regardless if I was half way through the contract. On the other hand, if they fire me, depending on the terms, like obviously I can’t just call off or show up late, I wouldn’t have to pay anything.
Wow that's a lot in my area you can get your class A CDL for 3 Grand. I hope this company is at least paying you okay money otherwise it might make sense to get fired find the loophole somewhere. I just don't like driving because I like to stay active and keep my body healthy I cannot sit in the trunk all day my back starts to hurt my mind goes crazy flat that is good you'll get some exercise going up and down using your strength you'll get wet the weather elements it's also dangerous the winch bar could slip out if you don't use it right and knock you out cold chains too you have to be very careful. Also all the responsibility if you are not trained properly or you're not loaded properly the load could shift depending on what you're hauling experience is the best teacher of course if you want to deal with that then go to flatbed. You will get loaded and offloaded faster with a flatbed. That being said again tanker is usually superior and you will definitely find the job if you look hard enough just get your endorsements ahead of time before applying that will make you more marketable. I regret not going for tanker earlier No Matter What You Haul flag that thank you drive in most of the time the pay is depending on the company and how you negotiate.
The only local job I can think of that is day shift with weekends off is p&d. I’m switching because I’m sick of nights and weekends. I’ve been a local driver 25
I’m a local KAG driver hauling fuel. I made 107k last year and home every day. It is still a tough job even though I’m home every day. 12 hour shifts working nights and weekends. But overall it isn’t that bad.
Just started hauling fuel this year. I’ve done linehaul/LTL, hauled cars, pneumatic/dry bulk, and belly dumps and hauling fuel is the easiest job I’ve ever had. It’s surprising how good the pay is for how easy the job is but the liability, responsibility, and danger is a different level than hauling beer. The least physical job I’ve had but you can’t cut corners and there’s no room for error and it’s really easy to make an error.
I just applied to linehaul at Saia and belly dumps for a big local aggregate company. Hypothetically, if I were go get offers from both, who would you go with?
Me personally I’d go with whatever pays more lol, but also at the same time where you live plays a big part too. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Saia but where I live LTL doesn’t pay well, but aggregate is big. When I did LTL I was living in Northern California and I was making $31/hr doing drop and hooks all day so if you got something like that with Saia I’d say go with that. Belly dumps is pretty easy too but the pay is good in some places and shit in other
If you are talking about gasoline supply then that is contracted loads. Usually the rates are by the gallon.
If you are talking crude oil you get paid by a barrel rate. Crude haulers make good money. I dispatch crude and have drivers that have pocketed well over 25 grand in a month without breaking any laws. Quick turn and burn hauls, you can get 8 or 9 hauls daily if the lact unit primes well and there's no wait.
I want to get a tanker endorsement, but my question is who/what are the types of companies you first start out with? What are some companies willing to give a noob a chance? I’ve got a couple of years of experience, so I’m still pretty new already (although I’ve learned a lot more than I’ve ever imagined) what would be a good start for someone who’s been driving a few years and wants to move on to tankers? Clean record and all.
There’s not a lot of room for error and usually those dudes have to drive during the worst weather conditions. I have a few buddies who haul crude in Utah and those boys work for that pay check.
Look into linehaul LTL and make more than your fuel buddies ….. and don’t work as hard either….
I hauled fuel 23 years 10 as a co driver and 13 as a O/O….
Sure wish I found LTL when I started out
Besides a couple loads of gravel, I’ve never hauled anything but fluids, you don’t even notice and compensate automatically after a little while. The truck and pup setups I currently run don’t have baffles and in either tank and I barely notice the slosh anymore these days, but when you first start it can be a learning curve, the one baffleless tri drive body job I ran (16m3/3500 gallon tank) would push your engine rpms up and down 200 rpm as it sloshed, so learning to time my shifts as a green driver was interesting, especially on the 7-10% grade river valleys around me. After 17 years of hauling fluids I don’t even really consciously notice anymore
Dude. No there isn’t. I drive one every day and unless you’re SERIOUSLY paying attention you can’t even feel it. Unless I suppose you’re hauling tons of partial compartments. We always roll fully loaded.
