First, if you are looking to get hired by one of the "actual" chemical manufacturers....you will more than likely have to show up and apply with a resume showing not less than 2 years....and possibly more experience driving a "chemical" tanker. The "in-house" drivers are quite often local and there is often a list of drivers who want those jobs. The pay is hard to know about, but I have never heard any of them complain. I do believe some are Teamsters...depending on the area of the country.
How much a driver would do regarding loading and unloading could be between 0% to 100%...depending on the company, and the chemicals handled. Loading could take 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on the nature of the product. Routes could be from just around the block to cross country.
Pay is probably as good, and most likely better than any other facet of local or OTR work.
Here's a link to a couple of those companies:
http://brenntagmid-south.com/brennta...ployment.shtml Brenntag is broken into regions. That one is "Mid-South" for them.
http://www.univarusa.com/vwr-inc/hrcareer.nsf/ibyFunction!OpenView&Start=1&Count=30&Expand=4#4
Univar posts a little more of a job description, but doesn't mention pay.
If you are not an experienced driver, you will want to follow a path to get the experience necessary to get hired by one of these companies. That path would likely be to get the CDL-A with Hazmat and Tanker endorsements....then either get hired by a tanker company that will take inexperienced drivers or pull a box for at least a year then move on to tankers. Some tank companies, be they chemical or food grade, require 2 years of experience.
Hope that helps.
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