Hazmat Endorsement

I am in the process of taking my driver's test for my CDL. I had a cdl over 10 years ago with endorsements. I was informed that in order to be endorsed nowadays I have to be cleared federally and pay a fee. Now today I have a felony that dates back about 7 years ago for assault. Basically a fight that turned ugly. My question is it worth me going for my hazmat endorsement if they are going to deny me. Why should I pay to be denied. How much money is there in driving without hazmat endorsement. I was thinking about getting into driving tankers. This is a bummer. Nevertheless I will take the test in about 2 weeks so I just wanted some advice. I'm from California but I'll be relocating to Georgia in the next few months. Any insight and advance is appreciated in advance.

I don't think felony assault is a disqualifying situation, but I would check that first. To be honest you're most likely to have more trouble with employers than you are with the background check.

Lamar, go ahead and get the HAZMAT endorsement.. cost isn't really all that much. Gives you more options. Some companies do pay extra for hauling HAZMAT loads, others do not. If you go with an entry-level company pulling tankers, and I think Schneider & Prime are the only entry-level tanker companies out there, Prime hauls food-grade only, and Schneider doesn't pay extra for HAZMAT loads. But dry van companies, like Werner, do pay extra for HAZMAT loads. I'm curious, why do you want to go tankers?

Pete B. As far as tankers, from what I've been learning, the earning potential is greater. I just want to maximize my ability to earn the most money. I want to drive smart. I hear oil field tankers make quite a bit.

Pete B. As far as tankers, from what I've been learning, the earning potential is greater. I just want to maximize my ability to earn the most money. I want to drive smart. I hear oil field tankers make quite a bit.

Actually, that's not true about the earning potential.

Oilfield jobs pay well because they're very difficult work and often involve a lot of physical labor besides driving. And although we all want to make as much money as possible, it's not a good idea to go into your first year trying to worry about maximizing your pay. You have a ton to learn and it's going to take 6 to 12 months before you really become proficient enough with time management, street savvy, developing a great reputation, and honing your driving skills to really maximize the miles you can turn anyhow.

And very few tanker companies will hire someone straight out of school anyhow.

The first year you should just approach as a foundation year for your career. You can still make really good money, but that shouldn't be your focus. Focus on getting through that first year safely and learn all you can about your job and about this industry. By the end of that first year you'll know enough that you'll be ready to move on something that suits you better if you want to do something different.

Go through our truck drivers career guide. You learned a ton:

Truck Driver's Career Guide

Pete B. As far as tankers, from what I've been learning, the earning potential is greater. I just want to maximize my ability to earn the most money. I want to drive smart. I hear oil field tankers make quite a bit.

I sort of figured that was the reason. I don't know much about oil field work, only what I've heard. It can be lucrative, but the hours are very, very long, and there doesn't seem to be as much security in oil field work. While the money is good, it's definitely risky.

I did the same research as you into driving tankers, thinking that as long as I'm going to be a truck driver, I'm going to earn as much as I can while doing it. And all of the propaganda says that tanker drivers earn the most. Listed CPM's are definitely higher, but you're definitely not going to drive as many miles as you would pulling dry vans, reefers, or flat beds. The loads just aren't set up the same way.

In any event, best of luck to you; whichever decision you make will be the best one. That seems to be the one constant about this industry; as long as you're smart and apply yourself, you're going to do well regardless of what's behind you.

Thanks for all the input. I actually have 3 years otr experience. Im just getting reacquainted. Haven't driven in some time now. All the info is greatly appreciated and I certainly will consider the best options. I really am focused on making 60k and above. Whatever I have to do to accomplish that the smartest way is what I'm aiming for. I don't want to do alot of hard work. I saw some videos where tanking was made o look quite simple and this dude claimed to be making 2500 a week on his bad weeks and up to 4500. That's 10k and up a month.

Lamar, you have so many red flags I don't know where to start.

First of all, if you don't want to do a lot of hard work then don't expect the big bucks. No one is going to hire someone with no recent experience, who has a felony, and who doesn't want to work hard for top dollar.

You really should read all your posts as if they weren't your own and you would realize how foolish you sound.

Again thanks for the input. I stand corrected. When I said I didn't want to work hard that was in reference to Brett's comments regarding the hard labor required for oil field work. I will bust my ass in terms of putting in the hours and driving non stop. But as far as unloading freight and alot off physical manual work. I don't look forward to that. The standard operating procedure of equipment maintenance is a given but trucking is not a sweat labor job and I don't intend to break my back doing it.

Lamar, you're putting some serious limitations on your options... as a tanker driver I see many other company's tractors at the tank washes, and the majority of them have hoses mounted on the back of their trucks; this means the drivers may be required to perform the unload, and there is a good bit of physical labor and sweat involved, especially in warm weather. We don't do the unloads all of the time; last week I did three, but last night it was done by the customer. But when I did do them, I sweat through everything I was wearing, you have to dismount and mount the hoses... If you're looking for a drop-&-hook tanker company, you're not going to find one coming off a 15-year layoff.