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Drivers needed to transport nuclear weapons across US

Government agency seeks long-haul truckers for nuclear materials

Pictured is one of the tractor-trailers used to haul nuclear materials across the nation’s highways. (Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration)

A recent U.S. government job posting is a reminder that trucks carry some pretty interesting cargo across the country.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking drivers based in Amarillo, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to transport nuclear weapons and other materials across the country. 

The job posting for “nuclear materials couriers” closed on Tuesday and is currently reviewing candidates, according to NNSA. The salary ranges from $52,248 to $76,981 a year and candidates would need to obtain a top-secret security clearance.

Atomic analyst Stephen Schwartz tweeted about the job opportunity on Wednesday, saying that “nuclear weapons and weapons materials are regularly in transit on U.S. highways, moving between Department of Defense operational bases and National Nuclear Security Administration facilities like the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.”


Some of the duties for an NNSA “nuclear materials courier” include protecting some of the country’s most important military secrets, coordinating with law enforcement agencies to investigate potential criminal or terrorist acts and potentially even using “deadly force to prevent theft, sabotage or takeover by unauthorized persons.”

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9 Comments

  1. Shadrick powell

    I’m a former marine if the pay was double they supplied the weapons and undercover team to back me up I’d do it in a heartbeat

  2. B. Eidson

    I was a truck driver for 20+ Year and when I saw the pay, I wanted to laugh. There is NO way in hell that I would, for 1 haul anything for the government for that small amount of pay , and 2 do they have any idea of the dangers of hauling that anywhere. Most accidents are from cars. You want a driver with experience. Then you better pay that person a whole lot more. I have an idea. Take that number. Roll it up into a tight wade and shove it tight up your ass. Now times it by 10. 100. Hell 1000. And that’s who you are looking for. That’s the real truth. I’m tired of my brothers and sisters being used then tossed away like a piece of trash. I mean Lowe’s is hiring new people in the door $70,000+ a year and they think $80,000+/- I’d good pay. Those Lowe’s employees get to go home at the end of their day. Not truck drivers. Nope you get to sleep in a bunk and the heat or a/c might not even work. Plus when your driving career is over your body hurts and there is no help for you!

  3. Josh

    This is pretty ridiculous. Why are commercial truck drivers transporting nuclear warheads in the first place? Why aren’t very secure military convoys doing that, and why not on trains? Why is ANY nuclear material going over the roads, in fact?

    1. Ray W Hochstedler

      I guess you have been in a secluded environment for the last 40 years or so. TSMT was transporting Nuclear all that time and munitions for the military as well. Nuclear on a rail is traceable, nuclear on a truck is harder to track by the bad guys.

    2. Shadrick powell

      It is much harder to track in a no conspicuous commercial vehicle that looks like every other truck on the road a military convory or train would be an easy target

  4. Alan

    For such a dangerous job. The pay is substandard, I bet the time off sucks too, I can work part time and make double there highest pay. Plus unlimited home. Maybe if there job paid $200k plus , with unlimited family benefits. I might maybe think about it.

Comments are closed.

Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact [email protected]