You see them all over the road hauling non-food grade items across the country: dry tanks. These specialized loads are what keep construction and building companies running. At Bay & Bay, our dry van trucking tank truckers are delivering Fracking Sand, Foundry Sand, Silica Sand, Bentonite, Quartz, Limestone, Blasting Grit, Rock Salt, Fly Ash, and White and Gray Cement all over the US and Canada.
With spring almost already behind us and summer looming just weeks away, we’ve already seen an uptick on construction around the Minneapolis area and all over Minnesota. Major bridge construction in St Paul and Winona have begun, and on the Minnesota Department of Transportation site you can count over 40 road projects scheduled from April until September. There’s an old joke that in the Midwest we have two seasons: winter and construction. If you don’t plan ahead, you can find yourself mired in some traffic jams you could have avoided with a little planning!
Tips for Driving in a Construction Zone:
Merge as soon as you can. With a big rig like a dry tank, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Be respectful and move when traffic allows. Blocked lanes can result in fines!
Slow down as soon as you see the construction signs. Don’t wait until the last minute to start to take notice of conditions or slowdowns.
Watch for flaggers. In a construction zone, flaggers are there to make things run smoothly, even if it feels like it’s taking forever. Remember that they have just as much authority as posted signs and are working under strenuous circumstances in variable weather.
Plan ahead and stay calm. If you’re concerned about construction zones, give yourself plenty of time so you aren’t stressed when you hit them. Play soothing music or listen to an interesting audio book to pass the time if you do get caught.
Leave extra following distance. Your commercial driver’s license manual specifies one second of stop time should be allowed for every 10 feet of your dry tank. Rear end collisions are common in construction zones and can be avoided by carefully adjusting the amount of space between you and the vehicle in front of you.
Remember the payoff for those gray winter days is seeing the beautiful summer sights as you travel around the country in your dry tank big rig. With a little planning, you can avoid construction stress as you travel around Minneapolis and beyond!