Have you ever seen a tanker truck turning just a little too fast? If you have, you probably froze a little, and you felt your stomach drop.

That’s completely normal because they’re completely different from regular semis that haul lumber or pallets. An ordinary semi has its cargo strapped down really tight. It’s still not that easy to drive it, but it’s much easier and much less dangerous than driving a tanker full of gasoline or chemicals. That liquid inside the tanker moves all the time, so even a simple stoplight isn’t actually simple.

There’s a lot of tanker traffic in and around Texarkana, and some roads are more dangerous than others.

What this article will cover are five of the trickiest, most cunning roads Texarkana has to offer.

The Savage Texarkana Tanker Roads

Tankers aren’t allowed on just any road. They’re heavy, and if the road isn’t built for such traffic, the road would surely be damaged. Plus, these tankers are huge, slow, and bulky, not ideal for everyday traffic. 

If this wasn’t enough, since tankers transport liquids (usually fuel), if the driver isn’t careful, something called ‘liquid surge’ can occur, where all the liquid inside the tanker causes the entire vehicle to flip. Thanks to something called liquid surge, all that liquid inside a tanker can literally flip it. And it happens in a split second, leaving no room for reaction. 

Naturally, these drivers are experienced, and some roads are pretty okay. 

Others are annoying, and then there are those that can be downright dangerous unless you’re extremely careful.

Interstate 30

This is the main road for all freight that’s going east and west through Texarkana, so you’ll always see tanker trucks on it. 

The issue isn’t the road itself but all the merging that happens near exits and entrance ramps. Cars and other trucks will cut over at the last second, and if you’re driving a fully loaded tanker, you simply can’t stop as a regular car would.

Construction zones don’t help, either, because they cause the lanes to shift, and traffic patterns can change without anyone being warned of it.

Interstate 49

The most dangerous thing about Interstate 49 is speed. People relax and get careless, thinking how a bit more speed won’t harm anyone… until it does. Since this is a long stretch, it makes people want to speed up, which is fine until something happens.

Something unexpected, that is. 

Texarkana is known for being quite rainy (an annual avg. of 52 inches), so the roads are often wet, which means there’s less traction. And that’s a very bad thing when you have a tanker that needs to stop or swerve.

If you’re driving the tanker and you have to maneuver all of a sudden, the liquid surge can cause a rollover and a crash if there’s a vehicle nearby. You might want to research tanker truck crash cases and legal options and get in touch with a reputable law firm that’s known for handling these types of cases, such as Rosenfeld Injury Law, to help you out there. 

US Highway 71

Now, this is a road that can’t make up its dang mind. It’s a quiet rural road right now; then, in 5 minutes, it’s stop-and-go traffic when you get close to a town. If you’re driving a tanker, the problem here is that local traffic appears almost out of nowhere, and those drivers aren’t really looking around them, and they’re turning left like they own the road.

And depending on which part of the highway you’re on, the speed limits may suddenly change. This means that if the driver’s distracted or misses a sign, they might find themselves in a situation where a multiple-ton tanker has barely any stopping distance.

And since the tanker also often carries flammable liquids, the consequences of a crash could be disastrous.

US Highway 59

The 59 was built to handle deliveries, long-haul freight, daily drivers, etc.  And since there’s a little bit of everything here, the drivers need to be alert at all times, as the situation on the road can change at a moment’s notice.

You could be driving normally one moment, and then have a car suddenly switch lanes and start tailgating (or break-checking) you. Since you’re driving a super-heavy tanker, you don’t have any time/room to slow down safely, which makes a crash imminent.

Imagine driving under such conditions for hours on end. It’s very common for drivers to suffer. Plus, the fact that you’re also driving on a highway, where most of the time, nothing happens, the boredom pulls you towards autopilot mode, which lowers your reflexes.

Summerhill Road

Summerhill Road is one of the busiest commercial roads in Texarkana.

And for a tanker, it’s (probably) the worst place to be. 

There are shopping centers along the road, retail businesses, traffic lights every few blocks, drivers turning into parking lots without warning because they figure others should read their minds… It’s kind of a mess.

For a bus or a big truck, stop-and-go traffic is a nightmare. Tankers take this to the next level. 

Think about it for a moment – the tanker is transferring liquid, so no sudden jerking motions are allowed. The entire movement needs to be smooth, fluid. Otherwise, a disaster is looming over you constantly, and that’s both emotionally and mentally taxing for the driver.

Conclusion

To say that tanker trucks don’t have it easy would be an overstatement bigger than the tanker truck itself.

The good news here is that you don’t get to drive a tanker truck the moment you get your license, so these folks have the experience they need to keep themselves and those around them safe.

That being said, some roads simply make their lives (and jobs) harder than they need to be, and as you can see, most of it could be handled if other drivers would simply act accordingly while sharing the road with a tanker truck.

-In collaboration with Mr. Mark San Juan

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