A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

) or tanker (

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

es on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

tank car A tank car ( International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities. History Timeline The following major events occurred in ...

s, which are also designed to carry liquid loads. Many variants exist due to the wide variety of liquids that can be transported. Tank trucks tend to be large; they may be insulated or non-insulated;

pressurized {{Wiktionary Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by ...

or non-pressurized; and designed for single or multiple loads (often by means of internal divisions in their tank). Some are

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-traile ...

s. They are difficult to drive and highly susceptible to rollover due to their high center of gravity, and potentially the

free surface effect The free surface effect is a mechanism which can cause a watercraft to become unstable and capsize. It refers to the tendency of liquids — and of unbound aggregates of small solid objects, like seeds, gravel, or crushed ore, whose behavior app ...

of liquids sloshing in a partially filled tank.

History

SLNSW 14089 1151 Botany Rd Mascot taken for LJ Hooker Ltd

Oil

Prior to tank distribution, oil was delivered in cans. From the 1880s, it was distributed in horse-drawn tanks. In 1910, Standard Oil started using motor tankers. Anglo American Oil introduced underground tanks and delivery tankers to the UK in 1920.

Pickfords Pickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of Pickfords Move Management Ltd. The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies, although the similar ...

took over an oil tanker company in 1921 and soon had tankers, with by the mid 1930s. Elsewhere, development was slower. For example, the first petrol tanker () from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

to arrive in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, New Zealand, was greeted by a brass band in 1927.

Size and volume

Tank trucks are described by their size or volume capacity. Large trucks typically have capacities ranging from . In Australia,

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

s up to four trailers in length (known as Quad tankers) carry loads in excess of . Longer road trains transporting liquids are also in use. A tank truck is distinguished by its shape, usually a cylindrical tank upon the vehicle lying horizontally. Some less visible distinctions amongst tank trucks have to do with their intended use: compliance with human food regulations, refrigeration capability, acid resistance, pressurization capability, and more. The tanks themselves will almost always contain multiple compartments or baffles to prevent load movement destabilizing the vehicle.

Common large tank trucks

Large tank trucks are used for example to transport

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

, and liquefied petroleum or

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Ga ...

s. They also transport a wide variety of liquid goods such as

liquid sugar In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

, molasses,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

juices Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

, and

industrial chemicals The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The ...

. Tank trucks are constructed of various materials depending on what products they are hauling. These materials include

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

, carbon steel, stainless steel, and fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP). Some tank trucks are able to carry multiple products at once due to compartmentalization of the tank into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or, in some rare cases, more tank compartments. This allows for an increased number of delivery options. These trucks are commonly used to carry different grades of gasoline to service stations to carry all products needed in one trip.

Common small tank trucks

Smaller tank trucks with a capacity under are typically used to deal with light liquid cargo within a local community. A common example is

vacuum truck A vacuum truck, vacuum tanker, vactor truck, or vactor is a tank truck that has a pump and a tank. The pump is designed to pneumatically suck liquids, sludges, slurries, or the like from a location (often underground) into the tank of the truc ...

used to empty several

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatm ...

s and then deliver the collected

fecal sludge Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...

to a treatment site. These tank trucks typically have a maximum capacity of . They are equipped with a pumping system to serve their particular need. Another common use is to deliver fuel such as

liquified petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking ...

(LPG) to households, businesses, and industries. The smallest of these trucks usually carry about of LPG under pressure. Typically, LPG tank trucks carry up to 3,499 US gallons of product (usually liquid propane), on a 2-axle bobtail truck. 3,500 US gallons (13,200 L; 2,900 imp gal) and greater requires a 3-axle truck (tank wagon). Some companies use lightweight steel to carry more gallons on single-axle trucks. Notably, one U.S. manufacturer has built a 3,700 gallon tank truck, fitting it on a single axle. Tank trucks are also used to fuel aircraft at airports.

Gallery

File:International WorkStar Sewer vacuum truck.jpg, Sewer vacuum truck File:KamAZ-based asphalter truck during Długa street reconstruction in Kraków (1).jpg, Asphalt tank truck File:WERKLUST bulk cement strooier photo2.jpg, Cement tank truck File:Tine truck.jpg, Stainless steel milk truck File:Kstovo - milk truck - DSCF6995.JPG, Milk sold from a tank truck File:Blokové čištění Třebíč, cisterna LIAZ 2.jpg, Street cleaner File:Water tank truck.jpg, Watering of plants from a tank truck File:Chemical tank truck Dresden.jpg, Compressed gas tank truck File:Renault Premium 320 DCI, Bombeiros Seia, Unit 0910 VTTU 01 pic1.JPG, Firefighting

water tender A water tender is a type of firefighting apparatus that specialises in the transport of water from a water source to a fire scene.Tank trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a tracto ...

File:B double yass truck stop.JPG, B double tanker File:Road Train Australia.jpg,

Road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

File:Tanker Truck Model.png, A model of an Oil Tank Truck

References

External links

Driving Tank Trucks for a Living
{{Fuel Transport Petroleum transport Fuel containers Milk transport