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Training trailer helps teach new drivers about propane tanks

Aug. 31, 2018
Training trailer helps teach new drivers about propane tanks

FOR the past seven years, Farmers Oil Company Inc has been using a retired MC331 propane trailer for driver training. The trailer also has taken part in training and drills for emergency responders in the Midwest.

Newly hired company drivers spend a few hours of their initial training with the trailer. It provides a relaxed setting in which to gain familiarity with the way MC331 trailers are built and equipped.

Built in 1984, the 10,500-gallon tank was involved in a rollover that left a large dent on one side. The owner decided to scrap it. Farmers Oil bought the trailer and hauled it back to the Route 66 Truck & Trailer shop in Afton, Oklahoma.

Mechanics in the R-stamp code tank shop spent two to three years on the project to completely renovate and refurbish the trailer. They cut two doorways with fold-down stairs on the driver side of the tank.

A walkway the length of the trailer takes trainees past three different types of bulkheads. Valves and other hardware are on display, and a cutaway product pump will be the next addition.