NYS DMV a Haz-Mat joke

[TK THE TRUCKER]

I'm in the middle of getting my haz-mat endorsement and its turned into quite a debacle. I let it expire the end of last year because I didn't need it at my job and was going to renew it when I got around to it. So now I've been laid off for a couple weeks and decided to get it so I had it for applying for new jobs but mainly for this awesome local job I'm hoping to get. So last week I go to the DMV and take the test and pass. Up until 2 months ago I would then go to a state police location to get finger printed. Now NY sends you to an outside company to get it done. So the DMV sends me on my way with some application paperwork they told me to give to the finger printing place.

So today I make an appointment and go there to get it done. The process was easy enough. They print out a confirmation receipt and that was to be it. I ask them what I'm supposed with this paperwork the DMV told me to give them. They said they didn't have anything to do with it and had no idea what I should do with it or if I needed to even do anything at all. They send a confirmation electronically to the DMV and they thought that would be all I had to do but I wondered why I had this paperwork then. This place I'm at is also a TWIC enrollment center. They said I could save $25 with the haz-mat but it needs to be in hand on my license. I don't need a TWIC card if I get this local gig but if I don't it would be useful for other jobs, especially OTR. So I go ahead and pay full price and get it since I'm already there.

So I still had this paperwork so I head to the closest DMV to figure out if I need to do something with it. The lady at the information desk who should have the answer for everything has no idea if I need to do anything with it, so she calls over a supervisor. She doesn't know either. After a while on the computer she thinks I need to mail it to the DMV. So I guess that is my next step but who knows. You would think I was the only commercial driver that ever walked in the door and needed a haz-mat endorsement.

I don't know if other states are as inefficient as NY but I can't imagine. Jump through hoops, drive all over the place and then have to snail mail in the application. Sweet.

So far

Haz-Mat test fee $5
Haz-Mat fingerprints and background check $152.25
TWIC Card $132.50

[TK THE TRUCKER]

Since it's been a couple weeks since I mailed in the paperwork I decided to call and bother the haz-mat unit at the DMV to make sure my paperwork was getting processed. They told me they mailed out an application form today since they hadn't got one yet. I told them I mailed it out a couple weeks ago and it should be there. They agreed and said it must have gotten lost. Another disorganized process. So I've lost at least 2 weeks of process and I need my haz-mat to get a full time position at this job I'm trying to get. The NYS DMV sickens me how they operate. Also, I picked up my twic card today. Amazing how efficient the TWIC process was compared to the NYS Haz-Mat process, considering it's about the same.

[repete]

WOW your still messing with this! Don't ya just love NY and the dmv? Mine went fairly smooth but it's expensive specially when I've never pulled haz-mat but the Co says I need it. Good luck with the dmv and the job.

[TK THE TRUCKER]

Yeah, they make me freakin' nuts the way they operate. It's not just this, it's everything they do. Registering my vehicles or snowmobiles is even a problem sometimes and the fees are getting crazy. It's $100 a year to register a snowmobile, it used to be like $45. If you join a club they knock some off but I think it's still more than it used to be. They did this a couple years ago to raise money for the trail system then the next thing you know they are trying to steal the trail fund to use for stuff that has nothing to do with snowmobiling. The NY snowmobiling association had to step in to block them. Then they have this "Driver Assessment Fee". Some other states have it too. If you have so many points on your license they charge you this fee. I had 6 points from 3 minor violations so they jacked me for $300, payable in a lump sum or $100 a year for 3 years. If you have something serious it can be like $300-$500 a year for a few years. It's over and above any fine or court cost you had to pay. I love how they call it "Driver Assessment Fee", like they actually did something to earn this money. What did they assess ? My address so they cold mail me a bill ? What's really great is it's due at the end of December so it screws you over for Christmas. Every time I turn around I have to pay out the ass for something, then when I deserve something back I don't get it, like my home buyer credit I should have got back in June. Here it is almost 5 months later and no tax credit. Been going back and forth with the IRS for something that there is no question I should get. It was really nice expecting to get back $7400 and to have only $200 show up. I'm at the end of my rope with stuff like this.

