I’ve been thinking of getting into fuel tanker work for some time, but I’m not sure if it’s the job for me.
I’ve trying to learn about it as much as I could, bit there is not much info available online, I’ve checked youtube, but there is nothing there.
What I’m trying to find out is whether it is possible to become a fuel tanker driver and stay employed as one for many years without pumping wrong fuel into the wrong hole.
These are the questions I’m having and I would appreciate if someone could answer them for me:
How do you make sure you put the right fuel into the right compartment in your tanker (I’ve heard every tanker has a few compartment and that you deliver a few different types of fuel to every fuel station)
What do you do to make sure you pump the right fuel into the right compartment? I know you need to be careful, you need to double check, but we are all humans and mistakes can happen, what do you do to make sure theses mistakes do not happen?
What are the procedures step by step when you arrive in the refinery to load?
when discharging at the fuel station, what procedures do you follow to make sure you avoid crossovers?
Do you much colours of your delivery hose and the delivery point, or maybe there are some other ways of making sure you deliver the right fuel into the right hole?
Why do people say that Hoyer has the best training in the industry, what do they do better than other fuel hauliers do?
Are there any videos someone could post of loading and unloading procedures? ( nothing on youtube, already checked).
I have a pretty decent job but always fancied getting into fuel delivery, but don’t know if it’s worth it, if it’s a job for me, as I’ve heard of people complaining and praising about being fuel tanker driver.
The key question here is, what do you need to do to make sure you avoid crossovers when loading and unloading, we are all humans , we all make mistakes, but from what I hear if you do a crossover, you are out.
is there a way of avoiding it 100% of the time if you follow some strict procedure, and what this procedure is?
Something that I’ve always wondered, is why do tanker drivers wear hard hats when discharging fuel? If anything goes dangerously wrong, dressing like the village people wont make much difference.
And why do they need to cone off the area around the tanker? Is a fuel tanker too hard to spot or are they using super cones that repel an explosion?
Lastly, does someone from the shop have to watch the delivery? I used to work at local garage years ago and a member of the shop staff had to be with the driver during unloading, but I can’t recall seeing it done recently.
I worked on fuel tankers for 30 years until retiring 7 years ago. By this time it would need a bad case of not concentrating to have a crossover. The loads are all pre loaded into the computer at the loading depot and all the large garages and supermarkets more or less tell you which compartment to put in each tank.
Tankers do not have a ladder any more and a compartment on the lorry has to go straight into a storage tank.
The first load I delivered was pre loaded and off i went with no training with a load of 2,3,4 star petrol and derv for two garages. The dip sticks in the garages were in gallons and the lorry was in litres so I had to work out the conversion to see how much room was in each tank. It was then a case of coupling to the tank and standing on the lorry dipping in the correct amount If you worked it out wrong and the tank filled to the top you had to wait for some petrol to be sold at the pump to drain out the pipe and remove it. I remember waiting ages at a country garage for a customer to come in and the first one was a moped.
I worked for a national company and they realised it was possible to make a genuine mistake and a couple of drivers had more than one crossover. They were sent out on thier next load with the training bod to make sure thet could do the job properly. The only time I put product in the wrong tank was when the lorry was pre loaded and the driver had switched the product in the compartents and not changed the delivery notes, probably rushing to get home.
I am sure another old timer on here will tell you how the tanker job has been dumbed down and you just need the confidence to go for it.
It is important that if you do have a mishap you own up to it straight away. If you hope it will not be noticed it will cost a lot of money to sort out all the petrol cars with diesel in them or whatever and you will get the sack.
One of the reasons why there aren’t many videos of Tankers loading or unloading is because you, as a driver, are not allowed to have any battery operated equipment, phones, cameras etc on you while you are loading or unloading.
There are exceptions and the Oil Companies did make films for training purposes.
As for “how do I not make a mistake while loading or unloading” is all about the training you receive.
You get as much training as you need. Within reason, days, weeks not months.
You only go out alone when the trainer is happy that you fully understand how to do the job safely and you follow their procedures.
You are taught to do the job 1 way, the right way.
Most firms follow similar procedures. These are tried and tested methods. If a mistake is made then at some point you didn’t follow these procedures.
