I carry a class A cdl, and have since the inception of the CDL. I drove a commercial rig of one sort or another for a living, until April of 04.
I still carry a nearly fully endorsed CDL, I reapplied for a lapsed HAZMAT endorsement just this afternoon. X and H endorsements (x is tanks and hazmat) require a background check and fingerprinting. Cost for check and prints is $89 and some change. The test isn't too difficult, read the manual and try it out.
Motor vehicle compliance is easy enough to warrant the fees and time for me, and the fines for non-compliance are steep.
The only endorsements I haven't had are the bus endorsements, I don't haul anything that walks off the truck. No bullracks, no people-wagons. If I had to choose I'd pick a bullrack over a bus, cattle are easy to get along with.
This will be an issue of growing importance in the industry as states look for revenue, fines and fees on companies (especially small operations) are too tempting to lawmakers, and it is easy to scapegoat us as non-compliant businesses trying to get away with endangering children by hauling dangerous chems without a piece of paper saying we know how to be safe.
Another important point in this topic is inspection and logging-paperwork. Motor carrier enforcement is notoriously bad at standardizing statute interpretation, so find out how your state interprets the laws, and how they expect you to comply. Then comply.
This is serious CYA in today's litigious society, and we need to manage our risks aggressively, and intelligently.