HAZMAT? How many of you have it.

I gave mine up--had it since they forced me to get a CDL in 89--BUT--in my case with my background and what the government already had on my background--I wasn't giving them another penny--BUT--IMHO--I WOULD SUGGEST all new drivers(students etc.)get the endorsement when you first get your CDL--you have no idea what you might be doing or who you might be working for--therefore it is a bad idea not to have EVERY possible tool in your box available
Oh and BTW--I am an O/O w/authority and do NOT have hazmat authority so it really doesn't matter--but for reason's I am not going to state publically--in mine and many others cases--the additional fingerprint backgrounds checks are just a B******T money grab--and EVERY state sets their own charges for it............
Just my $.02!

 

I had it when it was a $5 endorsement... not paying 130 bucks for more headaches and pull me around stickers...

 

I like excitement in my life

 

The only endorsement I have is Hazmat. KLLM requires it within 30 days of becoming a company driver.

Why would they want to take the chance of their truck sitting somewhere, not making money, because the driver can not haul a hazmat from that location.

Do you know what was my trainers last hazmat before I started? Toothpaste flavoring! Hahahahahaa

But then we did see another KLLM truck with 6 placards on it! Talk about a DOT magnet!

Mikeeee

 

I have had all endorsements since day 1.

I've used my hazmat maybe 6-8 times in 15 years
tanker....0
doubles and triples...14 months

Hazmat ain't worth it anymore with the rip off background check fees. I'm dropping it next renewal. You can live fine without it.

If anything after you get started, get your TWIC card for port of entry pick ups. But that is really not that important either to keep running.

It all depends on your job. You can always get the endorsements as needed.

 

the problem with getting any endorsement at a later time is...money...

many states have the written tests for around $10 each. with given the dire need for cash due to low or bankrupt states, what would anyone do if the prices of all endorsement tests shoot up to (say) $50 each, or more. the states will just say, "well you NEED THAT endorsement, so YOU ARE going to pay what we want for it"....

of course prices on just about everything rises each year. up till now, we have all been lucky the cost for our license renewals is still relatively low. in my state (as an example) when my license is due every 5 years, i must take the hazmat written test. it's nearly the same freaking test i take at every renewal. their philosophy.....?? "things get updated and changed"...but yet, they still ask questions on the front brake limiting valve, the stopping distance of an empty trailer/loaded trailer and so on. there haven't been any significant changes in ANY of the written tests in years, yet we still must pay money to renew the hazmat.

what we should keep in the back of our minds is the cash cow that we truckers are and such an easy target to fire upon when cash reserves are low in the state budgets.

i say once you have the hazmat, keep it. look at this in yet another way, i have had students that had a CDL, or back then a chauffeur's license for trucks. many turned them in. now they come back to school because they want to drive again, and the cost is from $5,000 and up, when they had their license, many of them at no cost back in the olden days.

so to give up something, then need it again, may be MORE costly in the future then it is right now.

i feel (as many others probably do) that the finger-printing can be done away with when it is done the first time, as i do not see how one's finger prints changes. all we should have to pay for is a quick BCI check at renewal time.

the only people that can totally NOT renew (or even need) a hazmat endorsement are those that haul loads that simply are not hazmat, but just about everyone else, will be hauling hazmats at some point and time in our jobs.

 

Get it, if you are a newbie (like me). Some companies use it for a cheap back ground check. If you have a hazmat endorsement they know you have been check out. It also shows that you are willing to do more than the minimum.

 

I have my hazmat due to company I plan to drive for requires the endorsement. They have a battery recycle plant and haul alot of back home hauls with batteries.

 

I drive a flatbed and have Hazmat. Get some great paying loads every now and then. It`s never hurt me, only helps

 

If you have a plan and goals set down then you'd know. What type of driving do you want to do, now, a year from now, and 10 years from now? You set you goals and have a direction to go and you'd be much better off to work towards that goal. Most new drivers just get hired on and think that's it. Well it can be if you want to stay at the low paying with bad benefits jobs.