Phoenix, AZ area local tanker jobs??

If you go with Milk, I would stay away from Shamrock. I have heard nothing but bad things and they hire all the time. Clean Harbors can be a really difficult one. Here in Utah, alot of the drivers are on call and the stuff they haul is 7 kinds of hell nasty. BUT they are paid very well and there is always something different. They use alot of different and specialized equipment. INDEED in a great resource for job hunting http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=tanker&l=Phoenix,+AZ lots of tanker jobs listed

 

I worked for Arizona Milk Transport for a while. I liked it because it was steady. As stated previously, the cows are gonna milk no matter what and you needed to be at the farm in time to pick up the load. Hauling milk will teach you the importance of reliability Dairy farmers only have so much storage capacity and if the tanks aren't empty in time for the next milking then they have to pour it down the drain and that makes them VERY upset.

Downsides? You will unload either at United Dairymen of AZ in Tempe, Fry's foods over in Tolleson or, less frequently Safeway (also in Tempe) or sometimes Shamrock depending on who you are working for. Things can and do get backed up in these locations and it's not uncommon to spend several hours waiting to get unloaded- time you do NOT get paid for. In general, 12-hour days are the norm although it can be more or less depending on your company and where you haul from. Most of the big dairies are out of town. Since you will be going in and out of the metro Phx. area you can expect to get caught in traffic a lot.

Running smooth-bore tanks isn't bad once you get used to it. Most of the time you will be either full or empty so surge isn't that much of an issue. Milk is quite heavy (around 8.6 lbs. per gallon) and those tanks will hold more than legal weight.

The whole producer (dairyman)- UDA relationship is a rather incestuous one. I liken it to the milk mafia. Several families who have been in the business forever and run the place like their own private club. If you can stay out of the politics and just concentrate on the job you will be fine. Just realize that nothing around there happens by accident- if it happens, you can bet that someone from on high planned it to happen.

One other company to check out: Dry Creek Transport.

Good luck!

 

I was earning around $60-70 per load and on a good day I could do 3 loads. Running local as we did we were exempt from logbook rules- and never crossed a scale anyhow since it was all within 100 miles (or so) of the home terminal. We kept the trucks down at the UDA yard in Tempe. AMT had good benefits but some of the carriers don't - Desert Milk comes to mind as one that doesn't, I'm not sure about Pipho or Dry Creek.

By the time I got to hauling milk I had been in the business for about 10 years- and had a bit of fuel and asphalt tanker experience, but most of my experience had been in general freight hauling and produce.

Food grade isn't a bad way to go. It's cleaner and safer than fuel or chemicals.

 

I think Coastal hires right out of school, check it out

 

turning down a food service delivery job is def not a bad decision, I used to deliver wine (really heavy cases) and at the end of the day I just wanted to go home and sleep.
you are on the right track, congratulations. God Bless