Class A OTR Hazmat Tanker Driver
Career-Track Pay Bands · Quarterly Bonuses · Otay Mesa, CA
Specialized Waste Solutions, Inc.
$30 – $38 / hour base (five published pay bands) + quarterly safety and retention bonuses
Full-time · OTR · Bi-weekly pay (26 checks/year)
Why this posting is different
Most tanker job posts say “$X to $Y per hour DOE” and that’s it. You apply, you interview, and you find out the real rate when you sign.
That’s not how we do it. SWS publishes a five-tier pay band system with every rate, every competency, and every bonus pool spelled out before you apply. You’ll know exactly where you start, exactly what it takes to move up, and exactly how much money is on the table at every tier.
If you’re a serious career driver who’s tired of opaque pay conversations, keep reading.
About Specialized Waste Solutions
SWS is a chemical hazmat tank carrier headquartered in San Diego County, hauling bulk industrial chemicals across the Western US with TX/LA backhauls. Our customers — JCI, PRR, Norman Fox, Clean Harbors (CHES), USALCO, Brenntag, Republic Services, CalChem, Odyssey, and Northstar — are professional shippers who expect on-time delivery, clean equipment, and disciplined drivers.
Equipment: DOT-407 stainless (corrosive Class 8 water-treatment chemistry), DOT-412 (Class 3 solvents — methanol, acetone, MEK, toluene), and ISO tank containers. All pulled by Class 8 tractors.
Lanes: Local Class 8 work in San Diego County (Otay Mesa yard) and Western US OTR — Reno NV, Sparks NV, Portland OR, Kennewick WA, Clearfield UT — with TX/LA backhauls anchored by our Houston customer (9-day cycles). Multi-day runs typically 2–7 days depending on lane. TWIC required for refinery and port-adjacent sites in the Houston area; we pay the application fee (~$125) and walk you through enrollment.
The Five Pay Bands
Tier
Base Rate
What gets you there
Tier 1 – Beginner
$30/hr
Day-1 hire with full credentials. One trailer type unsupervised on local Class 8 work. CDL A + H + N endorsements, DOT Medical Card, TWIC active or in-process, pre/post-trip DVIR + tire walk, PPE selection by chemistry, SDS Sections 4 & 8.
Tier 2 – Starter
$32/hr
Cross-equipment to a second trailer type (DOT-412 or ISO tank), gasket selection (Viton/EPDM/PTFE/Buna-N), full 16-section SDS literacy, max payload calc, cold-weather management.
Tier 3 – Medium
$34/hr
Two trailer types unsupervised, hazmat manifest review, basic mechanical diagnostics (fuse + bulb, document leaks precisely), R1 chain installation validated in person, TX/LA backhaul proficiency.
Tier 4 – Advanced
$36/hr
All three trailer types, 5th-wheel + king-pin + air-system diagnosis, formal mentor sign-off authority for new hires, R2 chain installation.
Tier 5 – Expert
$38/hr
Has trained at least one driver from Tier 1 to Tier 2, manual S-cam brake adjustment, expert manifest review, owns team-wide tire and chain culture.
Senior hires with verified multi-equipment hazmat tank experience can start as high as Tier 3 ($34) or Tier 4 ($36) based on skills evaluation — not negotiation.
Two Quarterly Bonus Pools (paid on top of base wages)Pool 1 — Team Safety & Compliance Bonus: $200/driver/quarter
Open to all drivers (and dispatch). Two layers, both must hit:
- Team-wide (all-or-nothing): Zero preventable accidents · Zero DOT roadside OOS · Zero NRC-reportable hazmat incidents · Zero blown tires · Zero customer complaints to ownership.
- Individual: 100% pre-trip and post-trip DVIR completion during the quarter, verified by Samsara ELD.
Pool 2 — Senior Tier Retention Bonus (Tier 3+ only)
Tier
Quarterly
Annual
Effective rate
Tier 3
$500
$2,000
~$35/hr
Tier 4
$1,000
$4,000
~$38/hr
Tier 5
$1,875
$7,500
~$41–42/hr
Bonus checks run Q1: Apr 15–30 · Q2: Jul 15–30 · Q3: Oct 15–30 · Q4: Jan 15–30. They show up as separate line items on your paystub — BONUS-SAFETY-COMPLIANCE and BONUS-RETENTION — so you can see them clearly.
How performance is measured (no subjective opinions)
Your pace and progression are tracked from data, not from a supervisor’s gut feel:
- Samsara — ELD, HOS, DVIR completion, fuel, idle, hard-braking events.