Are you sure you want to get into Fuel Tankers?
Shift work and more often than not 24/7 shift patterns. Weekend working lots of weekend working on some shift patterns.
You won’t get the terms and conditions that made the job what it was but the money is still higher than average. Even this is changing as more and more cost savings are being made.
If you’ve got a good job at the moment, I maybe wouldn’t bother. I spent 18 years in that game & it’s slowly going down the pan. I’v got a cushy supermarket gig now & wouldn’t hurry to get back into a tanker.
Realistically, you’ll have better chances of starting with one of the kerosene/gas oil distributors delivering to houses, farms, industrial sites than jumping straight into mainline forecourt stuff.
Muckaway:
Something that I’ve always wondered, is why do tanker drivers wear hard hats when discharging fuel? If anything goes dangerously wrong, dressing like the village people wont make much difference.
Certain companies do, apparently it marks them out as a figure of authority type thing…
Muckaway:
And why do they need to cone off the area around the tanker? Is a fuel tanker too hard to spot or are they using super cones that repel an explosion?
Yes, they are hard to spot. And people are stupid. 3 big open manholes (3 foot square) with hoses going down them, enough cones to fill a road workers ■■■■■■■■■ fantasy and you still have to grab people to stop them tripping over hoses or down manholes…
Muckaway:
Lastly, does someone from the shop have to watch the delivery? I used to work at local garage years ago and a member of the shop staff had to be with the driver during unloading, but I can’t recall seeing it done recently.
Normally most drops are Driver controlled, there’s alarms for overfilling the tanks and a landline phone in a box by the discharge point, but if they aren’t working, you get a supervised drop in case anything goes wrong (cross contamination or overfilling).
How do you make sure you put the right fuel into the right compartment in your tanker (I’ve heard every tanker has a few compartment and that you deliver a few different types of fuel to every fuel station)
When we go into the refinery you enter your load (Grades and quanitities into whichever pots) into a computer. On the filling rack, the computer won’t let you cross-load and you double check your notes.
hkloss1:
2. What do you do to make sure you pump the right fuel into the right compartment? I know you need to be careful, you need to double check, but we are all humans and mistakes can happen, what do you do to make sure theses mistakes do not happen?
Double check. And then check again.
hkloss1:
4. when discharging at the fuel station, what procedures do you follow to make sure you avoid crossovers?
Do you much colours of your delivery hose and the delivery point, or maybe there are some other ways of making sure you deliver the right fuel into the right hole?
There’s a product indicator above each outlet for the trailer compartment and each forecourt tank is labelled. You match them up, and your notes also have the correct combination. You check and double check before you open a valve.
hkloss1:
The key question here is, what do you need to do to make sure you avoid crossovers when loading and unloading, we are all humans , we all make mistakes, but from what I hear if you do a crossover, you are out.
is there a way of avoiding it 100% of the time if you follow some strict procedure, and what this procedure is?
Check, check and check again. You keep to the routine that you were taught during training. Same as coupling and uncoupling. When you rush, or don’t pay attention, you screw up, you get the sack.
Muckaway:
And why do they need to cone off the area around the tanker? Is a fuel tanker too hard to spot or are they using super cones that repel an explosion?
Never underestimate the stupidity of the public. When we do depot deliveries we cone an area off where the forklift is unloading. Still doesn’t stop dumbasses from driving through the cones and getting in the way, usually when the forklift is driving down the yard with a tall and wide stack on.
Similar for me when being loaded, kerbside. Cones on the path to the front and rear, digger swinging over the path yet people still blindly walk past. I’m sure it’s just ignorance and “it’s my right” rather than being blind and retarded.
