Is Hazmat worth the trouble? In my opinion: NO.

The reason the Feds got so involved
with the haz mat endorsement was after 9/11. Rumors were circulating that terrorists were going drive tankers of gasoline into buildings. Never happened. They could at least relax some of the regulations. I mean, is it really necessary to get finger printed multiple times.

 

Getting the endorsement is a hassle. For me, it was 180 miles each way to find a place that was certified to take my prints.

Then the actual test. Holy crap, some of those questions are ridonkculous. If I remember right, one question asks you about the dimensions of the placard. Then they give you four multiple choices where the dimensions are within a quarter of an inch of each other. As if I am going to print my own placards. 70% of the test is stuff that we really don't have to remember for the actual hazmat portion of our job.

 

If someone wants to drive a fuel truck into a building, they are not going to go through the trouble to get the endorsement first. If anything, they will just hijack the truck or force someone to drive the truck for them while under duress.

 

Actually I think the OP is correct and no one should get it.

 

The arguments made against the HM requirements are like saying "Is a pilots license really necessary? "

 

I renewed my hazmat every time it was up for renewal but it never paid for itself It was more of a hassel going thru all the red tape.I had that endorsement every since I got my cdl in 2002.Next year I'm letting it expire.Anyone who has hazmat but never use it I would reccomend letting it expire.

 

I hope more and more drivers DONT get a hazmat endorsement and don’t get a tanker endorsement. It makes my pay go up.

 

Again every year someone comes with this new introspective discovery that getting Haz-mat endorsement is not worth it.

It is still like $86 bucks and a simple 10 min multiple guess test and some fingerprints. Oh, it really puts you out.

If you never even get away from a Mega, you still should be making good money on the Haz-Mat. Most megas spiff you something like $35 bucks for each Haz-Mat load and you will get lots more loads, and lots of paid deadhead to pick-up loads that their other drivers can't move. And most will even pay for that endorsement. And the has-mat bonus is one of the few things I found they don't cheat you on.

 

Had my endorsement 17 years. Never used it. left it off this year.

If a job ever comes along that I might want. Then I'll consider adding it back on.