Salary of fuel tank driver ?

[Mr Nice]

I saw on Indeed.com that on average a fuel tank driver makes $53,000 per year.

I thought they would make more considering how dangerous a job it is.

Anybody know what a full-time fuel tank driver makes ?

 

[volk06]

That's not really that much of a dangerous job. There's other tanker loads that are much much more dangerous.

 

[Nick R]

My neighbors cousin owns a heating oil company that are hiring drivers. I've thought about applying, it pays at least as much as I make now, and would require less talking to people lol.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
My neighbors cousin owns a heating oil company that are hiring drivers. I've thought about applying, it pays at least as much as I make now, and would require less talking to people lol.


I am east of Albany in Canaan NY. Can your neighbors cousin give me a BITOG discount for home heating oil?

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
My neighbors cousin owns a heating oil company that are hiring drivers. I've thought about applying, it pays at least as much as I make now, and would require less talking to people lol.


There are a lot of rickety homemade bridges (on driveways/ private property) and rusty culverts here where the oil truck is by far the heaviest thing to drive over it.

They don't look that fun to navigate and sometimes have to double park in the street. With low sun angles people get blinded driving into work at 7 am and rear end the things.

My oil co uses 10x the drivers in winter that they do in summer, per a driver about to get laid off on March 1st. The trucks have GPS tattlers to keep the home office abreast.

The whistles are loud, the fuel stinks, and you have to wade through snow where thoughtless people don't shovel.

OTOH it would be a great job if you lived somewhere where you get summer tourists and have a banana stand or could work as a carnie or busker.

 

[dparm]

Yes, but there's always money in the banana stand, eljefino.

 

[Mr Nice]

Hauling 10,000 gallons of highly flammable gasoline isn't something most people would want to do.

I was at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale where the the fuel trucks load their gasoline and it got me wondering about their salary.

 

[zloveraz]

What's even worse is that HazMat drivers are at the top of the pay scale for that industry. Professional drivers just don't make much money.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I saw on Indeed.com that on average a fuel tank driver makes $53,000 per year.

I thought they would make more considering how dangerous a job it is.

Anybody know what a full-time fuel tank driver makes ?



That is the median household wage in the US of A.

A median fuel tanker driver married to a grocery store clerk in the US generally has a decent family, if they aren't dumb and wasting their money on useless [censored].

But people don't want to work these days...

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
My neighbors cousin owns a heating oil company that are hiring drivers. I've thought about applying, it pays at least as much as I make now, and would require less talking to people lol.


LOL, don't look at what LTL linehaul drivers working for UPS, FedEx, or Old Dominion make...

I wasn't laughing when I compared my accounting salary.

People make out truck drivers to be dummies. The ones who put their nose to the grindstone and strive for the best jobs in the industry make a darn good living.

 

[Chris142]

$10 bux an hr here. My last driving job was hauling propane and that's what they pay here. The gentlemen fron south of the border work cheap and that effects the west coast as far as pay goes.

 

[Donald]

A lot of people in the northeast are converting to propane when their oil burner needs replacement.

I sold my home a little south of where I live now and it had a 1000 gal. tank in the ground and a 275 gal in the basement. That was in 2006. I'll bet today one would have to remove the buried tank for people to consider your house.

My current house has 2x275 gal in the basement and thats much more reasonable.

Years ago you could fill up your tank in August and save a lot. No more.

I do shovel for the oil delivery guy.

 

[Lyman]

I have been a HAZMAT driver for many years. Tanker drivers here in San Diego make about 50k a year before OT. Right now I am driving for a DOD contractor and make at least that and have far fewer duties and drive a lot less miles per day. I also do all the rigging for loading radar systems on and off my truck. I used to drive for a large welding supply company and hauled everything from oxygen to hydrogen and a mixture of those too. Not fun during the fires here back in 2003.

 

[BeerCan]

When I drove fuel back in the 90's I got payed by the load and load pay was determined by distance. I can't remember what the actual numbers were but I remember thinking I was making good money. The biggest problem with the job was the hours. It was 6 days a week at night and it got old fast. My employer had a coke habit and eventually the company closed because of it.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
$10 bux an hr here. My last driving job was hauling propane and that's what they pay here. The gentlemen fron south of the border work cheap and that effects the west coast as far as pay goes.

What, a lousy $10 an hr. isn't good enough?
You must be one of those "people who don't want to work these days"..

 

[Pop_Rivit]

That $53,000 figure may well be a regional median figure. For a professional tanker driver around here who is at top scale it's closer to $60,000/year. One of our winery employees' father is a fuel tanker driver, and his mom is a nurse. Together they make a very good household income considering between them they have very limited post-high school education.

Originally Posted By: Nick R
My neighbors cousin owns a heating oil company that are hiring drivers. I've thought about applying, it pays at least as much as I make now, and would require less talking to people lol.


It also requires a commercial drivers license with air brakes and hazmat (not easy to get), the skill to drive a large straight truck, and when you're at the bottom you're the guy who works the 12-14 hour days in the peak winter season, and when you're at the bottom you're the guy who's on call when it's 2:00 AM, -30 outside and someone runs out of heating oil. I suspect the pay isn't all that great either.

If you're really interested in a driving career, a better choice might be an apprenticeship at a company like FedEx Freight, Conway or another similar LTL carrier. It's hard work for the first few years, but in the right market a good LTL driver (not linehaul) can make $50,000+ per year and be home every night and weekend. An experienced linehaul driver can do $70,000 - $100,000 per year with the right LTL company, seniority and the right run. Linehaul is great because it's no-touch, you drop the trailer(s), pickup trailers and go. Some guys do well running the nights/weekends, others prefer the 9-5 city routes.