Skip to content

Tanker · Baffled, Un-baffled, and Compartmented Tanks

An un-baffled tanker, often called a smooth bore tank, has nothing inside to slow the liquid down. Which cargoes typically ride in one, why, and what does that mean for the driver?

1.Food products like milk, since sanitation rules bar baffles there, so surge is strong and care is needed starting and stoppingCorrect answer
2.Hazardous liquids only, because a baffle would react chemically with that kind of cargo and slowly corrode away from the inside out
3.Dry bulk cargo only, since a liquid is never legally hauled in any tank at all without baffles installed first
4.Anything at all, and the lack of baffles makes no real difference to handling, since the tank's closed ends still contain the liquid

Explanation

Smooth bore tanks usually carry food products, milk being the standard example, because sanitation requirements for food transport rule out baffles, a partitioned interior being very difficult to clean properly; with nothing inside to check the liquid, the forward and backward surge is very strong, so starting and stopping call for particular care. Those sanitation requirements are food-safety rules, not part of 49 CFR, and the handling consequence is manual teaching: 49 CFR 383.119(c) requires knowledge of how baffled and compartmented interiors handle differently from non-baffled vehicles without saying which cargoes use which or how strong the surge is. The wrong options misread why the baffles are absent, treating it as chemical compatibility or as a sign the tank is not carrying liquid at all. The last option is the dangerous one, since the closed ends of a smooth bore tank are precisely what the unimpeded wave slams into.

Source: 49 CFR 383.119(c)

Drill Baffled, Un-baffled, and Compartmented Tanks questions

Related Baffled, Un-baffled, and Compartmented Tanks questions