crude oil trucking

Crude is payin big bucks, but you pretty well gotta know someone to get in since its a pretty tight knit group, and you gotta be willing to work 15+ hrs a day...
It aint no 9-5 monday to friday job, thats for sure...

 

Not true.... In fact I know of 2 O/O with Plains Midstream went the immigration route to get drivers. There are lots of companies big and small looking for guys. I ran for Plains, mostly hauling condensate out of Mt and ND and really enjoyed it. Look on Kijiji and the ads are there. I know O/O for Co-oP are always in need of people to run.... Generally for these 2 examples you work a 5-on 5 -off schedule.

 

LOL...5 on 5 off?? You must have the best job out there! The best schedule I have run across was 7 on 3 off 7 on 4 off...

 

That's generally the rule in Sask from my experience. Most pay percentage and when I was hustling for those 5 days a guy would NET 4500 - 7500/mnth.

And keep in mind that if the owner only has one driver you could work more... 5 and 2.

 

I can speak from personal knowledge that most of the crude haulers working on percentage generally make 27-35$/hr. Keep in mind, leaving yard at 5am, no stopping, eating sandwiches or last nights supper and not dawdling. If someone had told me ten years ago drivers would be making 4-500$ day I would have called ########. But with trucking at capacity, demand for trucks/trailers units and supply down the rates are finally coming around.
But costs have gone up, shops charging 125$/hr backyard mechanics charging 80$ and tires 5-600$ each. I pay my drivers percentage and I hang a copy of my pay statement in the shop so they can verify they are indeed getting the true percentage. It sounds tempting as an o/o to get into but it's a hell of a job, fluid hauling is an adventure in the winter and we earn our pay, whereas in July sipping on a slurpee driving in shorts it's a cake walk lol.

There's a advertisement in the Saskatoon star Phoenix newspaper for hufnagel hauling in Lloydminster looking for drivers if anyone's interested. Lodging,company vehicle,tons of extras. But the ad comes and goes and one has to wonder is it the driver or the company?

 

I have only ever worked hauling heavy crude and bitumen. I own 2 trucks in the patch in northern Alberta and am buying a 3rd. I work 7 days on 7 days off and my employee works 14 on 7 off. The 5 on 5 off is quite common with plains midstream as they are federal carriers and you must be pro rated to be on with them but they only hire o/o. As for jobs it is so easy to get work in the oilfield, kijiji has so many crude jobs its rediculous. You are going to be working 15 hour days in Alberta 14 in Saskatchewan but if you wanna make the money you gotta work hard.

 

Absolutely spot on right, I remember when the "Pro rate or quit" ulitmatum came in, alot of o/o's thought it would be the end of the world, but in reality, the sun still came up the next day. As an o/o who did run interprovincial and would buy monthly AB permits, some months we would run 30days in AB, sometimes you would spend 300$ on a permit and literally haul 3 loads and never cross the border again, so a complete waste of money. And by some guys being pro-rated, some not, some with permits, different GVW's etc.. it was a nightmare for the dispatchers.

For the Sask trucks who didn't ever cross that border, the pro-rate or quit ultimatum was unfair, hands down, for the guys who did run across the borders daily, it just saved having to renew monthly, or every 3 months.

For anyone that has never pro-rated on their own, its a paperwork job to get it, to renew it, and to add/delete vehicles. Its definately not as easy as going down to the local SGI office, and 4 mins later have a new weight class and sticker. And with pro-rate theres no easy monthly financing thru SGI like regular plates, and it costs 7-9000 a year for 63,500 depending on mileages up front and at once.

I think for your first pro-rate plate, you can have a 90 day renewal, then its yearly renewals after that. Plus having to drive to your SGI office, not a local broker to renew yearly.

As of right now Plains isn't hiring, heard that from a guy who called them Friday, currently a bit over trucked in some areas.

 

Well I assume you dont have your own prorate as you figures are WAY off. I signed up for my first time prorate this summer and to license a truck at 63500 running in BC/AB/SK it was a total of $2408 for the year. It was a slight bit of ppwk, but by no means anything to be concerned or worried about. It took me about 20 mins to fill it out and fax it in and by the end of the day (about 6 hrs later) I had an email to print off to take to the registry so they could make me a cab card and assign me a plate...not a big deal at all I didnt think...

 

Depends what u r hauling and where. The prorate for condie out of ND and MT is about 25g's a year. There is a co in regina that does it all for ya that makes it quite hassle free (but there is a fee obviously). Its the other stuff that sux....drug polict/testing, safety, hazmat and WHIMIS programs that need to be in place.