Hazmat Cert - Is It Worth It?

I live in Mississippi. Because I am a foreigner the state makes me renew it every year. Background check and hazmat test. Every freaking year. But my w2 shows over 80k gross. No touch, all drop n hook. Out loaded, back empty. Home every weekend. Yeah, I will keep renewing it.

 

I always thought NO, just for the reasons you mentioned. Previous company paid two cents a mile extra. For that two cents a mile I would have to pay for and go through all the BS to get the certification and then be subject to extra responsibility and scrutiny on the road. No brainer. Not interested. I might not have taken the certification if it was free and arrived at the snap of my fingers.

 

Yes

edit:
On second thought if you don't want it then don't bother getting it. The fewer hazmat drivers out there the better it is for me.

 

With the company I am leased to my truck earns a percentage of anything billed to the customer. Hazmat bills more than normal freight. I figure it's worth an additional $10K a year in my pocket, well worth having.

 

NO .. ..... if they started paying

a 75.00 -100.00 extra to the driver for HazMat loads then that would be a different story

But they're not , and probably never will

 

You don't wanna. You don't wanna.

I had hazmat for a long time, each and every one perfect. (Yelling dispatcher nonwithstanding) And finally got rid of it.

However I tried to keep up on the HM world where possible. If I was to examine what I have to go through to get HM endorsement, I say I don't wanna. Why? They can pay me a 1.00 a mile and it is not worth the hassle.

 

Please do not get a hazmat endorsement and especially a tanker endorsement!!!
Please tell all your friends and fellow drivers to do the same.

 

Hauling HazMat you have a few route restrictions, parking on ramp shoulders is a double non-no in this age of not enough truck parking, if a cop notices a placard violation you can get a huge fine. With some HazMat violations the driver pays a huge fine in addition to the company (thousands of $, not hundreds of $). If you sometimes haul HazMat you may not develop the habits you would if you hauled it often.

 

Hazmat can be lots of things; fingernail polish, paint, glue, etc. One load I pulled in a reefer was a load of cans of spray paint. I was the only driver at the terminal with hazmat endorsement and got some of the best runs. "How did he get that 2000 mile run and I only got a 500 mile run when I'm senior to him?"
Yeah, don't get that stupid hazmat endorsement; I'll sacrifice and make a few thousand more than you every year; I'm a nice guy.

 

I saw that a lot. One example, in Ohio there were 5 of us that unloaded about the same time. I'm the only one with hazmat endorsement. We're all pulling reefers. There were hazmat loads including paint going to Los Angeles. I loaded and headed to Los Angeles and the other 4 drivers had to spend the night at a truck stop in Ohio.