Loading rack horror stories?
Posted by SuspectOk2931@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 31 comments
I’ve never really encountered anything crazy; I just scullied out one time which sucked. I’m just trying to gauge what steps I can take to be safe, in a fun way. Thanks.
Ornery_Ads@reddit
I previously did residential heating oil. I was the top guy at the company, so when someone applied, I would evaluate whether to hire them.
Guy came in and was all full of himself about how great he was and how awful his previous employers and coworkers were. He drove past stops a few times and made idiotic turn arounds to get back to them. He supposedly had been driving oil trucks for years, but had questions every step of the way about loading.
I told the boss that he seems woefully inexperienced (they weren't looking to train someone), but I didn't think he could even be trained if they wanted to based on his attitude.
I saw him at the rack ~3 weeks later loading for a different company. He was top loading (like most of us do), but wasn't paying any attention. I don't know how he managed it, but he filled the roof, and had oil pouring off the sides of the tank before someone in another top loading rack pulled the emergency shut off to turn off the entire facility...before he even closed the valve. He also left the roof vents open, so all of that oil was also just drained right on down to the catch basins.
The facility was shut down for hours until they had it all contained, then it was open only for the bottom loading lanes for another couple days until they finished cleaning it up.
He was obviously banned from the site, and I never saw him again with any oil company.
More tame things that drivers do?
Their last load was gasoline, but after that load, they go to a facility that doesn't recover vapors, so they get temporarily banned and forced to go to training about what is permitted at that site (last load had to be diesel/ho/bio).
Scullying out is a 1 day ban first time, 3 day ban second, 7 day ban third, and 7 day or permanent for any time after third.
A big one is not reporting problems. Did you get a dyed diesel load that didn't inject dye? Report it. Loading head is doing more than a tiny drip drip? Report it. Damaged equipment (loading heads, scully, etc)? Report it. Yes, even if you caused it.
dewey454@reddit
For a layman, could you define 'scullying out'? Thanks.
Ornery_Ads@reddit
There's a sensor at the top of each compartment that knows if it's wet. If you overfill a compartment, once that sensor gets wet, it will shut down the rack you're using and prevent you from continuing to load.
Usually, it shuts off fast enough that the product is still in the tank, but if it's a particularly fast loading head, slow valve, or small compartment, the product may end up in the vapor system. If that happens, it's a much bigger issue to disconnect everything because you likely will spill, and now you have to clean out the vapor lines.
Scullying out gets it's name from the fact that the largest manufacturer/distributor of the overfill prevention equipment on semitrailers is the Scully Signal Co. It is technically an international standard...but everyone calls it Scully. Like Kleenex for facial tissues or Xerox for copiers/printers.
dewey454@reddit
And like all engine brakes are Jakes? Thanks for the detail.
AndromedanPrince@reddit
damn we have madatory bucket drain to prevent a wet POD
UselessBanana1@reddit
Can confirm, we use the term here in Germany as well lol
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Well written!!! Thanks!
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Thank you for sharing. The company I used to work for did hot oil at one point. I can’t imagine getting splashed by hot oil.
AndromedanPrince@reddit
mostly just 3 hour wait times because something on a lane decides not to work. its usually the diesel risers not working lol
ck_acme@reddit
everyday occurrence out here
Redsoxdragon@reddit
I tried to fit a loading arm in my ass once.
It had plenty of room 😞
BingBongFyourWife@reddit
😔
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Yikes, I can’t imagine the sting
J4R131@reddit
Heard about a newer guy loading at the rack and doming out. He unhooks the loading arm and tries to drain that compartment with his bucket for some reason (lol?) and soaks himself in gas.
doggscube@reddit
“Safer” option is to drain into one of your hoses, cap it off, and put it away. Just don’t get caught.
One driver got the bright idea to drain into the vapor hose. Shut down the rack
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Silly goose 🪿
ck_acme@reddit
x-mas night 2016 driver pulls into rack , hooks up everything , starts the flow in every thing , drops the brake bar starts truck and drives off. stopped about 30 ft away , shits going every where from hoses and pumps , looks at me , waves , walks away out the gate . - never saw him again at any rack
Comfortable-Menu2099@reddit
At Kinder Morgan there was a guy that kept shitting in the diesel bucket. They had to put notices all over saying you will be kicked out of every KM facility if caught. They never caught the guy.
As far as dome outs. There was a guy that stretched the scully to his truck because the trailer wasn't getting the green light. The reason was the retain sensor was reading product still in the tank. Big fountain shoots out the top. He quickly moved the scully back to the trailer and the TO wrote it off as equipment malfunction. This was before there were cameras watching you load. The TO didn't want to deal with the EPA so everyone agreed it was less then 5 gallons that hit the ground. Driver never did that again apparently.
