anyone know what this sort of job is i.e. hard work dirty dangerous
what product is it carrying ■■?
is it a belly tank or tip tank. ■■?
if like me it it carrying cement or ash its an easy enough job. some of the places we tip at are in quarries and you can get a bit mucky but normally most drops are clean.
powder tanks can be very dangerous if you dont know what you are doing but any employer should give you plenty of training…
the worse part of the job for me is when its cold and raining as you have to stay by the controls when you are blowing. other than that its quite a good number.
if you carry various non compatible products then you will have to go inside the tank and sweep it out. not good if you are claustrophobic. this normally applies to tip tanks only.
And avoid anyone who carries Borrobond (animal feed) 
You will need a chisel to clean the tank out afterwards if it is damp
dave forgive my ignorance but why are powder tanks dangerous? its a job i`ve never done so i havent a clue. thanks-jon
Powder tanks are usually pressurised,can’t remember how much but enough to be dangerous if you dont know what you are doing.
I remember a new delivery point we had in slough. we had tipping pressure tanks but tip was in a big shed not high enough to fully raise the tank and our pipes were’nt long enough to pull out and lift the tank,one of the fitters on site says no problem I’ll get you a longer pipe .Great job ,pull out of shed raise tank,connect new pipe and blow like hell!,would you like a cup of tea driver,Great into canteen tea and a big cheap breakfast!!,well halfway thro said breakfast,a “snowman”,well he was covered from head to toe in white powder
strangely similar to what was in the tank,runs into canteen shouting for the tanker driver,Come quick!!!,we runs out the door and(This is mid August )it’s
like christmas all the cars in the car park are covered in white"SNOW"and all the office windows are open. Well I wouldn’t want to see the insurance claim,
but the pipe supplied by on-site fitter had blown apart,which saved our day.
We were duly informed no tanks to be unloaded without driver in attendance,
this was long before H&S.I think it took them weeks to get rid of all the “SNOW”
regards derek
lolol nice story derek. thanks for explaining. 
Did you make snow angels? 
Good story Derek. PMSL
right, as said powder tanks are pressurised. the blower is either truck mounted and pto driven or like mine a donkey engine on the front of the trailer powers the blower… the normal presure is about 2 bar, or 30 psi.
this is about the same pressure that you use to pump air into your tyres.
however this pressure is running through a 4 inch pipe as opposed to a tiny pipe for your tyres.
the slightest spit in a pipe or dodgy coupling to the pipe you are connected to will result in the load going all over the place, as said… If this pressure or powder gets blasted around it could take your eyes out.
hence you should always be wearing safety specs when unloading. a lot of people dont but i do as i dont carry a spare set of eyes 
now health and safety says the driver must be in attendance. mainly to avoid accidents like this. also you want to be there if the alarm for the silo goes off otherwise you could end up blowing that up too. your actual tank can also split at the welds due to the pressure, however most tanks should be tested to 3 bar minimum. although some still split.
the basic idea of the pressure tank is to use air to carry/push the powder through/up the pipe into a silo. and some silos are huge. over 200 feet up in some cases
the length of time taken to unload a pressure tank varies according to the product carried and the amount of pressure you can blow at as this varies and the distance the stuff has to travel.
30 ton of cement takes around 40 minutes
30 ton of ash takes around 30 mins
and 30 ton of sand takes around 1hr and a half.
basically the heavier the slower.
another point to mention is static electricity.
when you have blown of all the product you must shut down asap. if you dont you will carry on blowing huge quantitie of air up the pipe and into the silo. this causes the static on your pipe. sometimes this affects the switches and levers you use to operate the tanker too. still a good dose of static never hurt anyone. 
now powder tipper tanks are the same but come with all the cons of being a tipper. level ground, wind the rear legs down, keep unit and trailer in a straight line, no tipping in high winds etc.etc. and unlike a bulk tipper you can only lift the body a small amount per time.
to high to quick and they will topple over.
it may sound daunting at first but you soon get the hang of it.( if i can do it then so can you).
incidentally i have seen agencies in the paper advertising for drivers to go and work for rugby cement, with full training provided.
and i know my company is after a few more.however they only take you on if you are living with in a 30 mile radius of the depots.
