[cdswans]

Originally Posted by Joey Shabadoo

. . One wrong move and BOOM! goes the dynamite. Every year it seems, there's a story round these parts about some guy burning to death in his cab . .

Like this one, for instance . .

Tanker truck flips, explodes, closes LI Expressway - washingtonpost.com

[feederfred]

Sure, hauling hazmat can be dangerous..But it also has very good pay, great working conditions and what I like best: Being treated like a valued human being with a brain. I pay attention to my job. I haul LPG, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the course of a week. All of which could ignite, detonate and kill me in the blink of an eye...Do I have a death wish ? Not at all, I love life just as much as you do. I enjoy the challenge of having to THINK about my "freight"...Of minimizing the risks to both myself and your loved ones who may be on that freeway with me. The business I'm in still values professional "input", and is willing to pay for it. Not everyone can go to work each day (or night), hook up and realize that the stuff 4 feet behind their head can kill them (and a lot of innocent people) and just do the job at hand. But, I'm glad they do, because without them everyday life would be a lot harder.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by feederfred

Sure, hauling hazmat can be dangerous..But it also has very good pay, great working conditions and what I like best: Being treated like a valued human being with a brain. I pay attention to my job. I haul LPG, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the course of a week. All of which could ignite, detonate and kill me in the blink of an eye...Do I have a death wish ? Not at all, I love life just as much as you do. I enjoy the challenge of having to THINK about my "freight"...Of minimizing the risks to both myself and your loved ones who may be on that freeway with me. The business I'm in still values professional "input", and is willing to pay for it. Not everyone can go to work each day (or night), hook up and realize that the stuff 4 feet behind their head can kill them (and a lot of innocent people) and just do the job at hand. But, I'm glad they do, because without them everyday life would be a lot harder.

Sort of along the lines of being an under paid airline pilot...........with more shazam! :thumbsup:

Any driver who approaches the job with the respect it deserves, does the job properly, and treats the cargo with the respect it requires........will quickly understand that there are very few dangers.

No...we cannot control outside forces. But by using due diligence, and driving with your eyes open and your attention directed where it belongs, you can limit those outside forces and mitigate the damage they can cause.

CD posted a great example of a driver whom failed to give due diligence to the job. Had he been driving with his eyes open, he would not have needed to take evasive action, thus rolling his unit. That is cut and dried. I am sorry he is dead....but the car he swerved to evade was not at fault, he was.

Yeah Yeah....I am a cold hearted S. O. B.

I would have more compassion had he been a victim of suicide...which is far more prevelant in this job (Hazmat hauling) than the public is aware of. Gasoline tankers are the number one target.

Due diligence gives a driver the edge towards limiting damages.


When you read Timber's posts as he learned the job, you can see that he became comfortable with what he was doing, and understands what he needs to do. From that last post, it is clear he had a very easy going trainer, who did not waste time teaching things that were un-necessary! And he is right. 99.9% of all fuel haulers work together on directions and how to make each delivery the easiest, safest way possible. Though.....like any job...there are the "Rambos".









okay....I'm off the soap box.

[ollie78]

I just started at Linde exactly 92 days ago.........AWSOME!!! I have been fortunate enough to work for several top dollar multi-billion dollar companies in my driving career, but, at least at Linde, cyrogenics is a dream job. I never even talk to my supervisors and the central dispatch is insanely low pressure. For what you have to do(I wouldn't even call it work) and what you get paid, you can't beat it--with the exception of "Big Brown", maybe.

Even if Linde isn't hiring in your area, get your foot in the door and tell them that you are willing to wait. That's exactly what I did. It took about a year and a half to get on, but it has been like a dream come true ever since.

Also, kudos to FeederFred for helping me in the early stages of considering employment with Linde. Without his insight, I may have passed on an amazing opportunity.

[NoBama]

Congrats Ollie78. I'm sure if I ever succeed at being considered for a bulk driver at Linde I can see myself feeling the same way you do. I've applied 3 times at the Lima,OH. terminal and taken my resume, filled out a paper app. , and have talked with the transportation director at the Fostoria,OH. terminal. I call Him at least once a week; to let Him know I'm still interested. I sure feel like I'm bugging Him. Hey Ollie any secrets you'd like to devulge? Take care and God-Bless.

[ollie78]

It sounds as if you may be on the right track. Similar to what I had done. I kept in contact with the transportation manager at my terminal for nearly a year and a half and assured him that I was content to stay with my current employer(UPS Freight at that time) and wait until Linde was ready to bring me over. I did this by calling him once every 3-4 weeks.

I know that you feel that you may be bugging them, but if you are intermitent enough in facilitating contact what you are doing is actually a good thing. This is a way of conveying genuine interest in employment. In fact, I spoke with my current manager about this recently and he agreed(just don't over do it!!!).

Just make sure you pick out certain phrases and ideas for each brief period that you may speak to your prospective employer. Let them know that you are talking with other company drivers(Linde in this case) via the internet, that you are following the company's news and stock performance(which you should be doing by now, in my opinion) to let them know that you are not just looking for another job, but rather, you are making an informed decision as to the direction you would like to take your driving career.

And, it is always a professional courtesy to issue a thank you letter with any interview you are granted(I even went as far as to send one to the driver that did my pre-employment drive test). Sometimes higher profile jobs can take a bit of work to earn if you don't know anyone within the company. But, a good amount of effort and a degree of professionalism goes a long way because most managers will have two to three candidates lined up when they are ready to hire and you need to have that edge over your competition.

Best of luck to you with this one. I could go on and on with how happy I am with driving for Linde, but if all goes well for you NoBama you can learn why first hand.

[Mackman]

I applied at Linde and got this back.


Dear Brandon,

RE: Driver, Job ID: 851547

Thank you for your interest in the above-noted position.

While we have carefully reviewed your qualifications, regrettably, they do not meet our requirements for this specific position.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Linde. While your skills did not match this particular vacancy we encourage you to continually check our website for additional opportunities.

Linde Staffing Team

I didn't think i would get it. But just wanted to try lol

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Mackman

I applied at Linde and got this back.


Dear Brandon,

RE: Driver, Job ID: 851547

Thank you for your interest in the above-noted position.

While we have carefully reviewed your qualifications, regrettably, they do not meet our requirements for this specific position.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Linde. While your skills did not match this particular vacancy we encourage you to continually check our website for additional opportunities.

Linde Staffing Team

I didn't think i would get it. But just wanted to try lol

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:


Young Bedouin Brandon....start small...work big!!


Or.....haul some fuel for a while.