Hazmat Cert - Is It Worth It?

I pull tankers so it's a must but if it's not a BIG difference in pay I wouldn't bother but i u pull tanks it's a BIG pay differences so to eachs own

 

I'm in CDL school now. I take my Hazmat test in a couple weeks. Yesterday, the May Trucking recruiter was VERY adamant about not getting your hazmat for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread.

My thinking is if you have it, it "boosts your CDL stock" -- a phrase the Swift recruiter used. But, as @Chinatown showed, if you have it, you might be forced to use it in order to take one for the team.

I'm going to get it because I'm here in school and it's free for me. If it helps me get hired as a rookie for better pay and opportunities, it might be worth it. Will I keep it? It doesn't sound like I'll want the extra headaches and missed opportunities unless I market myself as a tanker hazmat.

 

There aren't many (any?) companies that will hire a new driver to haul hazmat.

I wouldn't bother unless you just want it to claim you have all endorsements.

Both times I have pulled hazmat loads I wished I had something else. Just not worth it for the extra $30-40 bucks those loads paid. The last one I did actually caused me to miss out on a better load because "you're the only one available". The better load went to a driver who kept the $100 in his pocket and didn't go through the effort to get the endorsement.

 

Get the hazmat endorsement; even pulling reefers you may need it. For example, this happened to me several times; unloaded refrigerated load in Ohio. There were several of us there at the same time. I was the only one with hazmat endorsement. Only load available right then was a load of paint going to Los Angeles. I snagged that load and headed for California. The other drivers had to wait at a truckstop until the next morning. I made money and the company made money because I had the hazmat endorsement.
Made a lot of money the next few days. Unloaded the paint, then got a load of newspaper inserts going to various printing companies along the California coast; something like 6 stops. Was paid miles plus money for each stop. Then snagged a load of canned beans going to El Paso Texas. That hooked me up to a load of ceramic tile going to Jacksonville, Florida. All those great miles and loads pulling a reefer and having a hazmat endorsement.

 

Almost every Cali load I’ve gotten as a solo was a Hazmat load. That said it occasionally will bite you in the butt with routing.

 

Id definitely get the X endorsement if I was you. You’ll be even more sought after as a driver. Put in 2 yrs with a clean Haz/tanker cdl A and you’ll be golden. Pretty much guaranteed 75k to 100k per year at that point.

 

I had the endorsement when I started, and hauled several HM loads.
Not many, but some.
It was an extra $25 per load.

For that I had to pull in to every weight station, stop at every RR crossing, stop every 100 miles for a safety check, haul more dangerous cargo, and pay a bunch of money for the 'privilege'.

The only time I have been pulled over while driving was when I was hauling a HM load, for a roadside inspection.
(I was lucky, and the officer not so lucky. He was stung by a bee just as he started the inspection and cut me loose because he started feeling bad.)

I dropped the endorsement when I renewed my license.
No regrets.

 

Isn't That 100 miles still a test question?

I'm planning on dropping mine. For the third time.