Randy Anderson has logged more than four million miles in a professional driving career that began in 1967, when he was fresh out of high school.
Office of Environmental Management
April 23, 2019
minute read time
CARLSBAD, N.M. – Randy Anderson has logged more than four million miles in a professional driving career that began in 1967, when he was fresh out of high school.
He’s driven many of those miles while transporting transuranic (TRU) waste to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
“I work with a great group of people,” said Anderson, whose career has brought him to all lower 48 states. “They are the best drivers you will ever find on the nation’s highways.”
At his brother’s suggestion, Anderson, a Wisconsin native, moved to Carlsbad and began work for CAST Specialty Transportation, which was awarded its first contract for WIPP transportation services in 1995. CAST continues to work for WIPP today in the same capacity.
“I was actually the second driver hired by CAST when they received the contract,” Anderson said.
Anderson is a man of many firsts and lasts. On March 26, 1999, he was one of two drivers to deliver the first TRU waste shipment to WIPP, coming from DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Anderson supported the first waste shipment to WIPP from the Hanford Site in Washington state, and also helped deliver to WIPP the first remote-handled waste shipment and the first shipment using a TRUPACT-III shipping container.
As for a last, Anderson was part of the team to transport the final TRU waste shipment from the now-closed Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado to WIPP.
WIPP drivers must meet extensive driving and background requirements before being considered for employment. Once employed, they receive training on transporting TRU waste from generator sites across the country. This includes package securement devices, use of radiation detection equipment, emergency management, and much more. In all, WIPP drivers receive almost 200 hours of training before they transport their first shipment of TRU waste.
WIPP drivers have safely transported over 12,000 shipments of TRU waste, totaling over 14.8 million safe loaded miles.
“I have been fortunate to be a part of many of these shipments, but I didn’t do it alone. I have always had great co-drivers,” Anderson said. “This is truly a team effort. We help each other. We all take great pride in our safety record and the safety of the shipments.”