I’m wondering why virtually all the tanker trucks I see are silvery and reflective.
I’m guessing it’s to reduce the amount of heat absorbed so the liquids within the truck don’t expand, but that’s just a WAG on my part.
Anyone with any real information on this?
It’s pretty obvious. If it’s made from aluminum or stainless steel, why go to the extra expense of painting it, since it offers no benefit. Older tankers made from steel have to be repainted, or else they would rust.
If you come to Wisconsin you’ll see lots of sparkling, shiny, gleaming tanks. They are milk trucks. When you’re carring a food product, you not only want it sanitary, but also to appear sanitary. I don’t think is has to do with heat reflection. The trucks are refrigerated anyway.
It’s for the entertainment of the other drivers on freeways, as they observe their vehicle’s distorted reflections in the curved truck surface. Sort of a rolling funhouse mirror to liven up an otherwise boring ride …
In a related vein, I’ve heard some folks say that empty milk tanker trucks are used to transport other (not-safe-for-consumption) liquids when they’re making the “return” trip to the dairy. Any truth to that?
I think that would violate so many health laws that no-one would even consider it! 
Yeah, not legally, rjung. There are extensive regulations on what a food truck (liquid or otherwise) can carry on backhaul. There are some exceptions, but even then with the cleaning requirements it practically comes down to only food. The regulations are even tougher on liquid tankers. So a milk truck wouldn’t even be carrying vegetable oil (say) on a backhaul run.
Another WAG: If you’re using stainless steel for some good reason, you don’t want to cover it with something like paint that you don’t want touching the stuff inside. If there was a dent or some other failure of the steel, you might not realize it because of the paint and get contamination. If it was bare steel, you would have a leak instead, which is much more obvious.
That doesn’t stop them putting logos on. I’d suggest the OP is substantially correct in that it’s most reflective of heat.
As for return journeys, what would be cost-effective for them to carry? Water, perhaps? I don’t believe UK milk tankers carry anything. Any truckers here?
Wouldn’t it save on the energy expended on refridgeration to paint the trucks reflectively?
Milk trucks never really occurred to me. I was thinking more of fuel trucks and chemical trucks.
OTOH, maybe it’s sort of a transportation industry standard, and it doesn’t make sense to just paint the milk trucks since they come to the company just the same as all the other trucks.
I think a lot of the above are reasons…
my favorite is the weight of paint issue. If you’ve stainless steel, which looks good already, why add the weight of the paint? Over many miles, it would add up to a cost savings to not have to haul the extra weight around.
As for the logo, some weight isn’t all that bad, and the visibility overweighs any cost loss due to weight/application.
Stainless steel, without coatings is also very easy to clean and inspect.
IIRC, tanks like propane/oil are generally painted, though that could be simply due to the material they are constructed of.
This makes me want to ask about American Airlines’ airplanes. Are they ordered specially to look like that? Or is that what they look like when they’re simply not painted? I’m telling you that you won’t like the look of a “simply unpainted” car, so why are the airplanes different? Is it also a clever ploy to reduce weight and operating costs on American?
American Airlines planes were left unpainted specifically to reduce weight.