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

I just read Old Schools arcticle, I thought it was excellent!

I am just a rookie with a older driving background, but i was pleased to be able to start flatbed (solo) after a few weeks of paid local training. i cant imagine driving a double tanker even now, with 6 months of time on the road. I wish i was that good. Its a sickening thought knowing there are those who would risk others on thier own arrogance. Every day i tell my dash cam to save video of untrained or reckless drivers who risk manslaughter charges because they cant even stick to the most basic rules of appropriate following distance, and "usually" every day i observe a driver who uses courtesy and judgement as part of his job as well. I ALWAYS try to obseve the companies the work for. I enjoy driving......a lot! Each day is a day that enforces the need for selfless professionalism, driving within your skillset is a indication of your ability to do that.

James, please don't leave the forum and nobody here is angry at you at all. We're simply baffled and seriously wondering what kind of company would hire an inexperienced driver for double hazmat tankers.

Please be as safe as possible and if you ever have doubts about your company or the training, or equipment safety, please for the love of God, just say no.

I'm glad Daniel B. responded because this is exactly the kind of work he does. Brett, Old School, Errol, and GTown are all passionate about safety and helping new drivers succeed.. we all are here, but they are more experienced than I am which was why I specifically mentioned seeking advice from Old School and Daniel B. most importantly.

Take the advice offered to check out this company's safety scores. Please forgive us for being more than alarmed because we do care so much.

Stay safe and I wish you the absolute best. If you have any questions or concerns at all,,Brett and everyone else here will absolutely help you.

I'd personally love hearing about your training and it would be a great help to future drivers if you'd be willing to share your personal experience on your tanker training in the training section of the forum.

James, I will be the first to admit I share the concerns of my colleagues here and I can appreciate your feeling of being pounced upon. I will do my best not to add to that feeling and simply ask a couple questions about the 2 to 3 month training program you mentioned.

1-1) Is this training under the direct supervision of an experienced individual and to ensure you understand what I mean by direct supervision, will the trainer always be a maximum of an arms length away from you?

1-2) Will the two to three months of training mentioned provide the opportunity to you being the operator of the vehicle at least 90% of the time including being the person charged with the responsibility with loading and unloading with the trainer only being there to ensure you are employing proper safety procedures throughout?

1-3) Is there a grade that must be obtained by you before being removed from under the guidance of the trainer and cut loose on your own?

1-4) Is the grading system documented and objective? In other words is there a sheet of paper that has a question such as "Does the trainee always exit the vehicle and check path before backing"? 1-5) Does this question include instruction to the trainer that they are to keep track of 10 events where the vehicle is placed in reverse by you and that their score is determined by the number of times you performed the task properly and when you only perform the task properly 7 of the 10 times you are scored 7 out of 10 or 70%?

1-6) Does the grading system let you know that you must achieve a minimum percentage of 80% (to chose a simple number) on each individual task and an overall minimum percentage of 85% (again to chose a simple number) before you will be considered for movement into a solo capacity?

1-7) Does the grading system require that you reach both of these minimum percentages 4 (random number) times in a row over a period of 2 (random time frame) months before you will be considered for a solo capacity?

OR

2-1) Will you simply be sent out with a guy who has done it before and will give the owner/boss a nod and wink if he thinks you might be okay?

James, if your training is something that appears like questions 1-1 through 1-7 above you at least stand a fighting chance of being successful and not being part of a major catastrophe. However, if the training mentioned looks more like question 2-1 above, run away as far and as fast as you can as you are obviously being trained by someone who has zero regard for anything but the bottom line profitability of the company and the safety and well being of their employees and the general public is way down the list of concerns, and that is definitely a real recipe for disaster.

There is already excellent advice in this forum, I hope mine gives you another way to look at and at the same time seriously consider where you want to be tomorrow and if this is the right move for you.

Regards,

Saw the video Brett posted, I would never want to drive a chem tanker, let alone doubles... Why is double fuel tankers even a thing... I guess you could say I'm.... baffled by this... get it? But seriously.. just no

Saw the video Brett posted, I would never want to drive a chem tanker, let alone doubles... Why is double fuel tankers even a thing... I guess you could say I'm.... baffled by this... get it? But seriously.. just no

Where is the best answer button when you need it?!

Saw the video Brett posted, I would never want to drive a chem tanker, let alone doubles... Why is double fuel tankers even a thing... I guess you could say I'm.... baffled by this... get it? But seriously.. just no

Doubles are a thing because some of these gas stations make NYC look large. Seriously though, some of these gas stations are so tiny that if you mess up your entrance/exit you'll never get out. We have one in S. Sac that is just this. Getting in isn't too hard but getting out requires you to run over a curb with your driver side drive axles and rear trailer.

And thats just the driver side. On the passenger side you come 2" from hitting a concrete barrier. 2" from it is the best you can do. If you mess up your turn you'll hit concrete barrier.

You need that second tanker with an extended dolley for better turning and less off tracking. It needs to turn like a U Haul truck. Lots of drivers drive a single trailer but there's a few dozen stations that they cant do.

Thanks for the replies and I hope the little joke made some of you smile but as a new driver I cant even fathom pulling double box trailers let alone a single fuel tanker, nevermind doubles , one day maybe I'll grab that tanker endorsement and hazmat but for this solo driver, I'm content and quite happy pulling 53 dry van.. I mean hell, I've seen double 53's rolling down the road and thought to myself not only does that driver have a bigger pair then I do but I can barely drive one trailer why on earth would I want to add another.

Double 53... that's 106 foot of trailer not including the dollies...

Saw the video Brett posted, I would never want to drive a chem tanker, let alone doubles... Why is double fuel tankers even a thing... I guess you could say I'm.... baffled by this... get it? But seriously.. just no

Well somebody's gotta do it, lol. I don't think brand new drivers should be the ones to do it though.

And Daniel, if I'm not mistaken, they aren't true doubles , right? Isn't the front tank connected to the power unit?

Saw the video Brett posted, I would never want to drive a chem tanker, let alone doubles... Why is double fuel tankers even a thing... I guess you could say I'm.... baffled by this... get it? But seriously.. just no

Well somebody's gotta do it, lol. I don't think brand new drivers should be the ones to do it though.

And Daniel, if I'm not mistaken, they aren't true doubles , right? Isn't the front tank connected to the power unit?

Exactly. Very difficult to find true doubles.

OMG! James, please tell me where you will be operating and the name of this company. I've only been driving for 2 years and still consider myself a rookie, but I'm intelligent enough to know to stay away from known hazards, and this is a big one to avoid. James, you sound like you have some smarts to you for asking for opinions. But you're also very young and naive about this industry. Companies like this one iare all about the bottom dollar. When you crash, they'll collect the insurance and find another James to put in the new truck. They're not out anything. Go to a TA, Petro or any struck stop with counter seating in the restaurant. Sit next to an experienced driver and just start talking..