Frac Sand info for O/O

What you will need.


Truck with sleeper (APU is nice but not completely necessary). Mid type sleeper is biggest you should go due to the loading docks are overhead and you will have to back under to load or drag off your top. Muffler pipes must be able to clear the overhead loading chute as well.



Truck with blower 850 CFM is the absolute bare minimum and you will have to over speed it by 20% to keep up. Ideal blower size is around 1000 CFM set to over speed at 12%. The 1000 with 50 foot or less hose will blow off under 35 minutes, with short hose around 20 minutes depending on the skill of the operator on loading up the system without plugging up.


Truck with 370 to 390 rear ends is almost a given, higher will prove to very problematic negotiating the narrow gravel roads. Sooner or later you will get stuck and the dozier will pull you out I don’t care what your truck is or can do or how good you can drive.



Truck must have hooks or pullout points on the front and the pneumatic trailer must have the same on the tail. Without proper pull points you WILL have severe damage especially to the trailer after a hard pullout.


You will need a minimum of 80 foot of heavy wear grade discharge hose. Recommended 30 attached to the trailer and rolled up. Two twenty foot on the fenders and one 10 foot as well. Ends are quick connect of steel (don’t even think of the standard aluminum cast connectors; the abrasion factor of the sand will burn through them quickly).


Exterior lights are a big plus for night unloading (end of trailer and sides are the best).


Other stuff to follow:


Rates you need to have to turn a profit and what many will offer.


Preparing a tanker (pneumatic trailer) to go from cement/fly ash to sand hauling.


Financial compensation for dentition time; what you need to know and be prepared for.

 

The statements here are my own based on considerable research and as a fleet owner hauling frac sand. Frac sand hauling is not your standard pay per mile per ton.
YMMV... (Your Mileage May Vary)


Mr. Big Drilling company needs 30 loads of frac sand Monday morning at 8 am. Mr. BD does not have time or the desire to call 30 individuals to set up sand hauls. He calls one number to a company you as owner operator has a lease with. It’s worth your diligence in research to be as high up the food chain as you can be and by that I mean leased to the company receiving the call.



The good the bad and the ugly.


If you are leased to a company which is in turn leased from the one receiving the phone call you are not getting the best deal for your unit. It is simple math; Mr. BD pays so much to whom he places the call to and they pay you. If you are a sub of a sub or even lower the extra middle company takes it’s cut from YOUR part of the deal.




Fair Deal
You will have a fuel card to use and we will deduct that from your weekly pay. You don’t have to use our card but we have made a deal with XXX truck stops and you will find you are getting a good break in cost compared to the posted prices. Do what you want.


Bad Deal.
We have a fuel card and you are required to use it. You will be required to put down an XXXX deposit and maintain a minimum amount always on deposit. We will charge you a X% handling charge to use the card.


Fair Deal
We pay once per week with a hold back of two weeks, checks are deposited directly to your account.


Bad Deal.
We pay once per week with a hold back of two weeks, checks are deposited directly to your account. There is a x% handling charge and we will subtract XX for the transaction.


Ugly Deal.
We pay at 45 days or when the customer pays us but never less than 45 days.


Fair Deal
A split of 80/20. You the owner operator get the 80%.
Pay for drivers drug testing.



Bad Deal
The above mentioned charges are added but not limited to..
Use of fuel card
Deposit fees for monies received

Satellite Tracking system they own but you pay to get and maintain.
Insurance on your rig.
(exceptions would be if you lease a trailer or tractor from them but this posting is for owner operators not leased operators).
Additional insurance charges for the driver to be on the rig site.
Pay a company authorized agent to "inspect" your truck.




Next time



Demurrage time or waiting time to unload and what you need to be paid for it.

 

So you arrive at the well site ready to go but in front of you is a line waiting to blow off the sand. Or worse case is the driller does not need for some unknown period of time.


Good Deal
Two hours after you arrive you will draw an hourly rate of 65 dollars per hour (remember this 65 per hour is subject to the 80/20 so really you are being paid 80 of 65 or 52 dollars per hour).


Fair but not great
Two hours after you arrive you will draw detention; maximum is set at a cap of 14 hours after which you will not be paid for the next ten hours. After the ten you will be paid again up to 14 hours and the cycle repeats.


Bad Deal
4 or more hours before you can receive detention time and you are being paid 45 dollars figure the split (provided you get the 80/20 and not something less) now you are down to 36 dollars per hour. Add the 14 hour cap (some are even less like 8 hours) and you have a raw deal for the truck and driver. Less say you pay the driver 25 per-cent of the gross then your driver is working for 9 dollars an hour. Say he was there for 24 hours with the cap method he and your truck will only draw pay for the first 14 hours. You do the math and the driver is working for less than 6 dollars an hour before taxes.

Being paid to wait is a very important part of your income. Get leased out to the wrong company and this will cost your profit.


To who the sand is going will usually determine the pay schedule concerning a cap on the length of time. In all cases the company you are leased out to has negotiated a pre-set amount of pay rate. An honest company will always tell you up front what that rate is. If it is lower than what I have stated above your leased to wrong folks, they are taking too much off the top.

 

OK that is it.

Sorry I do not have enough posts to answer the private emails.

Lots of info I have skipped over but this will give you a starting point.

And one other word from an old man (me).

Be VERY concerned when you sit down to talk about leasing on to haul frac sand if you get a long speech on how much money you are going to make and how great this is going to be. This selling trick is a sure sign something is not right and the true facts are not being told to you.

The low pay companies are working hard to sell you on the massive profits to be made (which relates to what they are making not you)!
The legit ones sort of lay out the deal and that is it and never pressure you to sign up.

The last point is the most important one.

This sand hauling is white hot in the state of Texas and surrounding states. If you do your homework you can sign on to a legit company and make good money.

The bad news:

Every month scores of more haulers are coming into the picture, what is sure to happen is the market will be saturated with haulers and the prices for truckers will drop. I have already witnessed the warning signs of this. On the drillers side Frac sand requirements will only continue to increase and for now they can not manufacture enough or haul enough but it will change as it does in any free and open market. Don't be the one standing up when the music stops and it will stop for many sooner than later.

Best of luck on your sand hauling.

If you see me on the side of the road PICK me up OK!

 

I will not give out any specific information on any company by name. YOu have all you need to answer the questions by asking the above questions before you sign the lease.

For me to name names would only turn this thread into a he said she said flame.

The less than top pay companies have a heard of "head hunters" out there working on commission to sign you up.

I started my investigation by following a frac hauler to their point of loading and visiting with the various drivers in line to be loaded. In less than one hour I had a page of names and ideas. It won't take long and you will hear the bad guys names come up over and over.

Do take the time to talk to folks first hand; never go by the he said and I heard them say rumors.

And the CB talk is NOT first hand.