very thorough easy to understand explanation dave. thank you
This might seem like a stupid question, but whats the advantage/disadvantage between a bottom unloader and a tipping tanker, 
the only thing I can think of is a payload+ for the bottom unloader.
there is an advantage to using a belly tank payload wise as the typical belly tank with a donkey engine weighs around 7 ton ,some with tractor driven blowers and alloys wheels are less than 6 ton. a tipper tank would be a fair bit more. however there are some very large tipper tanks about so volume of product would come into it also irrespective of weight.
some sites wont allow tip tanks on them, this may be due to limited height clearance or lack of suitable hard standing.
there is the length issue also.
rember that a tip tank has to be in a straight line with the tractor as opposed to the belly tank which does not.
now in some mixer yards we go to if we were using tip tanks then access to the mixer loading bay would be blocked off. where as you could jack knife a belly tank (so to speak) and leave the loading bay accessible.
finally , tip tanks are very easy to sweep out due the the large hatch at the back.
you can sweep the leftovers straight out.
inside a belly tank though is a bit dangerous due to the shape. my company wont allow us inside the belly tanks at all, and if a fitter has to go in then he must be on a safety cable and have a lookout keeping an eye on him.
Thanks for those posts Dave, I learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know from them and I like learning new transport related stuff.
just like i enjoy your stories coffee.
what i need now is a thread on car transporters i i have,nt got a clue.
also i would like to know whats inside these glass transporters. and dont say glass
Thanks Dave, thats cleared up some mysteries,( I really must stop wearing the anorak).
Don’t know but would like to know about more about car transporters, but I do know a bit about glass.
dave:
i would like to know whats inside these glass transporters. and dont say glass
Yes it is glass large flat sheets carried in the vertical position on a large rack that just fits inside the transporter.
To load a rack the driver opens the large door at the rear, which reveals an empty upside down U shaped body with no floor, axles, suspension or brakes (they are independently mounted along the side pods). He lowers the suspension and carefully 
backs upto and over the rack end on.
The transporter has ledges close to the floor running the full length of the body which pass under similar ledges on the racks. when the rack is completely inside the transporter, the driver raises the suspension and the ledges on the transporter engage with the rack ledges and lift it off the floor, he then closes and latches the rear door which is essential as the closed door is part of the transporters monocoque chassis and stops the rear of the body from doing the splits .
Some of these racks can be seen on ordinary step frame flats being moved from Pilkingtons plant at St Helens to other UK sites, and in these cases, the racks are loaded by a large 20tonne+FLT’s useing forklift pockets built into the racks underneath. 
(Dammit, the anorak crept up on me again)
A few years ago there was a driver killed with a powder tank in Belgium. The tank was loaded in Hartlepool and the man lids were not closed properly, The Belgian driver tried to pressurise the tank and it was not holding pressure, He went on the top with his rubber hammer and tried to tighten the lids!
As he hammered the lid bolts one sheared off and the lid was torn off taking his head with it 
Imagine a tyre exploding with 30psi and then imagine the bang a hundred fold.
The cargo carried uses different pressure to unload, Talcum Powder is very light and needs less pressure than sand, but plastic granules or wheat need more volume of air with a lower pressure. This is measured in CFM, Cubic Feet per Minute. A cargo compressor is used on a liquid tanker, but on a powder tank a blower is used.
Most Powder tankers are pressurised in this manner, but some companys use 20 or 30 foot bulk containers. These are normally carried on a tipping skeletal and gravity feeds a hopper, (Tuyere) which is connected to a rotary seal (Valve)
Pressure from the blower is directed through the seal and blows a measured amount of cargo product up the delivery pipe. This is a more hygenic means of delivery and a cheaper way of transporting bulk solids. Most of you will see companies like IBC and Nexus with this system, especially around Grangemouth or Teeside.
A nice modern belly tank at 44t is just about one of the nicest outfits on the road from a driving perspective. Wonderful low centre of gravity, little drag and just about the right length. On our job we have one 30ft skeletal ISO type container and it is an absolute nightmare by comparison.
WheelNut, you got there before me but I’ll say it again anyway.
NEVER, EVER even think about going on top of a pressurised tank. Not even if you are in the bigget rush ever and there’s only a couple of pounds of pressure left in it. Even a very small amount of pressure over the area of a man lid will break bones.