WannaBe with Questions (Lots of ??s)

I maintained my HazMat endorsement until DHS started in on it. Not worth the trouble, unless I need it for work. Then I'll jump through the hoops, do the required Nazi salute, and I'll have my papers in order again.
Until then... not gonna bother.

 

So it appears Tankers are mostly Local and/or companies that are only dedicated to tankers.

Haz-Mat is a hassle to get and maintain, and unless your running haz-mat frequently not worth it.

Does it pay extra to run Haz-Mat and are there companies that run it frequent or dedicated??

 

I just renew my CDL with Hazmat and it was time consuming, but other than that not much of a hassle. It cost me $89.75 for the background check and all they do is send in your fingerprints to the FBI. The reason it was time consuming for me was I had to drive 90 miles one way to an approved site.

 

Tikrit huh...COB Speicher perhaps???


Hazmat isn't that bad, pay the fee, get fingerprints taken, they do a STA which if you were prior military with a security clearence and haven't had any criminal record since you'll be fine, and last take the written test to add the endorsment.


Also, I've never heard of anyone getting paid extra to run haz-mat. Although I'm like the person who posted earlier, have all endorsment because it keeps things open.

 

AK20 there are very few companies that do pay extra for Hazmat. The Hazmat loads I've pulled have been longer than than usual runs. Dakfink if you pull a Hazmat load always ask for a couple extra placards. If the shipper asks why tell them in case one or two blow off.

 

YEP good old COB Speicher!!

Been here since March 2007!!

Everything works right I hope I can come home next Summer. If not I'm going to be here 1 more year I hope. Unless the Obamanator kicks us out.

 

Right on, yeah I was there for all of 2006, deployed active duty. We re-paved the secondary 8,000ft runway, re-paved a couple smaller taxiways, did some work on a concrete parking ramp for helos...and pretty much built most of the huts they were using for the UAVs. We did lots of other projects as well, those were just the airfield side. I was with a heavy engineer unit, 400 of us...me being 1 of 100 equipment operators. Good times!! Hope you enjoy, and can make it back to the states as soon as you can.

 

Here is a pic from the DRMO site the Navy was running, doing some dirt work over there when a sand storm blew in...

 

LOL!!

That place is all fenced in and run by Army Civilians now.

We haven't gotten any decent rain sine spring of 2007 so the sand storms are frequent and Nasty.

It actually went total black in the middle of the day twice this summer. I walked into a Hangar door the first time. LOL Was trying to rush and get it closed. We saw it coming, but before we could get to the door it went black. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. I was 3-4ft from the door and walked right into it.

Hopefully we'll get some rain this winter??

So you running a Truck out of Alaska?? How is it up there?? Do they make dedicated runs between the lower 48 and Alaska?

 

Covered by others. But once you get some experience, you might like running tank or LTL(which always requires HM since you never know what you'll be getting). It's good to keep your options open.

Depends on the company. Some cherish a driver who doesn't constantly whine about wanting to go home. But too many treat you like it's their god-given right to let you sit until it's convenient for them to move you.

You can 'keep up with it' all you want...that doesn't mean a bloody thing if the company simply will not pay you what you're owed. It happens. More than you'd believe.

I did, once. But though they were nice folks overall, their equipment was junk and they wouldn't let me go home.

East has a lot more opportunities than west, overall. The farther west you go, the more limited your choices.

It's called the 14-hour clock, which is the most ridiculous piece of garbage foisted on truckers since the HOS rules themselves. You can't drive after 14 hours since you started working. Since lots of drivers find themselves with early AM appointments, this forces people to shut down when it's not sensible. Many of the new HOS changes are a good thing, but they're all negated by the 14hr clock. Trust the government to get it almost right and then have it blow up in their faces.