- RoseRocket — load timestamps, on-time pickup/delivery.
- Rippling — time and attendance, training-module completion.
Three pace dimensions: utilization (days worked vs. scheduled), per-lane delivery time vs. your peers (±15% of team median on the same lane), and per-lane delivery time vs. rate-bid cycle time (Tier 3+ expectation).
Formal performance reviews June 1 and December 1 every year, with 30-minute informal check-ins each quarter. You know how you’re tracking before any review conversation happens.
What you’ll do day-to-day
- Operate DOT-407, DOT-412, and ISO tank trailers transporting bulk hazmat chemicals across the Western US and TX/LA backhauls.
- Multi-day OTR runs — Reno trips ~2 days, Portland ~4 days, Texas backhauls 7+ days.
- Load and unload at industrial chemical sites with full PPE discipline matched to the chemistry.
- Complete pre-trip and post-trip inspections (DVIR per 49 CFR 396.11), maintain ELD/HOS compliance.
- Sign manifests accurately, verify placarding, complete BOL documentation — we’d rather lose a load than ship one out wrong.
- Communicate professionally with dispatch, customers, and TSDF personnel.
- Maintain truck and trailer condition; flag mechanical issues precisely so the mechanic can fix them fast.
Required at hire
- CDL Class A with Hazmat (H) and Tanker (N) endorsements (or combined X).
- Current DOT Medical Card.
- TWIC — active or willing to apply within 30 days (we pay the fee and help you enroll).
- Clean MVR — no DUI ever; no preventable accidents in the past 3 years; no more than 2 moving violations in the past 3 years.
- Pass DOT pre-employment drug screen, FMCSA Clearinghouse query, and PSP report.
- Age 21+ (FMCSA interstate requirement).
- English proficiency per 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2).
Preferred experience
- 2+ years hazmat tank experience (DOT-407 or DOT-412).
- 2+ years multi-day OTR with a verifiable on-time record.
- Prior experience at industrial chemical sites, refinery-style protocols, PPE-disciplined sites.
- Comfort with pre-trip diagnostics and basic troubleshooting (air system, brakes, lights).
- Willingness to learn — hazmat class identification, blow-down procedures, equipment cross-training.
The kind of driver who does well here
The chemical hauling business runs on trust. Shippers who trust us send us more freight, at better rates, with cleaner lanes. That trust starts with our drivers. We’re looking for people who:
- Know what they don’t know and ask the question.
- Take feedback as a tool, not a criticism.
- Treat customer sites with the same respect they’d want at their own home.
- Prefer to fix a small issue now rather than become OOS later.
- Want to grow — there’s a clear path from Beginner to Expert here, and from Expert to lead/dispatch/operations management.
Authority to refuse. If you judge a load unsafe to take or a route unsafe to continue, you have authority to stop or turn around. No driver is penalized for that decision.
What SWS commits to in return
- All PPE provided at no cost — chemical-resistant gloves (Viton, EPDM, nitrile, PVC matched to load chemistry), respirator + cartridges, annual OSHA 1910.134 fit test, Tyvek for higher-risk transfers, hard hat, hearing protection, safety glasses, face shield.
- Training paid by the company — 13-module curriculum (M0–M12), hazmat recurrent training every 3 years (49 CFR 172.704), annual MVR pulls (49 CFR 391.25), ELD certification.
- Quarterly 30-minute check-ins with ops leadership, on company time.
- Yard infrastructure — Liberty Mutual RC226 mirror check station, camlock practice rig, gasket selection samples.
- Paid time off and paid holidays per company policy.
- Health insurance subsidy — $500/month toward a plan you pick on the California individual marketplace (Covered California). That’s $6,000/year on top of your wages while we build toward a full company group plan. We’ll walk you through plan selection during onboarding.
How to apply
Email a current driving resume plus your MVR (or authorization to pull one) to:
[email protected]
Process: phone screen → in-person interview and skills evaluation at Otay Mesa → reference checks → DOT pre-employment → offer letter with your starting tier in writing.
We are extremely selective. If you read this post and the structure makes sense to you — the published bands, the data-driven pace methodology, the bonus pools, the safety-first culture — we’d like to talk.
Posting details
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $30.00 – $38.00 per hour (base) + quarterly bonuses (see above)
Schedule: Multi-day OTR, 2–7 days out depending on lane
Work Location: On the road; home base Otay Mesa, CA 92154
License/Certification Required: CDL Class A with Hazmat + Tanker endorsements
Pay: $30.00 - $38.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