Pitiful-MobileGamer@reddit
I know someone who hocked a loogie at the rack during COVID, and the no-nonsense safety manager on duty at the time spotted it on the camera. Went ballistic on the driver pulling the card, and tried to send a decontamination Bill to the carrier.
I don't know what happened to the driver or if the carrier got stuck with that bill, but it's kind of a story of legend around the Toronto area.
beavismorpheus@reddit
We had a couple incidents at a cryogenic plant. You hook up the fill hose and the computer automatically stops pumping once you reach the target weight.
Ice got into the scales and it was causing the weight reading to malfunction. It became froze at like 70,000 pounds, so the computer kept pumping until it was like 100,000lbs and there is a safety relief valve built into the trailer. It started shooting out of the top of the trailer like a geyser and raining down cryogenic liquid onto everyone.
So then they removed the hose and opened the fill valve and let it flow out onto the ground and it broke the metal diamond plating that sits right before the scales.
DoctorZebra@reddit
I witnessed a similar situation except it was the terminal operator who overloaded an oxygen trailer despite being told repeatedly that, because it was originally manufactured as an argon trailer, this tank was much smaller than a standard oxygen trailer and could not be loaded to anything close to max gross.
He tried loading it to max gross. The oxygen geyser was impressive when the safeties inevitably blew.
beavismorpheus@reddit
I think I remember you sharing this story like a year or so ago. I almost did the same thing when I was a new driver. We had a repurposed nitrogen trailer that used to be argon. Nobody ever tells the new guy. 😆
Thankfully when I glanced at the previous loader's paperwork in the trailer, I was perplexed for a second as to why they loaded so light, then I examined the trailer more closely and could see the residue from the old "argon" lettering on the trailer and it clicked.
For those not familiar with the industry, it is interesting how much more dense argon is compared to the other gases.
Argon 11.63 lbs/gallon Oxygen 9.52 lbs/gallon Nitrogen 6.75 lbs/gallon
I think the capacity was ony like 4,500 gallons.
At least oxygen kind of makes sense, since you can get close to legal weight limits especially with daycab. But nitrogen only loaded to approx 65,000lbs. Go big or go home.
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Jeeez, one of my coworkers used to work for Linde. Those dudes are great.
backpain10@reddit
I saw the aftermath a driver at Des Monies rolled out with ARM 1 AVE Grade still connected and tore it off.
They were fired and 120k in damages
jetting_along@reddit
A guy was loading JP1 but not wearing any PPE. While gas will burn your eyes and it's sucks. JP1 is a lot more potent and also tends to load a bit faster so the loading arm to the bulkhead is under higher pressures. This guy disconnected before the loading arm was fully able to stopped even though the load "finished". He basically saw it was going to end and decided to disconnect for some unknown reason early???? It was under an extreme amount of pressure and it disconnected and blasted 20+gallons of JP1 in his face and blinded him partially. Ambulance came and he was permanently banned from the fuel rack for multiple reasons, no PPE, disconnecting early, heading to the rack before fueling was completed. He was banned from all kinder Morgan's sites and likely will never be able to drive fuel ever again.
WackoMcGoose@reddit
Holy crap... I've had garden water hoses explode in my face before (dumb Pocket Hoses...), I couldn't imagine taking actual fuel to the face! Hope he was able to regain his sight...
meatsstanton@reddit
Yeah it sucks. Gas burns like hell.
SuspectOk2931@reddit (OP)
Jeeez man, thank you for sharing! I haul jet fuel as well hopefully this never happens.
djkapsul@reddit
Probably something to do with Kinder Morgan.
DazednConfuzed62@reddit
A Sulphuric Acid driver wears full ppe, raincoats, rubber gloves, face mask and head protection, hose broke about 3 feet below him, not completely but a spray. We saw it on the safety camera, took about a minute to get to him and push him under the safety shower, he was in shock, just kinda jumping around like he was on fire, (he kinda was), his top button on raincoat wasn't snapped shut, got his chest and spent 5 months in a burn unit. You get within 50 ft. of Sulphuric Acid it's pretty uncomfortable
Sky_biker5683@reddit
Just switched jobs from running dry van with automatics with an average load grossing 55k, to tankers (all smoothbore) with manuals, grossing 77k on average, and I was doing sulfuric my 2nd week with a trainer. I was more than a little paranoid to say the least. I then spilled some sodium hydroxide on my brand new steel toe work boots, and for some reason, I don't think Red Wing will cover the leather getting destroyed at work under warranty. 😅