Profile For Micheal A.

I am currently on the dedicated Ecolab account. Have been for about 4 months now. It is based out of Joliet, IL. The tank wash (Quala) is less than a mile from the Ecolab in Joliet/Channahan, IL. What I like about this account is, every trailer we pick up is already preloaded at Ecolab. No live loads at all. We only haul corrosives such as acid and caustic. There are a few products that are not hazardous and do not require placards. No flammable liquids or ammonia, nothing that can explode or catch fire. Worse thing is, corrosives can damage your skin and eat metal.

The handling of tanker trailers can be a challenge as others have mentioned. It isn’t as bad when hauling a tanker that has multiple compartments. The single compartments are the worse. You will feel all the surge from the liquid that you are hauling. You have to make slow maneuvers as much as possible, don’t attempt to take off quickly after stopping. The liquid is always moving back and forward. It will feel like something slammed into the back of your trailer when coming to a stop. When it is really the liquid sloshing back and forth. Again, with multiple compartment trailers, the surge isn’t nearly as noticeable as a single compartment. You will get more trips with multiple compartment trailers than single compartment. There are 5 compartment trailers out there, I have yet to get one. You will mainly see 4 to 3 compartments and an occasional single compartment.

I had 9 months of driving a tractor trailer before switching to tankers. I enjoy it, more than gripping a steering wheel all day. The unloading process makes the days go by faster than driving all day.

You will need to wear the green rubber suit at 99% of your deliveries due to the corrosives. Summer is approaching, it does get sweaty even now with the temps not even that high

I would suggest swapping all of your 3 inch for 2 inch hoses. All of Ecolab customers connection lines are 2 inches. The 2 inch hoses are lighter and more flexible. We do not utilize our pumps at all. All unloading is done with the compressor. Why? The corrosives would eat the internal components of the pump alive.

Along with my $12k sign on bonus I make $1k a week after taxes and benefit deductions. Everyone take home is different based on your benefit selection and tax deductions. The week that I receive my sign on bonus payout my check is $1700 after tax and benefit deductions. If you qualified for a sign on bonus it will be paid out every 30 days.

I go as far west as Omaha, Nebraska which is only a few miles west of Iowa. Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and as far south as Kentucky. Some weeks I get home multiple times a night. 90% of the time I am done by Friday afternoon. Latest I got home was Saturday morning. You can come out on Sundays or Monday mornings, just let the DTL know. I did one late night delivery and one early morning delivery. I didn’t like it because the customers were lazy and wasted my time. I told my DTL and asked to never be placed on that run again. Haven’t been on it since then.

Most, if not all of our customers are dairy plants. They process milk, ice cream, butter, etc!

We don’t have to wait until the dirty tank that we drop off at the tank wash to be clean. You drop it off and go back to Ecolab and get your preloaded trailer.

Hope I helped

Does anyone on where ever been a Schneider dedicated hazmat/tanker driver? I'm trying to get what people think who have been on the position. I have a conditional officer for their hazmat/tanker dedicated account for ECOLAB.