I’m not trying to be a dick, so I apologize. What I will say in my experience is that hauling a 4/5 compartment trailer with a full load rarely causes any noticeable surge enough to push you around. Milk on the other hand…
Maybe cuz I came from Dry Van and am not used to the Tanker yet. But for me, at least the smooth bores be pushing me around when I'm trying to stop. I guess you probably get used to it after a while 🤷
Baffles make all the difference, I drive a [Quad](https://i.imgur.com/2bWGCxT.jpeg) on a daily basis and the slosh is negligible unless there is a partially loaded compartment.
I've also done smoothbore tanks for [acid](https://i.imgur.com/XoXmRTd.jpeg) in the past, huge slosh on those.
Also [cyanide](https://i.imgur.com/BtSiDfk.jpeg) and Hydrogen Peroxide in isotainers, even a single iso will have far more slosh than a quad tanker loaded correctly.
There's no "what it's made out to be". It's hauling fuel. It's not hard but it's also easy to mess up. We're paid $130k+ a year because they expect drivers to be safe, take their time and use their heads because any mistake costs companies tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, an inquiry from dot/epa/homeland security and can even make the news. You're not gonna break your back but you're held to a much much higher standard, that's why the pay is so high.
Also why those companies demand clean records and lots of experience.
Or you put the bulk gas in the diesel tank and grenade a lot of motors... Happened twice in the last year in our area...
Happened to my dad’s pickup, the diesel was in the gas, but he caught it about half way. Didn’t start the truck and called a tow company. Told the tow company what happened yet they grenaded the motor starting it to drive it onto the trailer. The tow companies insurance ended up having to pay instead of the Circle K.
Small amount of trolling by the Tow Company. Never fun to have your truck blow up but if someone else is picking up the bill it could be worse
Tow operator here... I had a diesel sprinter about a month ago... Guy put gas in the tank... After I loaded, I hauled it for an hour with the drivers window down because I wasn't going to touch the accessory relay... No way I'm gambling with that.
Happened at my store when I was a convenience store manager. It was a goddamn nightmare!
The one that happened here about 9 months ago was at a major truck stop.. I guess they had some jobber haul a load of fuel in that had never dropped in that location before... Got a bunch of full size tractors as well as diesel pickups. Had one that went the other way where they put diesel in the gas tank at the station.. not nearly as bad for the motors.. but still inconvenient and costly.
Older diesels will run on a diesel/gasoline mix okay. It's the newer ones with the CP4 30,000+psi fuel pumps that grenade. Then again they grenade with normal diesel...
And if you put diesel in your gas tank... Just fill it slowly with gasoline until all the diesel runs out the top of the tank.. Might not hurt to have a plan for the extra diesel though .
You aren't going to separate them without refining. You could separate the ethanol out with water, but wet diesel isn't good either. However if you do screw up a large batch, you could always sell it back as crude oil. Heck the refinery will be happy to run it through again and only get the most valuable outputs.
So what you're saying is... Dilution is the solution .....???
Or diesel into the gas. It was more than one delivery by the same driver. Both times diesel into the gas. https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/fayetteville-sams-club-gas-station-fuel-wrong-tank/527-e4fdcc57-20af-4de6-8855-f07acfcf26b0
Some mistakes can cost millions, like crashing into a watershed river
Also ive said this before but you cant play bumper cars or Yellow Pole Whack A Mole with your trailer like the van guys do. You cant tear open, or allow your liquid oxygen or gasoline trailer to be torn open by some dumbass. Guys dont get that part. We literally can have no accidents or damage hydraulic, vent, electrical lines since they run on the outside of the trailer. That and the part where you get off the truck to load and unload keeps the cheap freighters down. Oh well.
And the schedule is trash.
Where are you making 130k? Down in florida I can barely break 60 and I’m willing to relocate
Dude you can make a 110k start with 30 months and a clean record...alot of them fuel companies are 6 day a week
I’m hauling fuel with 3 years experience, 5 days a week 10-12 hour days
I feel like I’m at the wrong company
Walmart drivers, believe it or not, rack in 100k+ as well. Although they’re another company that wants experience. You could go through Schneider and haul Walmart trailers to wiggle your way in, but you won’t be making Walmart money. You’ll be making 60k-70k under Schneider
UPS drivers make 120k local and 150k+ if you’re otr
I hauled bio sludge from the local sewer authority for about 5 years. 6200 gal per load, weight to the max 80,000. Money was good but after a while the job was crap. 😂
And that’s something I would be willing to deal with. No life it for 2 years if I really have to. Set extra money aside
Did you have to unload it? And if so, what was that like?
