Driving a fuel tanker.That is… 
Is it worth it for a few quid extra.
itv.com/news/wales/2015-10-2 … ery-blast/
When i see these ADR tankers ,i just want to get passed them ASAP.
There is a truck in one of the photos but its a complete shell.
maestegboy:
Driving a fuel tanker.That is…Is it worth it for a few quid extra.
In my opinion driving a fuel tanker is no big deal, concentrate, be safe, stick to what/how you were trained & you’ll be fine.
It is worth a few quid extra yes because you’ll be earning the haulier & the oil company a lot of money, you’ll be putting yourself at risk as well as the ability to grid the the country to halt collectively.
I drive bulk LPG so very similar, the money is not that much more - but it’s easy work (for me anyway).
Was my first ever driving job as well
Is this kind of work REALLY paid at a premium though?
When making enquiries, it’s turned out to be merely the “upper half of general going rates” at least in my area.
There’s an agency or two in the Tunbridge Wells area that specialize in supplying ADR drivers. The bread and butter of the work is being put into places like BOC at Oare, Faversham.
Rates were £12.50ish which doesn’t seem anything special, bearing in mind that this includes the normal agency premium (not that there are anywhere near enough agencies paying THAT!)
Even “Consolidation” would be an improvement in work generally…
What I mean here is that if the job is say, £480 basic for 48 hours plus 4x£32.50 for nights out, and non-incident bonus of £10 per shift - The whole job merely gets put up as a £650pw job - which you get sacked on the spot from if you get points on your licence, backchat a customer, etc. In other words, the job is paid the SAME as in the first example - but it’s not been made “complicated” and doing the job becomes more about KEEPING the job - surely a better way for managers to proceed through the quagmire of fly-by-night drivers otherwise?
All the time the job is made to look like “crap pay” by complicating it with all these non-consolidated allowances - people hard-of-math are not going to give it a second look. People good at math come to that - are still only going to half-heartedly look at it - since is reeks of “spin” so much.
So… A change in management-speak for leaving the jobs exactly as they are - but de-complicating the pay structure (ie. costs them nowt) - might motivate the actual staff they want into the jobs.
Surely it must be total folly to play this poker game of “let’s bluff another potential member of staff out of this hand with our bull”… Well. For every ten drivers who lose heart, and walk away - who’s to say that 9 of them would have been model employees, and only one would have been a high-liability lager-swilling catweazle who’s main reason for “having three points on their licence” at job interview is "There’s only one mostly-broken-down speed camery near where I live…" WTF!
Let’s just have the high basic - that way we feel protected when we’re on holiday, and we don’t feel that our sick pay has been eroded too. 
is this kind of work REALLY paid at a premium though?
Maybe not so much now but it was back in the 80’s when I was on petrol tankers. It was at the time in the top ten of Britains highest earners.
Is it a dangerous job? Not really if you think about what you are doing and stick to the rules. It is definitely far safer today than it used to be with all the H&S regs and the progress of vehicle stability etc. A petrol tanker is more dangerous when empty because then it will explode but when loaded it will burn (in theory) Either way if you have a competent driver neither should happen.
If one does explode the rear of the tank is weaker so that is where the blast will be so as a driver you should be safe.
As with most things in transport the job is not what it used to be but even now still better than most.
If one does explode the rear of the tank is weaker so that is where the blast will be so as a driver you should be safe.
What about the poor sod behind
cypry0:
If one does explode the rear of the tank is weaker so that is where the blast will be so as a driver you should be safe.What about the poor sod behind
If they are keeping a safe distance as they should it will be no problem.
If they are too close they deserve what they get. 
What is the Highway Codes guidance on safe distances to oncoming rocket propelled dome ends? 
The job can’t be that hard, it’s not as if you can fill the wrong tanks now is it.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi … l-10336860
BillyHunt:
The job can’t be that hard, it’s not as if you can fill the wrong tanks now is birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi … l-10336860
Driver probably didn’t even know he/she had done it, genuine mistake.#DHL
Big risk being around the Den Hartogh lift tank trundling down the M1 this morning doing a fresh air clean! I got a strong scent of chemicals and starting checking my mirrors for leaks when I spotted this fella in front of me with no labels on his tank saving himself the cost of a wash.
What might have been acceptable years ago no longer is I’m afraid.
Looking at the difference in smells of the two fuels - it always surprises me that no one on the forecourt itself seems to say “Hey, this pump has got the wrong fuel in it!” at the pumps, rather than filling up oblivious, and then “blowing the head gasket up rendering my vehicle dead” halfway down the street…
I’m told the average amount of cost to the supermarket of these “incidents” is around £220k. Stick a few fancy vehicles in there knackered halfway down the street, and you’ll go through THAT amount in less than half a dozen 4x4’s I would have thought!
As for the driver who’s stuck it in the wrong tank - I hear that’s an “Instant dismissal” matter. Is there such a thing as “agency fuel tanker driver” though? ie one that’s on a zero hours rather than 40 hour contract on a casual last minute basis like the rest of us?
If there isn’t - no one can say "Agency 
" as per usual can they? 
Pimpdaddy:
BillyHunt:
The job can’t be that hard, it’s not as if you can fill the wrong tanks now is birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi … l-10336860Driver probably didn’t even know he/she had done it, genuine mistake.#DHL
I didn’t think the driver did it on purpose, I was under the impression you couldn’t do it, never having heard of it before.
Winseer:
As for the driver who’s stuck it in the wrong tank - I hear that’s an “Instant dismissal” matter. Is there such a thing as “agency fuel tanker driver” though? ie one that’s on a zero hours rather than 40 hour contract on a casual last minute basis like the rest of us?If there isn’t - no one can say "Agency
They say If he/she puts their hands up to it then it’s not instant dismissal (+the unions & all that).
There are full time agency drivers on fuel who have contracts/guaranteed hours etc & there’s also ad hoc ones, not sure if #DHL use them though.
BillyHunt:
I was under the impression you couldn’t do it, never having heard of it before.
Its very easy to mess up, you have to pay attention right from the paperwork stage, to loading & discharging.
Never having done tankers in any form I’ve always though it was impossible, different size pipe connections & flexi hoses for different fuels etc. Obviously that would be too simple.
I think that new cars are job where the costliest mistakes can occur.
A load and a half of new cars each day is a few million pounds worth each week.