Should i get a Hazmat / Tanker endorsement on my CDL ?

Bleh add more letters to your license and add them next to your name when you sign for medical supplies or @ a concentration pee pee test.

Just to be a Richard Weiner head.

But really limiting your availability for work by not taking a test is stupid. Get your letters.

 

Maybe it varies state to state, but in GA you renew your hazmat endorsement with your license, not every two years as some are saying...

OP, get every endorsement you can. It never hurts to have them, and can open new doors.

 

And the sooner the better. Rest assured, every year that goes by, some new restriction or requirement will come into play making it more expensive or difficult to get an endorsement that lasts less time and is more difficult to transfer.

 

No offense, but if you don't what is and/or what isn't an endorsement, don't drive Hazmat. Hazmat requires attention to detail...lots of it. Sure it looks easy on paper, but just because you passed a test on paper doesn't mean you know how that class 1 is to be secured in your trailer, or how to plan your route so you aren't surprised to see a tunnel ahead.

I'm not trying to tick you off, but pulling hazmat really does take your full attention to detail.

 

OP,
Yes, definitely get all your endorsements right from the get-go.
Transporting hazmat is common for many dry van carriers, which is probably where you'll start.
The more endorsements you have, the better it looks on resumes, and to prospective employers.

Do you have any idea just how wrong and illegal that is?
That statement is so ignorant to say, especially to a new driver!
Anyone that says that so freely is an accident waiting to happen, imo.
Any driver that takes a hazmat load, knowingly without having a hazmat endorsement should be caught and have his/her CDL voided.
The penalty to the company should be 1000x worse.
And not placarding a hazmat load, just to try to evade DOT?? No driver worth his salt would ever do that!

 

Actually you CAN carry hazmat without an endorsement if it is under 1001 lbs.

 

Well said!! Getting the endorsements is only the first step. NO ONE knows all they need to know, about carrying hazmat, when they take the endorsement tests.
That's just a bare starting point for being qualified. Hazmat regulations are strict, and massive in volume. You learn of those that apply to your load after you get your CDL w/ endorsements, and before you transport your "reportable quantity" hazmat load.

I'm WELL aware of that, Reycer, and have been for a long time.
Also, your statement is not entirely correct.
Any Table 1 hazmat has to be placarded even if it is only 1 lb.
Table 1 does not have the 1001 lb reportable "threshold".
Not to mention ALL table 1 hazmat certainly requires a Hazmat endorsement.

PS: If you're going to snip my quotes, please snip correctly.
My last paragraph wasn't directed at the OP, as your edit appears to make it.

 

Written test for the endorsement, fingerprint and back ground check... What does it is hurt?

 

Yep I think I had 2 loads that was not placarded while driving for USA Truck.