is having all 7 endorsements the way to go?

Don't know where you got 7 endorsements from. Haz-Mat, Tanker, Doubles and Triples, Passenger. What do you really need? Depends on what you intend to do. Drive a bus? Passenger. Van/Reefer? Hazmat, Tanker. Wiggle wagons? Doubles and triples, HazMat and tanker. Tankers? HazMat and tanker.

 

There would be no advantage to taking all the test being a new driver. The key one is Haz-Mat. The tanker or doubles/triples endorsement is nice to have for wider opportunities.

 

I've held a CDL since 1996 and until recently the only endorsement I had was my hazmat. New rules concerning bulk liquid tanks that are hauled in box trailers now require you to have the tanker endorsement. So i added that one as well. I also added doubles and triples (one endorsement for both) so I could apply to an LTL carrier. I know plenty of guys who took all the endorsement tests when they first got their CDL. It's up to you, they will ask if you need any endorsements and you tell them which you want and they will give you the test. Don;t know where you are from so I cannot comment on what it will cost. I renewed mine last month cost me $173.

 

As chicknwing said the tanker endorsement is important for LTL because Fed regs require it for haulin those 4' sq. liquid totes.
Easy test, about 15 questions, common sense stuff. Once your have it you always do, as with dbls, trpls, airbrake.
The HAZMAT has a retest/background check at 7 yrs, in my research.
The more endorsements the more the more employable you are. Once you have them they're permanent save for HM. Best to get them when your in school or before.
Passenger endorsement is for hauling people, you really need to know what to set the reefer unit at.......

 

Class A doesn't guarantee air brakes, though... any commercial use combination with a Gross Combined Weight Rating of 26,001 lbs. and up and for which the vehicle in two has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,001 lbs. and up is going to require a Class A... so you take an F650 at 26,000 GVWR with hydraulic brakes, attach a trailer with a 16k GVWR, and you have a Class A combination without air brakes.

As for seven endorsements, I'm also drawing a blank... Hazmat (H), Tanker (N), doubles/triples (T), Passenger (P)... I know in some states, they'll divide the passenger endorsement... in Colorado, you have P1 for vehicles requiring a Class B, and P2 for vehicles requiring a Class C... then there's the combined hazmat/tanker (X)... there's the motorcycle endorsement, too, but that's not so much a CDL endorsement... I'm wondering what the seven they list are.