Hazmat Team driver. Trying to get into Heavy Haul.

Hey yall

New ive worked my way up into some good paying hazmat, I have 2 ½ years experience most of it with liquid hazmat tankers and that oh so fun Paperwork. Recently my friend started being a pilot driver and has met some guys who are recommending me to ATS for heavy Haul since they are hurting for drivers and they should be a good stepping stonw company, I guess these guys make more than I do and they are solo. I was just wondering if ATS is the route to take or if I should try some other company. I dont see how my hazmat experience would translate, but these guys says it kinda does more than I might realize. Any thoughts?

 

So you have zero flatbed experience? ATS hauls placarded loads, but what does that have to do with heavy haul?

If you want to run open deck with ATS, they’re going test your securement knowledge. Pass, and they’ll put you in a flatbed stick and brick gig and you’ll work your way up their system. Don’t allow anyone to talk you into a lease of any sort…their company driver net more, much more, than their leasing counterparts. Problem company drivers have is, because they can’t pick and choose loads, it takes them much longer to work their way up the ladder.

“Do you have any recommendations, Six?”


The problem with the bigger companies like ATS is that you have so many young and pretty office jockeys, women and fruits, who believe that truck drivers are stupid, that they will purposely throw a wrench in your plan just to thwart you from your ultimate goal. The best way, and fastest way to move up the ranks is to company schmuck it for a year, learn the freight and freight lanes, then go full blown owner op. You’re the boss. They have no say over your truck, they can’t control anything you do. You pull what you want to pull when you want to pull. You will make what the lease drivers make running 1/3 the miles.

If you want to stay company schmuck, go with Keen Transport. They don’t have their company trucks hauling sticks and bricks and rubbing elbows with TMC, Maverick and P&S. Without the stick and bricks BS, you will move up much faster.

“But Six, I want to go straight into heavy haul from where I am.”

Good luck with that.

 

Hey Six!

Thanks for the well thought out reply. Answered everything without needing much of a reply. I don't have any Flatbed experience, but Im confident I can learn load securement through a side gig that my buddy has when im on Home time.

 

it doesn't correlate whatsoever, i think it hurts you more if anything.
rather then developing habits for a completely different application, 2 years of flatbed would of been better experience for a HH pathway

you'll be taking a pay cut,
if anyone is considering heavy haul for anything other then the challenge, they're probably wasting their time

 

The only way I can make more money is if I start hauling Hydrogen for Airgas, but im looking at going O/O in a few years and i think this might be the route I wanna take.

 

The securement knowledge is needed to get through orientation to pull a flatbed. Not heavy haul. Without verifiable heavy haul experience, most companies will not hire you for heavy haul.

 

Put it this way - after 21 years CDL A experience, the last 10 in platform, 5-6 axles all under 80k - up to 20’ wide and 120’ long -

I’ve pulled an RGN once - at 15’ tall, with a crash course in operation of the trailer and following an experienced driver.

I’ve done a lot of ‘oversized’ , and ‘platform’ - but I’d never run out and get into ‘Heavy Haul’ without some serious learning - to prevent me from learning by failure at everyone else’s expense.

I maintain hazmat for future retirement possibilities like local fuel hauling. LTL doubles team is where it earned us the most $$ as company hands.

 

Just out of curiosity is heavy haul anything over 80k? I've ran up to 105,500 in WA either double end dumps or in tankers. 100k single tankers (illegal load I know) are a bit of a headache but not sure if that counts towards heavy haul.

What's the pay/cpm on heavy haul? I made max 30/hr doing the heavy haul I did a couple years ago.

 

When I was coming up, the legit heavy haul companies considered heavy haul 9 axles or more. I had friends at ATS decades ago making $1.20/+ as company schmucks. One former member here, @passingthru69, worked as an owner op at ATS, with his own 13axle rig. I have no idea how that paid since the majority of ATS owner ops pull ATS’s trailers.

 

six you know that Carl passed last November