Clean Shaven for Tanker?

Hazmat has nothing to do with it. Most masks and respirators are for dust/particulate matter. Frac sand is not hazmat. But many require respirators because of the silica dust it produces. Ammonia and others require much more sophisticated masks/suits. Most will let you keep mustache and that's it. Don't like it and you will be driving something else.

 

Its a safety concern. If you are pulling or loading/unloading something of a hazardous nature, do you really want to run the risk of not having a full seal on your mask/respirator? I wouldn't. Losing the facial fur would for some of us be a fair sacrifice for a decent job. For others, not so much. Fortunately, there are plenty of other opportunities in trucking that pay as well or better while preserving the chin pelt.

 

There are also customers that ban facial hair because a respirator may be required in the event of a chemical leak .

 

I didn't know SNI hauled anything but chem-tank and most of it being Haz-Mat.

DOT only requires you carry poison inhaled. I yank a liquid food tank and the company has the same policy and supplies a mask too. We have never and will never carry anything that is a poison but we do carry 199.999 Proof pure alcohol and they want us to wear the mask when opening the manhole cause the fumes can make you pass out. I have never used the mask cause if you the manhole correctly.

None of that changes the fact my company has the same policy too.

But you should know if your driving OTR there is no better type of trailer to pull in my opinion.

 

Check with carriers hauling chicken fat from rendering companies to feed mills . There is a lot less of that than there was though because a large percentage of chicken fat is being used for biodiesel .

 

I pull dry bulk hauling catalyst which goes to oil refineries the will not let us in the gate if we are not clean shaven in case of a leak somewhere in the plant

 

Do all food grade tanker-yanker outfits require you to be clean shaven? Have you looked into milk hauling outfits?

 

I hauled food-grade beef fat for a meatpacking plant, and there was no shaving requirement either by the carrier, or at any of the feed mills or processing plants that I went to. Basic PPE, yes, but no respirator/shaven stuff.

I'm inclined to call BS on the respirator bit too...got quite a few acquaintances in local fire departments, who have to train with SCBA's and the like, and shaving isn't required either for training or for actual operations.