Making sure that a tank trailer is cleaned in the most effective and safest manner requires a serious effort by both the wash rack operation and the fleet that owns the trailer. The process is made more difficult by a variety of aggravating factors.
Wash rack operators and tank fleet managers were asked during the National Tank Truck Carriers 2009 Tank Cleaning & Environmental Council Seminar April 4 to list the cleaning-related issues they find most aggravating or troubling. The list is in no particular order of importance or seriousness:
*Not enough good trailer inspections following cleaning
*Tank trailer heels
*Too much tank recleaning
*Hose and fitting cleaning not done or not done well
*Lack of sufficient information on last load
*Nitrogen atmospheres still causing death, injury
*No common standards for foodgrade tank cleaning
*Inadequate room in catwalk opening for wash workers to remove and replace cleanout caps