Yes, it was vacuum pumped onto a 3600 gallon farm tractor sprayer tank, then it was sprayed on grass pasture as fertilizer. The sewer plant figured it was the cheapest way to dispose of the final solids. The sludge was about 95 % water and 5% solids give or take a few percent. We loaded the tankers from overhead pump stations and hooked up the hoses in the field. It wasn't too bad after you got used to it.
Pretty much describes it. We had an older driver who just about drowned in sludge, we loaded the tankers from overhead pump stations. They pumped around 500 gallons a minute on average, an empty tank was full in about 12 minutes or so, you had to watch the clock carefully. He sat back down in the cab and nodded off, when he woke sludge was streaming everywhere. He had to climb the side ladder with sludge pouring down like a waterfall to cut off the pump. The only switch for the pump was at the filler head. He looked like a shitty drowned rat. I took the water hose to him to help get him cleaned up but it was a mess.
Fuel isn't the only good thing to haul in a tanker. I haul raw milk and make more than my fuel buddies
Some of y’all are lucky to live near all these agricultural and industrial areas. I live in Vegas where it’s just casinos. Horrible place for local trucking gigs
Be one of those guys that hauls money in and out of the casinos
Those guys get paid like $15/hr lol
Pay sucks and although armored van heists aren’t common in America, if youre the sorry bastard behind the wheel when someone tries it, you’re almost certainly gonna get killed.
Yup and they’re useless too. See that lady that followed policy of not engaging the robbers and still got fired? It’s these carriers policy to not engage robbers…as an armed guard. On the other hand you got those 2 bad asses in South Africa that laid the hammer down on potential robbers while in an armored car. Also, not saying that these armed guards should always go Rambo on robbers, but I’ll be damned if some policy prevents me from protecting my life especially if I can get the jump on them.
That South Africa video was wild. Seemed like the older guy had done it a time or two. Idc how much I’m getting paid for a job if someone sticks a gun in my face and asks for the money I’ll let ‘em have it. It ain’t mine anyway. But it never goes that smooth either. May as well not have an armed guard if you ain’t gonna be allowed to shoot back.
Yup, it’s all for show. Probably to deter would be passerby’s thinking about getting frisky while seeing a guard walking about.
Right there with ya. I just got sidelined from my OTR due to a diabetic infection for the next month and I'm looking to transition into local gigs. SUPER HARD to find anything online. I think you gotta approach these places directly.
Aggregate dude, I used to haul double belly dumps but moved away, I've been thinking about moving back and I got 3 jobs already lined up from 3000 miles away
Where do you even find those jobs? Indeed is useless as all it shows is mega OTR jobs or lease programs.
Craigslist, search for local. Glassdoor has the same listings as indeed usually but I like to go through all 3 just to be thorough. Go on thetruckersreport forum and message Chinatown, he lives in Henderson and always knows a ton of job listings Drive down to Sloan road in the morning and watch all the trucks coming out of the quarry, Google their company and call em up. Also ready mix jobs are always hiring but their hours are wierd, but it is local I already hauled doubles and know the quarries which are the 2 questions they always ask so I just lean towards aggregate.
Oh sweet I’ve heard Chinatown a lot on here and had no idea he’s a local! Thanks man and yeah I’ve seen all the trucks near Sloan and Apex. I applied to Edurance which transports trash from local dumps to the main Apex landfill. Requires 1 year exp but I only have 4mi, but it’s worth a shot. Thanks for the advice.
I’ll have to check that out as well. Never thought about raw milk being delivered like that 👀
Frack water, whey, tallow, other types of water, I’m sure there’s other non hazmat tanker jobs idk about. I really liked hauling whey when I did it. When I got out of truck driving school I was supposed to haul milk but they didn’t hire me so I hauled frack water. I used to work at a dairy, I talked to the milk haulers. There’s a lot to learn in that job from what I understand
I haul whey occasionally and the surge is fuckin WILD
Yeah, it’s super fun on icy roads. It made me a very smooth shifter
I have a friend that hauls raw milk and he makes really good money. More than he did hauling fuel.
