As heat is lost, a solid buildup known as a heel develops on the bottom of the tank. Too much heel is called phantom freight, beef taking up space inside the tank. Today, the average is down to one inch, which presents no problem to top-loading. Tolerating a minimum heel cuts down on the need to clean the tank between loads. A few people have tried it but backed away from it, Mr. Courville said.
People just don t want to fool with it.
There s a lot of one-way freight, and the people who come to us know we have the equipment to do it. The key to remaining a leader in its niche is to personalize the service, Bill John said. We have been going up against the big boys for a long time, and I love it. Despite the wave of consolidation in the trucking industry, he said, there will always be room for a small trucking company. Big companies consolidate because they can t offer the same level of service as the smaller ones, so they just buy the company, he said.