Does anybody know anything about PNEUMATIC Tankers

The good is the loads pay great. The bad is if you plug up unloading. Be sure to wear ear protection as the blowers are rather loud.

 

I pull one every night...whaddya wanna know?

 

Very similar to pulling a van, they can be top heavy though. Especially if you have a larger trailer. I pull a 1000 cf cement tanker, and it handles no different than a van trailer.I've also pulled a 1350cf, which is taller, those tend to get a bit tipsy when loaded.
The work is easy unless you block up while unloading. The easiest way to avoid that is simple: don't be in a hurry. Let the trailer and blower do what it can without forcing it. I've unloaded fly ash right next to others who try to force it, we start at the same time and I usually finish ten minutes before they do..
The work can be dirty, depending on what youre hauling. I dunno about hauling plastic or food grade, just lime, cement and ash. For me the ash is the dirtiest, cement happens to be the nicest.
Pay overall will be slightly higher than a dry van or reefer driver. Last year I worked 12-13 hours a day, delivering 3 loads a day, 5 days a week. I drove approx 95000 miles and I grossed $60k. I could do better with another company I'm sure, but I'm happy where I am.
Your profile says Scranton, are you thinking of hauling frac sand?

 

Never heard of them, if you're serious about frac sand, pm me, I know of someone who may be able to help. If you wanna do general type pneumatic work (lime, coal, ash,cement) J.p Donmoyer trains if you have six months driving experience. Venezia also trains

 

I pulled a pneumatic hauling food grade (flour) for about 3 years. We ran the mid 15 to 20 states. Go to a flour mill in Kansas, Oklahoma, or Texas wait around a few hours to get loaded then deliver to a bakery sometimes 700 to 1000 miles away. Sara Lee, Dolly Madison/IBC/Hostess, Mrs Bairds Bread, Little Debbie, places like that. It was a pretty good job. I trained a half a dozen guys while I was there. They paid me $20 extra for each load that the trainee shadowed me on. Usually 9 or 10 loads and the guy had it. Trailer seals are on all caps, hose carrier tubes, dome lids, etc. being that it's food grade product. Pull up to the silo, hook up product hose, hook up "hot hose" from truck blower to trailer. Make sure pressure control valve is in the open position so that the air has a place to go. Turn PTO on inside truck, idle it up to 1100 rpm if it doesn't do it on its own. Get out, close blow down valve, close pressure control valve. Wait until pressure reaches 10-12psi, open pressure control valve half to 3/4 of the way, then go to your 1st hopper valve and open it as you are looking to the rear of the trailer. Do this in case you have a leak you can close the product valve immediately. Line gauge and tank gauge should equalize. If it starts climbing above where you want it, open your blow down valve a little bit. Tap your tank and watch your gauge while you drink coffee in your lawn chair. Once the tank pressure starts dropping consistently and it's vibrating, close that hopper valve and open the next. Repeat process until empty. Then go through each hopper again to ensure it's empty. That's called your "clean out cycle".
As far as unplugging..... Emergency shut down procedure: Shut the product off, shut the blower off, and open the blow down valve. That's also the 1st 3 steps in unplugging a trailer. Next: turn off all aeration to the trailer, open your most empty hopper valve and turn the blower back on. What will take place is the air will come out of the blower, hit the plug that's in the line, then go up into the hopper, across the top of the product, and out the blow down valve. You're safe now, because you always want to give the air a place to go. Now that you've done this, kneel down next to the hopper that you have open. This should be your most empty one. Watch your gauges as you close the valve. It will sky rocket. When it hits 15 psi, open the valve and count to 3. Close it again to 15psi then open and count to 3. Continue this process until the pressure no longer sky rockets when you close the hopper valve. This means your line is unplugged. You siphoned it back into the trailer.
Turn all aeration back on, close the blow down valve, close the pressure control valve, build tank pressure to 10 or 12 psi again, open pressure control valve half to 3/4 and commence to unloading again.
This is the by the book way to unplug. Once you get some experience you'll be able to do it without ever shutting the blower off. You'll also learn by the sounds of your blower when your hopper is going empty, etc. Just remember, if the hose isn't jumping around a little bit and your pressure isn't dropping, you are plugged up. If the hose stops moving and the pressure starts dropping, that means your hopper is going empty. Get over there and shut that valve and move to the next one before it loses to much pressure and this will decrease your unload times. Hope it helps. Good luck!