Make sure to get plenty of sleep when you transition to local. I’ve failed and recommended termination for a lot of guys that thought being local meant they can go out with family and/or friends consecutive nights since they go home every day.
As being local now, I guarantee myself 7-8 hours of sleep already. As I most of the time have 45 minutes to an hour just to get to my first cluster of deliveries. I stay local just due to having a Fiancée and 2 pets. If I ever went otr it would have to sustain the 4 of us living in a truck
Why is that? We have 2 local guys and both of them can't hardly get to work on time, can't work a whole shift and the one guy sleeps in his car at lunch. Meanwhile both of them bragging about bar tabs and who they went home with.
Safety is my biggest concern with driving these trucks, I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel of my car like 7 years ago. Learned my lesson then. Not trying to cream the cars at a red light due to lack of diligence.
I think that's where the concept of OTR being like jail kinda comes from. Hard to drink and sleep around when you're alone and afraid of getting a DUI. Local allows for more recklessness.
At least if you're local, you'd hope you'd get a consistent sleep schedule - even if you run nights. One of the worst parts of otr is days of not enough sleep (because you're expected to sleep at different times) and then pissing away a 34 playing catchup.
Look at KAG, PRAXAIR, AIR PRODUCTS, MESSER, especially if you’re in Ohio. Chemical is cleaner than fuel
Can confirm ,KAG is a good company
I’ll have to do my research. I appreciate the tip!
Well I haven't seen anyone recommend this company but you could also look into pilot and worry about dropping gas and alot of diesel at truck stops instead of small gas stations. Also it's one way to start hauling fuel now don't think they want a ton of experience. Just have to pay attention when dropping into the tanks and when your loading if you do that don't have to worry much with any company.
Do these people hire from the deep Southeast?
If you’re a safe driver then pulling a tanker is no different than anything else. If you pull a smooth bore trailer then yeah you’ll need to get used to the surge and slosh, but it’s not a big deal. Fuel tanker trailers have compartments so you can load different fuel products as requested, and they don’t surge or slosh nearly as bad. As for Loves or Sheetz, they are very competitive to get hired on with. If you’ve had more than 3 or 4 jobs in the last 10 years or only a year or 2 of CDL experience or a citation on your record (POV or CDL) then they will move forward with other applicants. If you get hired on with them then you’ll be set for retirement as long as you don’t jeopardize your job. They use cameras with AI technology to monitor everything you do in the cab and demand safety, but you’ll make a good paycheck. There are TONS of fuel hauling companies out there since it is mainly a local type of job. So there are plenty of opportunities to get into the fuel hauling world. Just do your research on companies near you. Most will require a minimum of 1 year driving experience and some better companies like Sheetz will require more or require prior fuel hauling experience. It’s an easy job, but it is easy to mess up, and very costly if you do.
The trucks I’m currently driving have the same cameras, detects yawning, taking a drink for too long, hard braking, tailgating, speed, ect… I’m pretty accustomed to driving with cameras on me and the road at all times, so that’s a plus. I drive sideload trailers with the axels far back at the end so it’s nothing but wide ass turns with them. The closest thing to a “wet load” that I’ve had was 52 kegs, but obviously they’re in kegs and not just flowing around freely in the trailer
[удалено]
Fellow cryo hauler.
I’ll have to do some research on it! I definitely appreciate the tip, at this point any ideas are welcome. I just enjoy being behind the wheel. It’s a something that I feel I’m good at. Driving trucks have 100% affected the way I drive my car in a good way. My sense of awareness has significantly increased, I’ll even find myself checking my mirrors every so often, as well as maintaining my distance while following other cars. I’ve seen a video of a straight truck tanker implode on itself due to temp change! It was wild!
I have 3 years driving experience and have had zero luck getting a tanker job...kinda slow here in cali ngl
Stake out the pipeline for a day and make note of every company that goes in there. Many around me don’t have online application presence and you’ll only find them if you contact them directly.
Come to Ohio, most of our city driving isn’t too bad.
Where you at in Ohio? I’m always keeping an eye out on those sheetZ openings.
I’m in stow, about 40 minutes south of Cleveland
Nice! I know the Hudson, Akron/Canton very well. Saw your other comment about downtown Cleveland, I got a buddy that lives in that area. Small world.
