Best route to go to get into tankers, hazmat?

Not being dramatic. In the Rockies, the label is just as I said. As for the data, according to USDOT/FMCSA, cargo tank bodies involved in an accident have a higher rate of fatality. This is not saying the accident rate is higher. The rate of involvement is lower than non hazmat due to safety and training. Also according to their data for hazmat transport, tank bodies are higher than van bodies. In contrast, non hazmat in van bodies has a higher percentage than van bodies with hazmat.

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You didn't sound dumb at all! I was under the same impression when I first started driving. It's truly a shame that today's drivers aren't regarded with more esteem than we are. We certainly deserve more respect than we get.

On a slightly different note, at least 75% of what you and your husband hear from recruiters will be misleading. It's more realistic to think of motor carriers as meat packing plants - we are the fresh meat. I think most drivers here will agree with me to some degree.

But it sure as heck beats any other job I'm qualified to do.

 

I agree with Bigarmin. Because of the high wash out rate of young drivers, let them do the bump and crash in a vehicle that won't blow up until they get hands on experience driving. It doesn't matter how much training you have if you have zero experience driving. Once they decided they want to stay trucking and got all the basics down, then let them progress to more dangerous freight hauling.

 

I agree they get ####y and comfortable from the 1-3 year range. Perhaps they should wait until they get past that??

But it seems everything is okay. It's not like tankers are blowing up everywhere. It just seems like with all the rules out there, there might be some more in that area.

People just don't jump into oversize and heavy haul. They work their way up.

 

I came straight out of driving school and went to pull tanks at TWT. I would not recommend it for someone with no experience. I did it and am certainly not going to say it can't be done, but I just wouldn't recommend it.

As an inexperienced driver you have a lot going on that is new to you. Just shifting can be a source of trouble. Add the fact that 4500 gallons of product is moving forward and backwards with enough force to push you into an intersection or pull you backwards off a scale.

But on the other side of the coin..the habits that you get into coming straight out and pulling tanks are habits that will stick with you throughout your career.

I would have to say that it depends on the person. Some can handle it some can't.

Oh and as far as baffled tankers go, don't expect to see any baffles. I have been pulling chemicals for 6 years now and have never pulled a baffled tank.

 

The only training QC new hires get on loading /unloading is airing off 500 gallons of water from a trailer into a second compartment then pumping it back to the first . PPE training is just suited up . Chemtape isn't used and not a word on decontamination . No one ever gets in a moving truck .
I worked on a HAZWOPER crew before coming to QC . I told them on a scale from 1 to 10 I'd rate their training a 2 .

 

PPE for a tank driver is not Hazwoper level stuff. I always taught my students that it was simply to get their butt out of a bad situation. I made them understand that it didn't draw a big red 'S' on their chest, just get out and stay out.

If the receiver's guy was there getting burned because his employer didn't give him as much PPE [a common occurance], it was not the driver's place to re-enter the dangerous area to make a rescue; he was not trained to do that...

In the same idea they were not trained to tape up, we taught them to get under the chem shower and strip.

Most of the drivers I had who were burned by corrosives didn't follow some safety rule, either they didn't wear their PPE or took someother short cut.

I also used a graphic demonstration in group training, I'd put a raw chicken leg in a bowl and pour in drain cleaner...Anyone who saw that learned that the PPE was their personal safety net.

Hazwoper is a step above this. I did my OSHA 1910.120 long before Hazwoper came out; it was something needed. I did several mock spills for the NJ DEP and you would have been surprised how poor first responder training was before Hazwoper, etc. I also taught a section of the 'First Responder' course the NJ State Police Haz Mat gave to police, fire and municipal responders, I did one day out of a weeks course doing DOT 407 and DOT 412 trailers before they sent out into the fireschool yard and actually see the old CLTL tankers and do some hands on.

 

First thank your husband for his service to our nation. other look around your area for community colleges that do cdl training and work with him to get a qualified job in his expertise.