Liquid Totes And Tanker Endorsement

I was just about to say the same thing. The tanker endorsement is so rediculously easy it should just be added to the regular test and eliminate the endorsement all together

 

I would agree, but some people didn't realize the benefits of having their endorsements, and now they would have to retest everything to add an endorsement. I would always advise a new guy to get everything at the beginning while it is easiest to do so.

 

Some people just may not have the need for any endorsements.

I have yet to pull hazmat or doubles. And up until now. I didn't really need tanker.

But yeah. I'll agree. They're so easy and cheap minus hazmat. Do it all in the beginning. But apparently most drivers don't want to spend the extra $10 for doubles and tank.

 

So what makes 65 the magic age? If you think us old coots are better able to put up with passenger BS, you ain't reached the magic age yet!

Sooner or later in a driver's career, he is going to need every one of those endorsements. So save yourself some heartburn when you find out that company XYZ turned you down, because you didn't have the required endorsement. Get 'em all. And keep renewing them as time goes on.

 

Depends on the path of the cdl holder. There are tons of jobs that don't need any endorsements. Granted it opens the doors but i haven't used any of mine till now. I don't see the pay being any better just because i'm finally using one of my endorsements after 15 years. Not yet anyways.

 

Better to have and not need than not have and need. It's harder to get them later.

Some people say they don't get paid better for their hazmat runs so they don't want the endorsement. But for many people, the endorsement opens the door to higher paying jobs.

It is what it is. If people don't want that that leaves more jobs open to me if I ever need them.

 

I got my plain Jane CDL when going through the rigormarol to get back into trucking (kind of a shock to see all the new rules and regulations). I waited to get all my endorsements a year later and I am sure glad I did.

For me Hazmat and tanker have returned many times on investment. They are worth about an extra $10K a year as a driver making a percentage of gross truck revenue. Maybe double that when I step into truck owner checks next week.

Sure, some companies don't give added money for tanker or Hazmat, or such a small spiff it's not worth it. But if you find the right job, lease, or customers with your own authority, then it pays off handsomely.

 

They all took a pay cut around here. And were actually hiring a couple of months ago. Might still be doing so. Oil and gas haulers.

My brother in law has been making $90G for the last few years hauling oil. This year, he makes $10 more then me a day. He hauls oil which requires hazmat and I haul waste water. He used to work 6 days a week. He's lucky to work 3 or 4 days now. With the oil crash. And nothing to be hauled anymore. There's extra trucks coming in to the business and knocking rates down. I'm really surprised his company is still around and he still has a job.

The state is looking to build a pipeline from the wells to the refineries. That's going to put a lot of trucks out of business if that happens. Which is the goal. To take trucks off the highways. ( traffic and emissions ) AND cut down costs of transporting.

 

I seem to be an odd duck. While I do the oil field, I normally pull a 48' split axle flatbed. That gives me plenty of options for general freight on backhauls when I am dispatched on a long haul, and I catch the odd Hazmat load off the load board that can pay over $3 a mile, usually pulling totes (and NO, the broker is an idiot for insisting a Hazmat load of totes MUST be tarped... I mean, REALLY!!!??? You WANT flammable fumes trapped under a tarp????).

Oil haulers or sand trucks might have fewer options. I like the versatility of flatbed. This morning I finished my second straight day of "driveway" (driving another company's truck and trailer) for delivery of cement to rigs. I'm Jonesing for a nice complicated load of frack valves about now. Not enough work to break a sweat with driveway.

All this is to say the oil patch is starting to get busy again. We are hiring drivers, especially for the driveway program. Someone needs to take over the truck I'm driving when I get into the truck I am purchasing.

The point I guess I am trying to make is have options. Get ALL your endorsements. Get your years of experience. Doors open.