Opinion On Driving A Fuel Tanker Truck Right Out Of Cdl School?

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Babyhog's Comment
member avatar

I try to stay away from guys like this.

James, I have been reading though this thread. I don't drive tankers, so I don't feel I could conribute my experience here. BUT, with comments like this:

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My only driving experience is at cdl school. 160 hours. And 80 of those hours were me just standing around waiting for my turn to drive. Thanks for the video.

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I can add my 2ยข. So you want to be a rookie tank driver, and you admit to being shortchanged in school. Not to worry, many new drives get to stand around and watch others practice on the backing range. Yet, they made the cut.

A real bottom line can describe all the advice you have been offered:

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Take one step at a time

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The steps being to first get a bit of OTR dry van (or even reefer) experience in before you make your next move. Once you know how an 18 wheeler feels & works on the road and in a shipper's yard, you an make the move to more complicated jobs like flatbed, heavy haul, Owner/Op, and even tankers.

James, your comment about not having "to do as they tell me" is against all logic. So if experienced, "million mile" type drivers offer you advice, but you pass it up, what advice do you want to follow? The stuff you hear when you talk to fellow students on the backing range or some anonymous driver in a driver lounge?

You have managed to get the Trucking Truth members to do the exact opposite of what we recommend! You get news reports and stories of terrible gasoline truck accidents. Well, these are true, and tragic. I hope they got your attention. But thousands of drivers pull 16,000 gallons of liquid dynamite around every day. SAFELY. But they didn't just move from CDL school into a dangerous job overnight. Take the slow, steady route and within a couple of years, tank companies will actually pick up the phone when you call.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Dm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Babyhog's Comment
member avatar

This guy is scary,what company is hiring this guy.

If you were going to learn to fly an airplane, you wouldn't start out in a Stealth Fighter.

If you were going to learn to drive race cars you wouldn't start out in a Top Fuel Dragster.

If you were going to learn to climb mountains you wouldn't start out climbing Mt Everest.

If you had even the tiniest ability to assess risk management we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Come on, man! A fuel tanker? Really?
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