Looking To Start A Career!

Did you get all the endorsements while you were getting? Hazmat , tanker, Doubles and triples?

The only endorsement I got was tanker, I thought about getting my doubles and triples but haven't, once I start I'm going to check with the company to see if I can get hazmat and triple on their dime.

Did you get all the endorsements while you were getting? Hazmat, tanker, Doubles and triples?

once I start I'm going to check with the company to see if I can get hazmat and triple on their dime.

I would highly recommend you get them now if you can afford to. Trust me, you'll be very busy and under some pressure once training begins at your new company. Getting your CDL was the easy part. Now it's about to get real. Take this time to get those endorsements.

I honestly can't afford any at this point, especially my hazmat , I know it will be a stressful time, I honestly have no other choice than to wait though, hopefully even under pressure I'm able to accomplish getting the hazmat and doubles/triples, time will tell. Wish me luck,haha!

once I start I'm going to check with the company to see if I can get hazmat and triple on their dime.

I would highly recommend you get them now if you can afford to. Trust me, you'll be very busy and under some pressure once training begins at your new company. Getting your CDL was the easy part. Now it's about to get real. Take this time to get those endorsements.

I honestly can't afford any at this point

Yeah, I get it. I've been there.

I just want you to understand that the beginning of your career gets harder as you go for a while. Getting your permit and endorsements is super easy. Learning the skills in school and passing the CDL exam is significantly harder. Going on the road with a trainer at your first company is significantly harder still. The first few months you drive solo after that can make grown men cry....literally.

Eventually, it will get easier, but not until about the six-month mark. So anything you push down the road now is going to add to the already-increasing stress levels you'll be under in the next stages.

Some companies will let you start but then make you get Hazmat within X amount of time they may even pay for it.

Personally unless you are planning on using the Hazmat I wouldn't even bother on getting it.

Personally unless you are planning on using the Hazmat I wouldn't even bother on getting it.

How could anyone know what type of freight they might be hauling when they haven't even started their career? Heck, at one time I drove a school bus shuttling construction workers part-time to pay my expenses while I went to school full time. Do you think I expected to drive a bus when I was going to truck driving school? Heck no. But I got the passenger endorsement anyhow, and that job wound up being critical. It allowed me to pay my way through school.

Getting the endorsements takes minimal effort or resources. It's best to get them all right away and open up more opportunities.

I honestly can't afford any at this point,

one thing I've done in the past when money is tight is donate blood plasma. It usually only takes about an hour and depending on where you're doing it could pay $80 or more a week if you do 2 donations. They use plasma for numerous things including helping treat burn and trauma victims. I've seen ads for Bio Life offering $600 over the course of 8 donations in a month. I would donate frequently to help those in need but unfortunately between trucking and other commitments I do not have the time for it. If it's something you're interested in do research so you understand what it is and any possible side effects.

I agree getting all endorsements right away is best, especially as an OTR truck driver. You will be gone from home so much. Are you really going to want to spend some of that precious hometime dealing with a DMV? I don't have any extra endorsements on my CDL and felt quite limited when I was looking at what was out there. Almost every local job that paid well when I found my current job required Hazmat , Tanker, and/or doubles and triples. It would be unfortunate to apply for a job and not get it because you didnt have one of those endorsements.

How could anyone know what type of freight they might be hauling when they haven't even started their career?

There are quite a few companies that do not haul Hazmat. Plus not all companies that haul Hazmat require it.

If he's light on funds why waste $100+ on something that might not be needed? Just remember it can take 30 days ( mine took less than a week back in August) for TSA approval to come in.

If he's light on funds why waste $100+ on something that might not be needed? Just remember it can take 30 days ( mine took less than a week back in August) for TSA approval to come in.

I would say our views express the difference between getting by in the short-term or building a career for the long term.

You're thinking short-term; do the bare minimum to get by. I get that. Sometimes we're seriously strapped for cash or in a time crunch so we have to make sacrifices. Unfortunately, every time you sacrifice the long term to appease the short term, you make things more difficult later on. People who live that way do what I call, "bouncing along the bottom" or "returning to zero" because they get nowhere in life. They're building nothing for the future, they're just surviving for now.

Building a career (or any part of your life) for the long-term means making sacrifices in the short term to make things better down the road. If you live that way consistently things will keep getting better for you. You will build a resume that keeps getting better and finances that keep getting stronger.

He wouldn't be wasting $100. He would be investing in himself by increasing the number of available opportunities in a career where he has the potential to make over $50,000 in his first year and $75,000 by the end of his third year.

Look at the risk/reward ratio. In the grand scheme of things, how much does he stand to gain versus how much does he stand to lose? He might make an extra $10,000/year with that endorsement, or he might lose $100 if he doesn't use it at all. Do you really want to save $100 at the risk of limiting your career and costing yourself thousands?

Investing in yourself is the best money you can spend. Anything you can do to make yourself better will pay off in some way down the road.