Liquid Bulk Trailers: 101

At DSN Chemical Transportation we’ve been transporting chemicals for 25 years. The most often misunderstood and inquired about transportation service that we provide is our Bulk Transportation Service. There are many options available to ship different types of products in different types of equipment. Below, is a brief summary of the common types of liquid bulk trailers that you find in the market today.

The Chemical Trailer: Sometimes called a stainless steel tanker, or Bulk SS Tanker. This is the workhorse of the bulk liquid chemical transportation industry. Sometimes also called a DOT 407 tanker, this tank is designed to move chemicals, some corrosive materials and flammable products. This would be the equipment of choice for many hazmat carriers. Because the tank is made from stainless steel, it could handle some very mildly corrosive products it washed properly. However, corrosive products are typically shipped in an FRP or rubber lined trailer.

The Corrosive Trailer: The corrosives liquid bulk trailers, sometimes called TC -412 can be one of two general types. It can be a rubber lined carbon or stainless steel tank, or an FRP Trailer. An FRP trailer is Fibreglass Reinforced Poly tank. FRP tankers are ideal for transporting highly corrosive materials. Today the FRP tanker is also the choice of many hazmat carriers. It’s both light and versatile and can haul many types of commodities other than corrosives which help bulk carriers fill their back hauls and drive down costs.

Hot Products Tanks: The hot products tanker sometimes called Non-Code tankers can haul products like hot sulphur or asphalt. They are designed to withstand the temperature and pressure of high temperature products.

Food Grade Tanks: Sometimes called Sanitary Stainless Steel are designed for the transport of food products. Note also that a stainless steel 407 tank or a FRP tanker can also haul food grade products if they have a food grade wash prior to loading. Some shippers may have specifications to only use sanitary stainless steel tanks. Another specification that typically comes up for food grade shipments is a Kosher trailer. A food grade trailer goes though a special wash process and is inspected and blessed to be able to ship Kosher food products. Because this is a special wash, it is often at an additional cost.

Petro-Chemical Tanks: This liquid bulk trailer is often made from Aluminum, the DOT 407 trailer is designed to move crude oil products.

Petroleum Tanks: Often made from Aluminum, the DOT 406 Gasoline Truck and Trailer is designed to deliver fuel to high density populated areas and designed for easy maneuverability and optimum flow of petroleum for off-loading. They typically have a vapor recovery system as well to recover flammable vapors from the fuel tanks they are filling. A common feature of petroleum tanks is a “scully system”. This is an electronic safety device that ensures that the designed-in safeguards are in place and functioning before it will allow the flow of material.

Multi-Compartment: A multi-compartment tank wagon is simply any of the above tanks designed to have separate compartments inside the tank to carry multiple products at the same time. A major consideration is temperature. Loading products with significantly different transporting temperatures can be hard to maintain in transit due both to cooling and temperature bleed from one tank to another.

To make sure you have the right equipment available to move your products, call a DSN Chemical Transportation representative where one of our experts will match your product to the appropriate equipment type to ensure an easy shipment.