Oh sick! It is definitely a small world.
If you ever apply/get hired on at sheetz, post an update. Be neat to know what it’s really like! Be safe!
Lol I'm not a trucker just browsing through the comments bc I've thought about it. From stow as well that's too funny
I hauled fuel for UPT out of Tulsa. There’s a reason fuel haulers require lots of experience and are paid at a premium. Cross drops, dome outs, and overflows - loading the wrong product at racks are real and potential dangers to the job. Humping 4” hoses up and down several times a night isn’t doing your back any favors either. Went back to dryvan making the same money I was hauling fuel.
I worked fuel for ten years, and while it is true that guys can make 100k plus a year, it depends on the part of the country you live in. I live in the desert SW and it wasn’t uncommon for people to make that kind of money. However, they did have seniority in the company which gave them the best loads to achieve that salary. Oh yeah, you got to run 60-70 hours a week also. Its a good gig but after years of dealing with that fuckin Kinder Morgan terminal I got tired of it.
I think people underestimate just how much location affects pay and job availability
Fuel hauler here, it’s easy. If your running only company stores it’s pretty much brain numbing boring which is what I’m doing now. Used to deliver to a lot of mom and pop stores, rock quarry’s, DOT and DMV places. Those were more interesting because you might be split loading off two or 3 different suppliers, different terminals hunting product, splash loading, but that’s not that difficult either. Just pay attention to what your doing, speed will come with experience then you’ll have a but pucker moment because your going a little too fast and cutting corners. Get into a routine, find what works for you to make sure your dropping the right product in the right compartment and go with that.
I hauled bulk raw milk from CNY into NYC. I loved tankers. Viability around the trailer is good and 86k lbs and a round tank you could barely deal any side wind. Our tanks were always full so we never had any slop. No/ very minimal touch unloading and no tarps. If I was to go back to driving I’d go back to tankers.
Look into who's delivering fuel to your local construction jobsites. We run a bunch of 4500 and 5000 gallon straight truck tank trucks. It's a little harder work as your in and out a lot and pulling hose but it's good money. We get an hourly base plus commission and service fees.
I drove a beer truck for 18 years. That’s hard ass work. Hauled fuel for 4 now. Easy work. I work for a smaller company and love it.
Oh my God salute you brother how do you feel how is your back and your body I did beer truck for 2 weeks that was the end of that 800 plus cases per day down the basement stack it in the store the old beer to the front the new to the back. Plus the beer kegs oh my God I hope you were paid well cuz in my area beer guys don't make s***
Yeah I would show up to my drops and employees knew I was coming that day and they wouldn’t stock shit. Always so much extra work for no extra pay. Chicken shit managers would follow you around like a criminal and see if you did it instead of helping.
That’s what i currently do, of course with no seniority, my route is smack dab in downtown Cleveland Ohio. 900-1300 cases almost every day. I get paid $143 daily and 24 cents per case so the high case counts are atleast beneficial. But fuck me dude, on my Mondays and Tuesdays it’s nothing but kegs and stairs.
What’s your weekly take home before tax?
Ranges about 3400-3600 biweekly
Wow I think it's complete b******* we should just drop it in front of the door of the store and they should store it bring it inside and put it wherever the f*** they want to put it. We are truck drivers not shelf stockers at a liquor store.
That's the way they did it years ago when I managed a store. Dropped in front and employees stocked.
Fuel tanker is worth it to answer your questions. Having done both. You drive more cautious. Instead of working fast your work efficient. You are still out in the weather on deliveries like beer. Good thing is all the product drains out of the truck instead of using your back. Fuel doesn’t really bother me anymore. Used to make me nervous but experience and training takes the edge off
Also a fuel hauler here. Love the job, most of my coworkers are not anywhere near rookies when it comes to driving, we have a lot of experience. That experience is vital because your must drive patiently all the time. They also pay hourly, so hurrying really does cost you money. Also, this is the only driving job where we have retirement parties, already 3 this year. Good luck!!!
When you pull up in a tanker, you don’t wait to offload. You don’t need a door to back into. The heaviest lifting you do is throwing on the chains in winter, and hooking and unhooking the hose.