Ok when you load a fuel tanker most are 6 pots usually marked as to what each pots capacity is at the refinery after cueing yu enter the products and the quantity’ into an acuload which is a computer loading system the computer nos your tanks pot capacity and wont let you put to much in it will say out of range however if you already have product in the pot it wont no and there is the a possibility you could hit a probe which shuts the loading down and you wont be very popular having said the above you will need to be concentrating when inputing the products and amounts in the Acuload and also making sure you put the correct loading arm on the correct pot theres a lot can go wrong / on site again theres lots can go ■■■■ up some drops are driver controlled and some are supervised again concentration is required check check and check again big garages can have several tanks you will get the ullage from the garage there may be 3 derv tanks 3 unleaded and super unleaded they are marked but its usually down to you underground tanks are gravity feed and unless you have a special type of pump you dont pump petrol above ground tanks are generally derv or kero and are usually pumped forecourt work is very responsable as you have to manage the forecourt to ensure safety and trust me you would not believe how stupid people are round fuel delivery ,training is very important and most companys will spend whatever time you require and you wont get signed off till your doing it right and as has been said theres no short cuts it has to be done right its usually shift work and days tend to start at 4 am so if early am is not for you then give it a miss in short it is a responsable job and you dont get your money for nothing you work for it most people start on derv or kero work till experienced
bjd:
Ok when you load a fuel tanker most are 6 pots usually marked as to what each pots capacity is at the refinery after cueing yu enter the products and the quantity’ into an acuload which is a computer loading system the computer nos your tanks pot capacity and wont let you put to much in it will say out of range however if you already have product in the pot it wont no and there is the a possibility you could hit a probe which shuts the loading down and you wont be very popular having said the above you will need to be concentrating when inputing the products and amounts in the Acuload and also making sure you put the correct loading arm on the correct pot theres a lot can go wrong / on site again theres lots can go ■■■■ up some drops are driver controlled and some are supervised again concentration is required check check and check again big garages can have several tanks you will get the ullage from the garage there may be 3 derv tanks 3 unleaded and super unleaded they are marked but its usually down to you underground tanks are gravity feed and unless you have a special type of pump you dont pump petrol above ground tanks are generally derv or kero and are usually pumped forecourt work is very responsable as you have to manage the forecourt to ensure safety and trust me you would not believe how stupid people are round fuel delivery ,training is very important and most companys will spend whatever time you require and you wont get signed off till your doing it right and as has been said theres no short cuts it has to be done right its usually shift work and days tend to start at 4 am so if early am is not for you then give it a miss in short it is a responsable job and you dont get your money for nothing you work for it most people start on derv or kero work till experienced
pretty much what he said. I done petrol for over 20 years. I still drive tankers , but not petrol. I earn £4 an hour less than I did drivin petrol. BUT I don’t load, or discharge,so im not responsible for any fkups I don’t work shifts, weekends ,stand in the ■■■■■■ rain, snow. padlocks frozen, paperwork not done. 4 am start. don’t work weekends, ok, I enjoyed , but im glad to be out of it.
bjd:
Ok when you load a fuel tanker most are 6 pots usually marked as to what each pots capacity is at the refinery after cueing yu enter the products and the quantity’ into an acuload which is a computer loading system the computer nos your tanks pot capacity and wont let you put to much in it will say out of range however if you already have product in the pot it wont no and there is the a possibility you could hit a probe which shuts the loading down and you wont be very popular having said the above you will need to be concentrating when inputing the products and amounts in the Acuload and also making sure you put the correct loading arm on the correct pot theres a lot can go wrong / on site again theres lots can go ■■■■ up some drops are driver controlled and some are supervised again concentration is required check check and check again big garages can have several tanks you will get the ullage from the garage there may be 3 derv tanks 3 unleaded and super unleaded they are marked but its usually down to you underground tanks are gravity feed and unless you have a special type of pump you dont pump petrol above ground tanks are generally derv or kero and are usually pumped forecourt work is very responsable as you have to manage the forecourt to ensure safety and trust me you would not believe how stupid people are round fuel delivery ,training is very important and most companys will spend whatever time you require and you wont get signed off till your doing it right and as has been said theres no short cuts it has to be done right its usually shift work and days tend to start at 4 am so if early am is not for you then give it a miss in short it is a responsable job and you dont get your money for nothing you work for it most people start on derv or kero work till experienced
pretty much what he said. I done petrol for over 20 years. I still drive tankers , but not petrol. I earn £4 an hour less than I did drivin petrol. BUT I don’t load, or discharge,so im not responsible for any fkups I don’t work shifts, weekends ,stand in the ■■■■■■ rain, snow. padlocks frozen, paperwork not done. 4 am start. don’t work weekends, ok, I enjoyed , but im glad to be out of it.
