Hi People
I have a quick question regarding Petrol Tankers. Do the petrol tankers have gauges on them to see how much fuel is left on board?
For instance if your on a AM shift and you finish and you have fuel left on board how does the PM shift know what’s in the tank? Or do tankers usually get emptied before the PM shift starts?
Also if you go to a first job and say it’s a forecourt, they have ordered 23000 litres of unleaded how do you know you get to 23000litres ?
It’s metered on and off (and it’s very strict metering) , dipsticks are long gone now.
The meters are calibrated AND sealed.
That’s brilliant so basically the tanker will know at all times what it has inside it?
So when your at the terminal filling the tank will it automatically register what’s in the tank or do you in out it in manually when filling
No, the tanker doesn’t know what is on it. However that can be calculated by the meter tickets giving the driver the information as to what has been loaded and what has been discharged.
Tankers generally do not have residue left on board. If they have it’s because of a ■■■■ up such as a breakdown or a customer miscalculation as to the amount of ullage (space) they have available in the recipient tanks (s).
Road tanks generally have five or six separate compartments so it’s entirely possible (but not particularly common) to have a multi drop on board, this is quite simple to work out for the driver. For example garage (A) requires 20000 litres and garage (B) requires 10000 litres. So at the terminal the driver will load 10000 litres for B in the front two compartments (size dependant) and the remaining 20000 litres for A between the remaining compartments. It’s then a straightforward process of delivering to both sites.
It’s probably preferable to unload the rear compartments first but it’s not vitally important as road tanks have very little rear overhang behind the rear trailer axle, thus reducing the possibility of handling problems should you unload from the front first.
Disclaimer; it’s been many years since I did fuel deliveries (it was dipped on back then) so some of that may differ.
The driver had better know what’s inside it, and what product is in which compartment, and the meter print out tickets sure as hell had better match. All product is bottom loaded and bottom discharged now, no climbing ladders to top load, no dipsticks, etc.,
Things have changed a lot since I was doing the job, they’ve changed for the better.
As Mr Maoster says, a spirit tank is usually 6 compartments (multiple drops, different product, etc etc) all metered, all compartments ‘marked’, it should, and most of the time is foolproof, but very rarely c ock ups do occur.
That’s brilliant thank you, also do you have GPS to know where to go or have you guys bought your own sat nav I can imagine it’s very strict in the cabs what you can and can’t have in the cabs is it ?
In my day when you got to the gatehouse at the terminal/refinery anything electrical in the cab had to be left at the gatehouse to be collected on the way out AND, a little known fact, no ‘man made fibres’ clothing on the drivers (static spark), no steel toe cap footware IF the steel cap was exposed in any way.
And don’t forget to clip the earth wire on when loading or Albert will ban you from the terminal (Phillips Terminal, Leeds) 
Interesting, especially the vision of naked drivers in the terminal. 
@2024_Truck
Can we guess you aren’t a driver yourself, but are just interested generally? Not a problem.
The trucks used may look similar to other trucks but are specified specifically for hazardous tank work. They may have different wiring systems, different exhausts, etc.
The drivers of all hazardous goods need special training, and pass tests, as well as the truck driving licence. Petrol companies often give training above and beyond what the law requires.
Yeah just generally interested, might be something to aim for in the future. How hard is it to get on petroleum tankers do you need years of experience?
An ex-BP jacket.
CE 0493
EN 340 2003
EN 13034
EN ISO 1411 EN 1145 6
EN 471
EN 343
Carbon fibre reinforced shell. hi-viz orange, reflective, anti-static, fire resistant, chemical resistant, oil resistant,
And it keeps the rain off too!
Years of experience driving or years of experience on tankers? Neither particularly and in my experience some tanker companies prefer “green” drivers as they can then train them their particular way.
I think that’s right @maoster
They will probably want someone with good track record of employment as they won’t want to train someone who will only stay a short while.
The rates seem good, but nowhere as good as when all the fuel companies had the drivers in-house.
From other posts the rotas on some companies is awful, with very peculiar start times all over the place. Legal of course, but stupid.
I think just general if I’m honest I passed my class 1 last year with the soul ambition to drive class 1 tankers however I am currently working on Class 2 however I didn’t realise how hard it is to get on to. Before HGV I was a coach driver thinking it’s basically the same However it’s not
Question: what is easier driving class 2 tanker
Or class 1 tanker?
As class 2 on fuel the fuel side is more residential and country lanes ?
Totally agree. The Halcyon days of in house operations are certainly gone now, but that doesn’t mean to say that there aren’t some decent fuel jobs still out there. Leaving aside in particular Hoyer and their ridiculous shift patterns some companies still value their employees and offer financial rewards to reflect that.i have a number of friends and ex colleagues who are lucky enough to be on old contracts and are earning north of £70k p/a for relatively low hours on fuel deliveries.
Edit to add; I was responding to Franglais there with my last
I got told HOYER stands for HAND OVER YOUR EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS lol
He hasn’t been on here lately but @juddian was on a food (powder) tanker I believe. He seems to rate that work.
Several years I did some haz liquid food tanks for a general haulier. More interesting than supermarket deliveries maybe.
The knack I think is to get for an own account haulier if you can. Tanks are good work, but because they tend to be part of a production process the hours can be variable.
Rigid tanks on domestic fuel deliveries? That would be more social hrs but maybe not quite as well paid? Never done it myself.
You’re not going to get on without a lot (A LOT) of expensive training. I was lucky, I ‘gravitated’ on to what was called, back in the day, ‘Petroleum Products’ , my employer provided ongoing training, a lot of it. “Your name is down for another 3 day course Brian lad, be there at 09:00 Monday morning”
I’ve still got my HazPet/Hazchem/ADR cards (long expired now) they had to be renewed every 3 (IIRC) years.
Nowadays all the bulk fuel tanker work (or most of it) is contracted out, Hoyers are a big player.
I don’t know what the driver requirements are now but (and I’m guessing) a bare minimum will be a Hazardous Goods card of some sort.
Just to pass the time search Youtube for BLEVE, watch a refinery explode.
If this seriously interests you, you could consider doing the ADR course. You’ll get up to 28 hours towards your next DQC, and having the ADR qualification would make you ready for any opportunities that might suddenly appear.
Assuming you did the full standard course plus Tanks, it’s four days of training in the classroom , Tanks being day 4, then exams on the Friday. That’s the way I deliver mine
Alternatively it can be 3 days training, with some of the exams on the morning of 4th day, then Tanks in the afternoon of the fourth day and morning of the fifth day, with Tanks exam after that. Forum manager Diesel Dave usually does his courses that way
Some places will do you a specific course just to get you to being a fuel tanker driver (Core module, plus Class 3 flammable liquids, plus tanks), or you could pick those elements from the full course, but you’d get fewer DQC hours
One thing, only drivers with a Petroleum Drivers Passport are allowed into refineries, but you can get fuel tanker work without the PDP.
You can find stuff on the internet to watch or read about, but none of it is official training material and it may not be up to date or accurate. Diesel Dave recommends steering folk away from this unofficial stuff. Once people get wrong ideas about the material into their heads it can be hard to get them to forget it in the face of the official material that will get them through their exams.
GOM mentioned watching a BLEVE video, here’s one for you