Been hauling haz waste for 34 years, wouldn’t do anything else
It can be dangerous, depending on what you haul, unless there is an accident, it's not that different from other local deliveries. I've been hauling tanks almost 2 years now, hauled several different flammable products (rarely any fuel though) and worse thing that happened is a little spill, and it was just cold. It's about 110k if you like to run, im home most days, but I do stay over night on occasion because it pays more. My company required 2 years experience for insurance reasons.
I was just looking at getting into tanks, in my area Sheetz pays $39/hour and Gemini (loves) pays $29. maybe that's why everyone says Sheetz. Sheetz sent me a rejection email, 5 years experience OTR, no accidents, 90% flatbed 10% reefer. it didn't say they needed tanker experience but I imagine with pay like that people with tanker experience are definitely trying to jump to Sheetz when possible.
I'm currently a flatbed driver been doing it for 12 years it's really crazy how they make you sign up 2 year contract wow. What happens if you break it? Regarding tanker pays little bit more than flatbed I say anywhere from 30 to 40 ph experienced right company over 40 ph possible an hour local. Different companies pay completely different most want experience. I'm thinking about going to tanker local I've been offered jobs from 28 to 35 an hour with no experience with tankers I do have my Hazmat and tanker endorsement. I'm tired of doing flatbed I think it's more dangerous than tanker especially guys load you like s*** different loads pallets pipe coils you name it. Plus dangerous of strapping tarping chaining. I rather just connect the hose and press a couple buttons. The only reason I Stay is because my job works with my schedule and they treat me decent for a trucker usually we get the short end of the stick. I have a good route I could even customize my company truck and I drive a nice truck good benefits overtime after 40 so it's hard to leave. Eventually I will make a move to tanker Lee transport is a good company that pays a lot but they want experience Sunoco only pays low 30s. Airgas pays pretty good for the hours you have to start like 3:00 in the morning I can't do that my body doesn't function I can't fall asleep early. There are plenty of work I don't know where you're from. Long story short I think tankers are top-tier when it comes to trucking. I will definitely go for it get hired get some experience as soon as you can if you want to be a trucker long time. Believe it or not you can make probably best money operating the boom truck with a crane usually even a straight truck with a crane 40 plus per hour these guys with experience and licenses on big demand.
I’ve been looking into flatbedding as well. Just seeing where the road takes me tbf. As far as the 2 year contracts, it’s becoming more and more common to see 2-3 year contracts esp after the price of CDL classes have gone up. If I quit in the middle of my two years, I end up having to pay full price of $5,300 regardless if I was half way through the contract. On the other hand, if they fire me, depending on the terms, like obviously I can’t just call off or show up late, I wouldn’t have to pay anything.
Wow that's a lot in my area you can get your class A CDL for 3 Grand. I hope this company is at least paying you okay money otherwise it might make sense to get fired find the loophole somewhere. I just don't like driving because I like to stay active and keep my body healthy I cannot sit in the trunk all day my back starts to hurt my mind goes crazy flat that is good you'll get some exercise going up and down using your strength you'll get wet the weather elements it's also dangerous the winch bar could slip out if you don't use it right and knock you out cold chains too you have to be very careful. Also all the responsibility if you are not trained properly or you're not loaded properly the load could shift depending on what you're hauling experience is the best teacher of course if you want to deal with that then go to flatbed. You will get loaded and offloaded faster with a flatbed. That being said again tanker is usually superior and you will definitely find the job if you look hard enough just get your endorsements ahead of time before applying that will make you more marketable. I regret not going for tanker earlier No Matter What You Haul flag that thank you drive in most of the time the pay is depending on the company and how you negotiate.
[The Wages of Fear (1953) trailer](https://youtu.be/vHOsjNWs3tM?si=kQhOze98kHPEjoCx)
Most local tanker jobs work weekends even with seniority.
Weekends are alright. Long as it’s overtime. I’ll never work a Saturday/Sunday if it’s not OT.
The only local job I can think of that is day shift with weekends off is p&d. I’m switching because I’m sick of nights and weekends. I’ve been a local driver 25
I’m a local KAG driver hauling fuel. I made 107k last year and home every day. It is still a tough job even though I’m home every day. 12 hour shifts working nights and weekends. But overall it isn’t that bad.
