Commercial Driver License Study Group

2012

Tank Vehicles

Tank endorsement

• Liquids or gases

• Vehicle requires a Class A or B CDL

• Permanently mounted cargo tank rated at 119 gallons or more or a portable tank rated at 1,000 gallons or more

Inspecting tank vehicles

• Leaks

– Tank body/shell

– Intake, discharge, cut-off valves

– Pipes, connections, hoses

– Manhole covers & vents

• Special purpose equipment

– Vapor kits, cables, emergency shut-off system, fire extinguisher

Driving tank vehicles

• Special skills due to high center of gravity and liquid movement.

• High center of gravity = take curves and highway on/off ramps slowly

• Liquid surge in partially filled tanks

Graphics courtesy of http://www.liquidsurgecontrol.com/how_surge_busters_work.htm

Driving tank vehicles

• Bulkheads

• Baffled tanks

• Un-baffled tanks

• Outage – expansion of liquids

• How much to load?

• Drive smoothly

• Skids