My Update From The Prime Inc Tanker Division

Icecold...

do you pay for hoses like the tarps and load locks? How much?

Icecold...

do you pay for hoses like the tarps and load locks? How much?

No we do buy our fittings. They are $500 I think and come out at $30 a week. Very reasonable. Actually I even snagged some extras for free at the Decatur tanker terminal.

Can you be a rookie and do this?

So as I stated in a previous post after several months of doing flatbed with Prime I realized and made the decision that flatbed just was not for me. I simply am not cut out for it. So I made the move over to our tanker division about a month and a half ago. So after doing the tanker for a little bit now I wanted to stop in and give a quick update and review of our tanker division.

We haul 100% foodgrade products such as different kinds of oils, chocolate, cocoa butter, lots of different things. This means we drive smooth bore tanks so the surge is very real. I had to adjust to being able to shift with the timing of the surge to minimize the impact I felt with each shift and have learned to stop and start very smoothly. I take a lot more caution now and I am the guy you will see taking the exit ramps at 10mph haha. We do run a lot of Northeast and very seldom get west even though I have already had loads to Kansas and Texas. Our primary area though is a big triangle from Newark Nj, Savannah Ga, and Chicago Il. This is where you will spend the majority of your time in this division.

One of my concerns switching over was not being able to run as many miles as I did with flatbed because I had heard our tanker drivers only average 2000-2200 miles a week. However my last few weeks have been 2469, 2897, 3105, and 2655 so the miles and the freight are definitely here so I am not sure what kind of problems the other drivers have been having that I talked to before switching over were having. I am actually making more money than I did in flatbed so that makes really happy. I have a super amazing FM who keeps me loaded and running and I am almost always pre-planned on other loads way before I get empty on my current one.

Here in tanker we do have a little more down time and a little more waiting at shipper and receivers than I did in flatbed however it hasn't been anything too excessive. My longest wait time to get loaded was 8 hours at a cocoa processor in Delaware but the people were super friendly and explained they had an issue inside with equipment that slowed them down and the detention pay I got plus the nap i took was a nice little bonus to that wait. Also we go into some very tight places. Everywhere I have been so far with the exception on one customer has been pretty tight so it is definitely refining my close quarter maneuvering and my backing skills for sure.

I am honestly very happy with my decision to move to the tanker side and I have really fell in love with this. I really do not ever seeing myself doing anything other than tanker. If anyone has any questions about this division here I will be more than glad to help and answer what i can.

Be a tanker driver? Not advised at all.

Icecold...

do you pay for hoses like the tarps and load locks? How much?

No we do buy our fittings. They are $500 I think and come out at $30 a week. Very reasonable. Actually I even snagged some extras for free at the Decatur tanker terminal.

No, that's not reasonable. You're a company driver you shouldn't be burdened with having to buy your own equipment.

Could you give more detail please.

Be a tanker driver? Not advised at all.

Could you give more detail please.

Be a tanker driver? Not advised at all.

tanker is not advised for newbies because the surge can be extremely powerful when downshifting my friends exact words were "that sucker pushed me.right through the intersection." shifting is hard enough for newbies, but doing it with liquid swishing around is worse.

prime does permit and train newbies in tanker

Icecold...

do you pay for hoses like the tarps and load locks? How much?

No we do buy our fittings. They are $500 I think and come out at $30 a week. Very reasonable. Actually I even snagged some extras for free at the Decatur tanker terminal.

No, that's not reasonable. You're a company driver you shouldn't be burdened with having to buy your own equipment.

I agree as a company driver I should not have go buy these myself. When I said very reasonable I was referring to the $30 a week charge since as a company driver I am forced to buy these, I was in no way implying that it is "very reasonable" to have to pay for these.

Hey Icecold24K! Would you say you were still a rookie when you switched division? The misinformation here at Sprimo is very confusing. One sim trainer said to talk to Steve, another said to talk to my reefer FM. Whose the tanker FM? I’m seriously hoping to make the switch now! Just need to weigh the numbers due to present debts.

Hey Icecold24K! Would you say you were still a rookie when you switched division? The misinformation here at Sprimo is very confusing. One sim trainer said to talk to Steve, another said to talk to my reefer FM. Whose the tanker FM? I’m seriously hoping to make the switch now! Just need to weigh the numbers due to present debts.

To make the switch all you have to do is talk to Jeff Bruton he is the one over the tanker bootcamp and they could set it up with your FM to have you routed into Sprimo to hook up with a tanker TNT trainer. Technically yes I was still a rookie when I switched to tanker I had only been in the flatbed division about 9 months when I made the switch and have been in tanker ever since, and I am coming up on my 2nd year here at Prime.