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Editor’s note: The following article is the final installment in a series regarding direct tanker loading systems.
In the previous two articles, we considered some of the capital costs and marketing criteria a producer should consider when planning for a milk cooling and storage system.
In this article, we’re going to compare the annual operating costs of a direct tanker loading (DTL) system to those same costs for a conventional, on-farm bulk tank system.
The following article is the second in a series of three regarding direct tanker loading systems. Click here to read the first article by Earl Biggers in the November 1, 2011 issue of Progressive Dairyman.
In a previous article, we provided an overview of some of the criteria a producer should consider when planning for a milk cooling and storage system for the farm. Probably the most significant factor in deciding whether or not to go with a direct tanker loading (DTL) system, is the requirements of the actual market (or plant).
After all, installation costs are meaningless if no processor is willing to accept DTL shipments. In this article, we will take a closer look at those market considerations.
The objective of this article is to examine the factors a producer will want to consider when choosing the milk cooling and storage system for the dairy farm. The two systems considered are the traditional, on-farm, bulk tank system and the direct tanker loading (DTL) system that uses glycol chilling plates and loads directly onto the trailer.
In the last 50 years, milk has been stored on most dairy farms in a refrigerated bulk tank. From there it was then pumped onto a tanker truck by the milk hauler and taken to the processor. In recent years, larger operations have begun to use direct tanker loading (DTL). With DTL, milk is cooled rapidly and loaded immediately onto a tanker trailer.
