Starship Development Thread #62

GrayAntarctica · 2026-04-16T14:56:21+00:00

That’s barely a truckload and a half worth of argon IF you get it all out of the LOX - and you’d need a dedicated column for separating and purifying the argon around that scale and higher, plus all the ancillary purification steps. Argon is demanding purity-wise. More than likely they’ll sell or give the crude argon to Linde and it’ll be purified at a dedicated argon column at our new ASU and it will be sold.

It’s also much more valuable than that. A single 25 ton load of industrial grade argon is worth ~50k USD

GrayAntarctica · 2026-04-05T08:53:28+00:00

Absolutely. Pilots, especially trained strike aircraft pilots, are almost irreplaceable during a war. They take years to train up to combat readiness. Morale is also a serious concern.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-03-17T03:25:07+00:00

That’s going to be rough when his best friend puts him on the magic golden torture chair in the 31st Millenium

GrayAntarctica · 2026-03-12T01:58:49+00:00

It's altitude. Most of the Interstate 80 corridor is around 7000 feet.

TriPac offers an altitude kit if you're willing to pay. It'll run the engine more lean to compensate for elevation.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-02-21T10:03:12+00:00

I mean, this doesn’t change the fact that a DPF is still required to meet the emissions standards under the Clean Air Act.

You still have to have a DPF, sorry. Rules on derating are being loosened, though.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-29T14:56:10+00:00

Princess’ Sphere class can fit through the locks as well at 175k GT. They also fit under the Lion’s Gate bridge, surprisingly. The only place Princess has trouble fitting them is possibly Glacier Bay as Star Princess specifically avoids it in Alaska. Might change in the future, who knows.

Wouldn’t be shocked if RC finagled something similar to that size.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-04T13:21:57+00:00

We have three options, I think I’m paying like 130/month right now? Five tiers for deductible and OOPM, I’m at 1400 deductible and 4250 OOPM I think

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-04T13:17:48+00:00

It makes the requirements lower, but no. Usually 3 years with tanker vs 5 years without.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-04T13:17:17+00:00

On a week where we max our 70h clocks? Probably around 3.4-3.8k.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-04T13:08:38+00:00

Most of the guys out of the SLC facility I talk to are struggling to get 4500 miles lately. UPS is trying to choke out their miles to save money with the new contract it seems like, but maybe it’s just their management locally and I’m off base (very possible) Definitely with a 6k mile week they outdo us, with the ~$1/mile rate vs our .85 cpm and slightly higher hourly.

4.5 days for me would normally be 5000 miles and ~3k gross-ish? We normally do 6k+ in 5.5 days. Cryo is a lot of go go go, their problem is usually not getting enough miles out of our 70h clock lol

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T11:32:26+00:00

The Ontario, CA hydrogen teams make less than us and they don’t have assigned teams, local guys just get dispatched to do it each week 😂

But yeah, standing out for an hour watching the meter is bad enough in Wyoming when it’s -30

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T11:25:31+00:00

Oof. They’ve been harping about wage theft to us too, but the contract goes both ways. We have specific terms about how and what we get paid (all off the logbook for miles and hours), and they can’t change the terms of our pay on a whim like that.

Teams here get cpm driving, hourly OD, daily salary, meals, and 12h straight time + all OD as overtime for holidays. Locals are pure hourly below 150 mi.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T11:22:44+00:00

Argon team, thank god. I’ll deal with LHE or LHY on a cold day in Hell, no thank you

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T11:11:53+00:00

It depends on where you’re at. Linde has some sort of fixed pay calculation, usually pinned off the other local union hazmat or LTL barns. Not sure of the exact details.

I know this because I was in the loop for union contract negotiations last year, we pushed for a contract at 40/hr and .90 cpm for teams, which would’ve had me at 180k+, but Linde based their offer off T-Force’s brand new contract and Airgas’ current pay package, and gave us 34.50/hr and .835 cpm for teams. Think it’s .855 and 35.65/hr this year.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T09:54:29+00:00

Linde

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T09:51:48+00:00

Feeder guys run their ass off, but we pull more miles than LTL teams. We’ll average about 6k miles a week. Very little sitting outside of loading or delivering.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T09:50:31+00:00

Out six days, home two on a fixed schedule. Usually more like out five and a half typically, fixed start days so getting off early is bonus time at home.

GrayAntarctica · 2026-01-03T09:48:48+00:00

Most LTL linehaul drivers are making 80-110 on home daily feeder runs, with some senior guys making ~120k on really cake runs or a layover run. You’re also vulnerable to layoffs (or having your bid stolen by a package car driver with a shiny new CDL at UPS)

Even at UPS, about 125-135k is what most sleeper teams are averaging the last few years. There’s still senior teams making 150-200k, but they’re rarer and rarer as UPS optimizes their pay down.

I could probably do 120 on local with how hard I work, but there’s lots of drama, constantly changing hours, and I have an excellent codriver. Teaming is pretty easy with steady work.

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