Tanker As Opposed To Linehaul

I have been driving for about 1yr and a half..It was the best decision I ever made besides asking my wife to marry me but I originally wanted to do tanker because my best friend drive tanker since the early 90's. I started off with my first true driving job "my first 2 were a mess" but I found a home here with experienced drivers willing to help me any way they could. I would still love to do tanker but I bring home roughly 1100 on a decent week and 1250 on better ones. I like linehaul but not sure if the money would justify switching.So any thoughts. My best guess for the future at my company is roughly 78k but that's just a guess..Side note truckers get a bad wrap and labeled as lazy but I have met some pretty cool people and hard workers willing to bust their ass to get ahead. Let's see a new college grad do that.

Where are you working now? Tanker has the surge challenge. What does your friend think? Are you currently OTR?

I am not OTR , overnight yes but home weekends. Drive for R&L and my friend said in the beginning get experience and stay clean and get all the endorsements you can.

Scott I pull a tanker. Second time around. It's a different animal. You get used to the surge. Main thing to remember is it is unforgiving. You MUST get your speed adjusted before making movements. With most other trailers it isn't as critical. I love it. You will still have sitting time, but that will be getting washed out instead of a dock somewhere.I'm waiting now for mine, but if I want to go somewhere else I can. Also most tank farm workers are a cut above your typical warehouse worker. Much easier to work with. Money shouldn't be your main focus in my opinion.You have to enjoy what your doing.

Is it liquid tanker or dry bulk? I do industrial and feed dry bulk and love it. Can't see myself doing anything else and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to start my career in it. I know someone that does linehaul for OD and he is happy there. A lot of night driving and he is all over the northeast at the moment until they rebid.

Where do you live? Are you not happy at R&L? Why do you want to change?

I run Linehaul for Old Dominion and love it. There is a lot of night driving until I have move up on the seniority list that so far is the only down side, I personally don't see myself leaving as long as they will keep me.

I did tankers before and loved it! But it is a different animal as Pj said. You get used to it. Since I have a gap of 8 years I will have to do refer or dry van before going back to tankers but I am ready to get back to it. Just remember you can't take corners as with a dry van though. But slow and steady maneuvers is the key. My experience is with fuel and liquid nitrogen. Both have their different challenges. You need a level head. Anyway I saw this thread and the talk of tankers excites me. But I have never done food grade so I have no opinion on this type. But are you not happy with R & L??

No I love it there. I was just interested in the challange of tank. Like I said it's my first driving job and experience is probably key with different trailers, tanker, dry van flat bed. If an opportunity comes up I didn't want to turn it down though due to lack of knowledge. I live I New Jersey so there are plenty of companies around but we hope to move in the next couple years to north or south Carolina. I appreciate all the interest an help everyone has to offer.

No I love it there. I was just interested in the challange of tank. Like I said it's my first driving job and experience is probably key with different trailers, tanker, dry van flat bed. If an opportunity comes up I didn't want to turn it down though due to lack of knowledge. I live I New Jersey so there are plenty of companies around but we hope to move in the next couple years to north or south Carolina. I appreciate all the interest an help everyone has to offer.

Could you transfer with R and L? I did about the same thing your doing. I started asking questions about 6 months out. And I also moved to the Carolinas.😆

I run food grade tanker. I'm not sure I'd want to go back to a dry van. But with that said R and L is a great company. So be sure it's worth the jump to you.

Surge is just a word on a DMV test... until you feel it for the first time.

I won't lie. I've felt it enough that it has scared the crap out of me. I now drive slower than old people xxxk. But I do like getting out and doing more than just swinging barn doors.