[silvan]

If it makes you feel any better, Virginia dicked around so long on my hazmat that the job I was trying to get is filled. I applied on 9/10, my TSA letter and the hazmat blurb on my CDL both have a date of 9/14, but the postmark on my letter is 10/5. Apparently I qualified almost immediately, and it took that long for somebody to get around to taking note of the fact and putting the letter in an envelope.

Efficiency.

I don't know what I'm going to do for a job now. Bleargh.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do now but keep moving forward.

[TK THE TRUCKER]

If it makes you feel any better, Virginia dicked around so long on my hazmat that the job I was trying to get is filled. I applied on 9/10, my TSA letter and the hazmat blurb on my CDL both have a date of 9/14, but the postmark on my letter is 10/5. Apparently I qualified almost immediately, and it took that long for somebody to get around to taking note of the fact and putting the letter in an envelope.

Efficiency.

I don't know what I'm going to do for a job now. Bleargh.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do now but keep moving forward.

That sucks ! I would be way pissed if it caused me to miss out on a job. In my case it's not going to cause me to miss out but delay me getting a full time position. The place I'm trying to get on at is union. Everyone starts out working at least 2 Saturdays a month, more if you want. Part timers don't need haz-mat. As they need full timers they offer them to the part timers based on seniority. However there are times when none of the part timers want full time so they will basically hire direct to full time. They don't haul haz-mat but they require it for full time because one of the positions is a fuel truck. Because it's seniority if the fuel truck starts on your shift you could get stuck with it for that day because of being low on seniority. I may never get forced in the fuel truck but they still require haz-mat for full time so I may have to ride out part time until my haz-mat shows up.

Also, I got something from the DMV in the mail today. I thought it was the haz-mat paperwork that they supposedly mailed me but it was a notice for license renewal. $164 for 8 years. It's only money !

[Bigmon]

You forgot to wear a towel around your head. They would have approved you on the spot

[Malaki86]

I just got my HazMat bs a couple of months ago in WV. When I was finishing up, the guy at the DMV was telling me that when it comes up for renewal in 4 years, I have to the ENTIRE background check again, meaning more fingerprints and another $100 out of pocket, wait the time for them to do it, etc. Bah.

[TK THE TRUCKER]

What I don't get is how having us go through all this grief and spend all this money makes anything anymore secure. If somebody wants to get a hold of hazardous materials they will. Whether they steal a truck and trailer from a truck stop or hijack a truck or have a truck and just stroll into a shipper or receiver and hook up to a trailer and roll on out. How hard is to get your hands on an old company truck, redo the lettering and then roll into an unsecured yard and steal a trailer ? Nobody would probably even notice. I don't know how having my finger prints and background check is going to really help at all.

[Malaki86]

Exactly - if you're going to do something illegal with the load, you're not going to go through the hassle of making sure that you're legal. Same goes for the border crossings. If you're bringing something illegal across the border, would you cross at Detroit or Erie? Hell no - you'd go out in the middle of Montana where you cross the border without even knowing that you did.

[freebirdrfd]

You forgot to wear a towel around your head. They would have approved you on the spot

So true...

[TK THE TRUCKER]

Well finally some of my mess is getting straightened out. The second application the DMV sent showed up today. Before I filled it out again and sent it in I decided to call just in case my original showed up in between the time I talked to them last week. Sure enough, they got it the day after they sent a new one. I don't know why it took 2 weeks to go from the post office to the DMV Haz-Mat office. Apparently all I need to do now is wait for a letter from the TSA to show up and then a new license will show up 10 days later, supposedly. They said I could get a temporary print out as soon as the letter show up if I needed it asap. Also, since I was in the mood to call government agencies I called the IRS to find out where the hell my home buyer credit was. After being on hold for 20 minutes I found out they are depositing it on Friday. About damn time, only 5 months late. It's like they were waiting for me to call and say WTF before they released it.