I use to drive over the road then went regional then stopped driving for a while then back into it again. then I saw an ad for a CDL truck drivers position drivers make around $18 hour and up depending on experience. Well I jumped on board, what a mistake that was! I ended up driving about 2% of the time the rest I was working in the field away from home, now most of us that have experience driving trucks dont get the chance to drive they want to give their less experienced drivers a chance to improve, hey Im all for that but when you have the kind of HazMat loads they have letting a Rookie driver go out by himself isnt a good idea! I have been employed with this company for almost 2 years now, why you ask? Well most trucking companies REFUSE to even talk with you about a job once you mention the oil & gas field!! One company told me their insurance would not cover a driver who just came from the oil & gas field mainly because oil & gas field companies DOT rating is low! and with the drivers being punished now too for problems with that only the company can fix, hurts the drivers DOT score.
I have found a couple of comapnies that would take me but sveral of them wants me to take a refresher and drive with a trainer for about a month or so. I have about 4 years CDL driving experience, I have even taken an approved DOT CDL driving course and still most companies wont hire me, they all say go drive for someone OTR for atleast 6 months then come talk to us.
Now driving water trucks to these well locations is ok for most companies they will hire you, they just wont hire you if you work for one of the oil & gas field companies.
Just had to share this.
Thinking of Switching from OTR, REGIONAL to drive for oil & gas field companies? READ
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by emt892, Mar 15, 2012.
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Oil and gas field companies. You mean natural gas, or are you referring to people who haul gasoline? There's nothing bad about being a gas hauler. I did it for awhile, and even though it wasn't the best money, companies really like hiring someone with experience hauling liquid combustibles, especially if applying for a hazmat and/or tanker job.
emt892 Thanks this. -
"Hurts the driver's DOT score.
Sorry. It's been a while. What is a drivers DOT score?
Also,
Why would you leave a 90K per year oilfield job to go drive OTR for someone and make half that pay for the same amount of hours?
Thanksemt892 Thanks this. -
emt892 Thanks this.
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emt892 Thanks this.
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The field you drive in has nothing to do with why OTR companies don't want you.
If you leave OTR to go local they want you to start out at the bottom if you are away from OTR to long so they can pay you less.
Many companies do not consider local driving commensurate with OTR so they want you to retrain. They want to see continuous OTR because they think you are just biding your time till the next good local gig comes your way.
Many local outfits don't even require you to go to a CDL school they will train you for free. And why drivers pay thousands to get a CDL and then go local is beyond me because if they decide to go OTR most of the companies will want them to go to school again anyway.
You also seem to be saying that you had crappy equipment and got dot points because you choose to drive it and now other company INS req keep you from getting hired . Now days if you don't want points then you get the issues fixed and if the company refuses then you have to find a job elsewhere and keep you record clean. No more taking a bad trailer to the scale house to force the company to fix. Now you either get it fixed or you don't move the equipment. -
More hometime driving truck than working in the field.
I have actually found several "big" name and small trucking companies that can make about the same money as a company driver. It's not all about the money, why would anyone work at a job they dont like? for the money? you cant take it with you when you go.JerryC Thanks this. -
I get what you mean, what I mean by local is a chance to be home several times during the week but still driving in several states. Our "crappy" equipment meaning things that I cant personally fix, only the company can fix like documentation or major repairs. Recently (end of Feb) one of our employees was stopped at weigh station for an inspection, the IFTA sticker was ordered but didnt have them present on the truck, even with the grace period which is until 1st of march The driver and the company got a fine for this. The lady who is responsible for taking care of DOT paperwork was fired and had not been replaced causing a delay in the ordering of the required IFTA stickers.
We have had some trucks with "issues" things that you know is going to need replaced but will pass an inspection "today". since we are out for months at a time somethings go bad while youre out. We cant get the company to replace these things "they dont need replaced yet, it will pass an inspection". Puts you bewtween a rock and a hard place.
Thanks for the comment BIGBLUE19 -
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