What Endorsements Can A CDL Permit Attain ?

Ryan, some advice.

STOP giving advice.

You are slightly less wet behind the ears than I am.

Sitting in dentist chair but will further divulge later.

Jon

I do NOT want to drive a school bus or any other type of passenger vehicle. I got into this to be an OTR truck driver. I would really like to see the lower 48. However, due to circumstances created by yours truly, I was unable to get hired on by the larger companies that take newbies. However, I am a firm believer in " I am where I am because its exactly where I am supposed to be".

Got hired on by a local family business here in Knoxville TN, Skyline. They pride themselves on getting drivers home for the weekend and state the average is 2,500 miles a week. I want more. I will do my Orientation with them the Monday after Thanksgiving and have a chat with the owner whom is "approachable" and lay my cards on the table to him. I know I am "wet behind the ears" and need to cut my teeth 6 months to a year before I am a trucker. However, I am fully confident I will be a company's top tier employee having been the employer for 30 years. I know what its like behind the desk.

Short of sounding ****y or egotistical, it will be their job to keep me as an employee and I will put my money where my mouth is. Actions speak louder than words. After 8 months ( time it takes for them to reimburse tuition and me to honor my promissory note) , I will revisit with the owner and we will see where I am at. If its the right fit for both of us it will all work out as the Universe thinks it should. Otherwise, I will do my research, provide a 2 week notice and "keep on trucking".

Now, got to get ready for that tooth extraction in the AM.

Make it a great night. It is a choice.

Jon

Sounds like you have a good plan, one that works for you.

I’d check with your state on the endorsements, but I got tanker, hazmat and doubles/triples all when I got my permit (2014). And, I did all that before getting to CDL school. But, of course, I got the test knowledge from right here in the HRTP.

Work that plan, adjust accordingly and stay safe. 😎

Jon… are you kidding me?

Ryan is a productive, professional truck driver, you’re not. I have zero tolerance when a pre-school forum member talks-down to a driver, especially one who has met all of the challenges typically facing a rookie driver. You are totally out of line Jon…

I’m not wet behind the ears… I agree with the majority of Ryan’s response to you Jon. You really should listen to him. He has successfully achieved something you have yet to experience or even understand. If you approached me the way you intend to approach your future employer,…I’d laugh at you.

It seems as though you don’t listen to anything truthful or factual that is contrary to your opinions and self importance. Many of your statements I’ve read on this forum were untrue and you were called on it, yet not once have you acknowledged this.

Ryan, some advice.

STOP giving advice.

You are slightly less wet behind the ears than I am.

Sitting in dentist chair but will further divulge later.

Jon

Short of sounding ****y or egotistical, it will be their job to keep me as an employee

As a business owner myself, I can take that two different ways. One way would just be pure arrogance. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and we'll look at it as more than that.

Most business owners work hard to keep their employees happy. You expect your employer to do the same. But you mentioned nothing about it being your job to keep your employer happy.

Considering you have no experience and therefore nothing much of value to offer, I'd say the onus is on you to build your skill set and experience to where you become a valuable employee. That will take time. At that point, you might consider making demands of your employer....carefully. Until then, I recommend a massive dose of strong work ethic and humility. It will get you far in this industry and most others, I'm sure.

Everyone hears truck drivers are in high demand, so they think they hold all the cards. The truth is that safe, productive, efficient, hard-working, experienced truck drivers are in demand. Students and rookies fresh out of school are a dime a dozen. You have to work your way up to being in demand.

I can also see from your comments that you are extremely stubborn and strong-willed. That's not uncommon in trucking, but neither are wildly fantastic crash-and-burn failures right out of the gate. I'll give you a stat I was told recently by one of the major carriers we work with - 33% of all of their incoming students quit within the first week. More than half of their students quit before completing their company training. Most of the major carriers have similar stats. Those who are dismissed from training are often dismissed because of their attitude and personality, not a lack of ability or potential.

Lastly, realize that almost nothing you've ever done will translate to trucking. Trucking is a strange beast. It's unlike any job I've had or any industry I've been involved with. Most people come to trucking after finding success in other careers or their own businesses. More times than not, that prior experience leads to overconfidence and over-valuing oneself. I can promise you from experience that no one in trucking cares about anything you've done to this point. All that matters is what you do now behind the wheel.

My advice would be don't get ahead of yourself. You have a lot of tough lessons coming your way over the next 6 - 12 months, most of which you can't foresee right now. Be humble and work your ass off. If you do the right things and handle yourself the right way, things will work out great. That plan you have for sitting down with your employer someday - that's a long way off. The road ahead will be rough for quite a while. Get through that, and then think about what comes next.

Almost no one fails or quits trucking because they aren't capable of driving the truck. Most fail or quit because they can't handle the demands of the lifestyle or they can't handle themselves well enough. Master yourself first, master the job next, and then have that conversation with the boss.

The best of luck to ya!

Way back when I was still on my learners permit, I was able to add the doubles/triples and my tanker endorsement. I didn’t have to pay any extra that way to add them to my license. I was going to get my passenger and hazmat too but I didn’t have access to a bus and the background check wouldn’t have been back before my test date. I waited for about 8 years to get my hazmat and then another 6 before I got a job to actually use it. Unless you absolutely need it or want a job that requires it, I wouldn’t add the hazmat because of the testing, fingerprints and background check every 5 years. No point in spending the money and effort if it’s not going to be used.

I also agree with nearly everything Ryan said. Far too often people come into the industry with the idea that a driver shortage will allow them to force their bosses hand. The driver shortage is referring to safe, productive, professional drivers. That takes time. Most people that have had similiar posts to what you've posted end up washing out in a very short time because they're too focused on fixing what they perceive to be issues with the industry than keeping their head down and doing their job. A member here a few years ago by the name Professor X comes to mind. As others have said your previous life experiences mean nothing. We've even had people come through here that have close family that's a long time trucker and they quit shortly after they see what it's all about. I genuinely hope you're able to make this into a lucrative career but you appear to be coming in with the wrong attitude.

I disagree with those saying don't get it. Personally I do not have doubles/triples, tanker or hazmat. When I was job searching a couple years ago there were jobs with pay and schedule similiar to what I wanted. Problem is they required endorsements that I didn't have. I'd be scrambling to get that taken care of while still working my current job and potentially miss out on what could be a dream job. If you're OTR this is even more of a challenge and with some states DMVS still requiring appointments you very easily could miss out on that job. Not everything you haul with hazmat is extremely dangerous. Hauling household bleach for example may require hazmat due to the volume in your trailer. Hauling liquid totes in your van/reefer trailer may also require a tanker endorsement depending on quantity and capacity. Long story short I'd recommend getting everything done so there's no issues in the future.

Most business owners work hard to keep their employees happy. You expect your employer to do the same. But you mentioned nothing about it being your job to keep your employer happy.

This is the part a lot of people ignore. An employer/employee relationship is interdependent and requires a lot of give and take from both sides. A bad employer will have no employees or a high turnover rate and a bad employee can't keep a job.

You accept a job knowing what's being offered. If you're not happy with the terms, (some times) you can counter offer and come to an agreement. I've never accepted a job without knowing the entire compensation package. It throws them off when I want to see the insurance offered and the retirement benefits, but it's important to me so I want to know. Most employers will tell you what they expect of you as the employee and leave the duties open to be changed at their discretion.

Jon, you said you were an employer at one point. If you have multiple candidates applying for a job do you hire the guy with no-little experience making demands or the experienced person making demands?