Endorsements for newbies ?

AT LEAST get the hazmat but in getting that, It's not much more study to get the tanker. The combo endorsement is good to have not knowing that perhaps you may end up doing local/regional work for an LTL carrier but otherwise being in FL, you may never need it unlike in the western states. Get what you reasonably can up front from the beginning and try and maintain whatever you get as you move and renew.

Along those lines, if any driver is coming into the trucking industry and does not have a passport, they might think about applying for one. many carriers who operate into Canada consider this a hiring plus, as well and this is mildly time consuming in waiting out the process.

 

Haz Mat requires a TSA background check...which involves fingerprinting and waiting about a month for a letter to show up saying you cleared the check. Once you have that letter in hand, you can go take the written test to get the endorsement. If you think you MIGHT need it, it would be best to get that process started so that you have the endorsement and are ready to roll when a job opens up which requires it. The same process you have to go through to get the Haz Mat endorsement will have to be repeated each and every time you have to renew your license....TSA check (with fingerprints) and written test. Haz Mat is the ONLY endorsement which requires retaking the written test every time you renew.

Doubles & triples for the time being is just a written test. If you are going to apply for a job that requires it, you can get it in about 10 minutes...just walk into the DMV, take the written test, get the endorsement.

Tanker is also just a written test. No big deal to get...just walk in, take the written test, get the endorsement.

 

And keep in mind, you are in competition with thousands of other new drivers coming in, and many can't or won't do the HM work required. So you need to do give yourself every hiring advantage and subsequent dispatch advantage as possible. i.e. if you're in a market with 5 empty trucks and only one load and it's HM, and there's only one HM driver, who gets dispatched and who sits?

 

I'm surprised how many drivers dont have the hazmat endorsement. We cannot load our purchase vans(crst, werner, england) with placardable hazmat because they cant pull it.

 

I had the endorsement throughout my entire career....right up until this last time I had to renew. I've been affiliated with the same carrier for several years, now, and hazmat loads are few & far between...and it seemed like whenever they DID come up, they were going places I'd rather not go, and they didn't really pay all that much more than the loads I haul any other day.

In other words, between the $95 fee and the lost revenue from missing a day of work to go get fingerprinted, it just wasn't cost-effective for me to keep it.

Besides that, my prints haven't changed since the LAST TIME they took them, and if I'd done anything to disqualify myself from being eligible for the endorsement, I'd still be sitting in a room at the gray-bar motel. The whole process just seems pointless and a complete waste of time & money to me, so until they come up with a better solution, or until my situation changes and it makes more sense to jump through their hoops, I will not have that endorsement.

 

The more endorsements you have, the more hire-able you are.

 

Give them to us Conway TL drivers ..alot of us have it!

 

Haha I dont get it. We spent 750 million to buy truckload, but we put the freight on crst vans while you guys pull for UPSF..what gives?

 

If you are not driving a tanker, then why have a tanker endorsement? As a newbie most of us got every endorsement available. Having a license to drive does not mean you know how to drive. I have driven doubles. I have driven hazmat loads. I have a TWIC card which I have never used. I have never driven a tanker but have applied for a job using it before. If you get all the endorsement at 1 time you only pay for the license once. If you add them later you have to get the license again. It is cheaper to get them all up front. But don't think that your employer will look at you like a superman. It is only answering some multiple choice questions.