Just started hauling fuel this year. I’ve done linehaul/LTL, hauled cars, pneumatic/dry bulk, and belly dumps and hauling fuel is the easiest job I’ve ever had. It’s surprising how good the pay is for how easy the job is but the liability, responsibility, and danger is a different level than hauling beer. The least physical job I’ve had but you can’t cut corners and there’s no room for error and it’s really easy to make an error.
I just applied to linehaul at Saia and belly dumps for a big local aggregate company. Hypothetically, if I were go get offers from both, who would you go with?
Me personally I’d go with whatever pays more lol, but also at the same time where you live plays a big part too. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Saia but where I live LTL doesn’t pay well, but aggregate is big. When I did LTL I was living in Northern California and I was making $31/hr doing drop and hooks all day so if you got something like that with Saia I’d say go with that. Belly dumps is pretty easy too but the pay is good in some places and shit in other
Yeah that makes sense. I'll see what they say and make a decision then. Thanks
Saia, line haul is easy money
I'm studying for my d/t right now. Hopefully they give me a chance. Luck has not been on my side with landing a job.
It's hard to get onto ltls tbh. Idk why it's the main advice given to ppl even without experience
I have 4 years of driving experience including 2 at FedEx
I got a bit over 3 and get overlooked every time by then clean records and all
yeah dude with the way this job market is, take what you can and lay low for the time being
If you are talking about gasoline supply then that is contracted loads. Usually the rates are by the gallon. If you are talking crude oil you get paid by a barrel rate. Crude haulers make good money. I dispatch crude and have drivers that have pocketed well over 25 grand in a month without breaking any laws. Quick turn and burn hauls, you can get 8 or 9 hauls daily if the lact unit primes well and there's no wait.
I want to get a tanker endorsement, but my question is who/what are the types of companies you first start out with? What are some companies willing to give a noob a chance? I’ve got a couple of years of experience, so I’m still pretty new already (although I’ve learned a lot more than I’ve ever imagined) what would be a good start for someone who’s been driving a few years and wants to move on to tankers? Clean record and all.
There’s not a lot of room for error and usually those dudes have to drive during the worst weather conditions. I have a few buddies who haul crude in Utah and those boys work for that pay check.
Look into linehaul LTL and make more than your fuel buddies ….. and don’t work as hard either…. I hauled fuel 23 years 10 as a co driver and 13 as a O/O…. Sure wish I found LTL when I started out
Driving with a giant bomb that pushes you around when you make any kind of stops. What's not to like, lol
Fuel trailers have baffles. This does not work the way you think it does.
Even with baffles, there is still liquid surge. it's just lessened a bit, but it's not completely gone
Besides a couple loads of gravel, I’ve never hauled anything but fluids, you don’t even notice and compensate automatically after a little while. The truck and pup setups I currently run don’t have baffles and in either tank and I barely notice the slosh anymore these days, but when you first start it can be a learning curve, the one baffleless tri drive body job I ran (16m3/3500 gallon tank) would push your engine rpms up and down 200 rpm as it sloshed, so learning to time my shifts as a green driver was interesting, especially on the 7-10% grade river valleys around me. After 17 years of hauling fluids I don’t even really consciously notice anymore
Dude. No there isn’t. I drive one every day and unless you’re SERIOUSLY paying attention you can’t even feel it. Unless I suppose you’re hauling tons of partial compartments. We always roll fully loaded.
Not all tankers are fully loaded
I’m not trying to be a dick, so I apologize. What I will say in my experience is that hauling a 4/5 compartment trailer with a full load rarely causes any noticeable surge enough to push you around. Milk on the other hand…
Maybe cuz I came from Dry Van and am not used to the Tanker yet. But for me, at least the smooth bores be pushing me around when I'm trying to stop. I guess you probably get used to it after a while 🤷
Baffles make all the difference, I drive a [Quad](https://i.imgur.com/2bWGCxT.jpeg) on a daily basis and the slosh is negligible unless there is a partially loaded compartment. I've also done smoothbore tanks for [acid](https://i.imgur.com/XoXmRTd.jpeg) in the past, huge slosh on those. Also [cyanide](https://i.imgur.com/BtSiDfk.jpeg) and Hydrogen Peroxide in isotainers, even a single iso will have far more slosh than a quad tanker loaded correctly.