Yeh i forgot that nugget the good old weather when its hissing down you get wet usually very wet its not all a bed of roses and remember if someone invests in training you there’s usually a claw back on that training so bebfore committing be sure its what you want
Muckaway:
Something that I’ve always wondered, is why do tanker drivers wear hard hats when discharging fuel? If anything goes dangerously wrong, dressing like the village people wont make much difference.
And why do they need to cone off the area around the tanker? Is a fuel tanker too hard to spot or are they using super cones that repel an explosion?
Lastly, does someone from the shop have to watch the delivery? I used to work at local garage years ago and a member of the shop staff had to be with the driver during unloading, but I can’t recall seeing it done recently.
You cone off an area on a forecourt because you need what is known as a DSEAR zone effectively a safe working area also you need an clear exit out off the forecourt in case of emergency people really dont understand the impotence of H & S with fuel delivery even professional drivers it would seem
bjd:
Ok when you load a fuel tanker most are 6 pots usually marked as to what each pots capacity is at the refinery after cueing yu enter the products and the quantity’ into an acuload which is a computer loading system the computer nos your tanks pot capacity and wont let you put to much in it will say out of range however if you already have product in the pot it wont no and there is the a possibility you could hit a probe which shuts the loading down and you wont be very popular having said the above you will need to be concentrating when inputing the products and amounts in the Acuload and also making sure you put the correct loading arm on the correct pot theres a lot can go wrong / on site again theres lots can go ■■■■ up some drops are driver controlled and some are supervised again concentration is required check check and check again big garages can have several tanks you will get the ullage from the garage there may be 3 derv tanks 3 unleaded and super unleaded they are marked but its usually down to you underground tanks are gravity feed and unless you have a special type of pump you dont pump petrol above ground tanks are generally derv or kero and are usually pumped forecourt work is very responsable as you have to manage the forecourt to ensure safety and trust me you would not believe how stupid people are round fuel delivery ,training is very important and most companys will spend whatever time you require and you wont get signed off till your doing it right and as has been said theres no short cuts it has to be done right its usually shift work and days tend to start at 4 am so if early am is not for you then give it a miss in short it is a responsable job and you dont get your money for nothing you work for it most people start on derv or kero work till experienced
pretty much what he said. I done petrol for over 20 years. I still drive tankers , but not petrol. I earn £4 an hour less than I did drivin petrol. BUT I don’t load, or discharge,so im not responsible for any fkups I don’t work shifts, weekends ,stand in the ■■■■■■ rain, snow. padlocks frozen, paperwork not done. 4 am start. don’t work weekends, ok, I enjoyed , but im glad to be out of it.
Yeh i forgot that nugget the good old weather when its hissing down you get wet usually very wet its not all a bed of roses and remember if someone invests in training you there’s usually a claw back on that training so bebfore committing be sure its what you want
it was a good job when I done it, and good money, but it is not the job it was. as I said im earning £4 an hour less for so much less stress and responsibility, if you’ve got a decent job id stay were you are, you are watched/ monitored ,everything you do, there is a procedure you MUST follow. if you ■■ up you have not followed procedures you can be sacked, if you do go for a fuel job , the advice I got when I started was , if you make a mistake, own up, don’t try to lie out of it. some tankers have computers on board that tell when a valve was opened or closed , and how long it was opened, good luck.
Thank you guys for all your replies, just got back from work, so couldn’t reply earlier.
A lot to think about and lot of info to digest, all very good and wise advice.
You always hear fuel tanker job is the best paid job out there, but I also have heard of many chaps that done it, left the industry and don’t want to go back, happy to do other types of haulage jobs, so figured out it’s not as rosy us some paint it.
A lot of responsibility for a bit more money, and from what I hear if you make a mistake you are out.
Not many companies out there that would still keep you if you did a crossover.
You might be doing perfectly fine for many years, but one bad day and you are out.
Not a job for everybody that’s for sure
I wouldn’t advise anyone not to do it but just be sure you do your research and dont jump in without due consideration you actually need to be a methodical person to do fuel work it looks easy but there lots can go wrong and the big players in this industry are quiet unforgiving
