Could someone give some details on hauling crude

have you looked at the obamacare.gov?

there's also ehealthinsurance.com. that one's been around a LONG time. much cheaper then work insurance.

 

Hauling crude seems pretty simple....I have a week or two left of training before going out alone. The biggest challenge I'm going to face is finding the leases.

I don't know the area well....(okay accidental pun!).....and to me everything out here looks the same.

Find lease, work the oil, fill the tanker, drive to station, unload oil, do paperwork each stage, go to next lease....lather, rinse repeat!

Average around $300/day in a 12/hr shift 5 days each week.

Fairly simple. Just don't wreck truck, spill oil or get ticket.

 

Crude vs fuel

Crude uses 3" and 4" hoses with standard fluid heads. Crude trucks stay filthy, inside and out. Crude trucks normally stay within 100 miles of terminal. Crude trucks are generally in poor condition, and would not pass a DOT inspection. Crude drivers are always dirty. Crude drivers climb and strap (measure) oil tanks out in the open elements with many more types of hazardous fumes in the air. Crude drivers get back in the truck and relax while oil is loading/offloading because nobody else is around for miles.

Fuel uses the same hoses but with fuel heads. Fuel trucks generally stay cleaner. Fuel trucks can drive hours to each drop. Fuel trucks, for whatever reason, are better maintained. Fuel drivers are usually clean in person and uniform. Fuel drivers wait in line at the rack and load in safe conditions. Fuel drivers usually do their work in sight of oil workers if delivering to an oil rig or, in the case of retail delivery, in front of customers, and usually cannot just get back in the cab to warm up while fuel is offloading.

The $300/day quoted above is on the low end, from what I am seeing from o/o, but sounds about right regarding working for a big company. Crude haulers I know working for an o/o make from $350-$500/day based on 14 hrs/day, 5 days/wk. Look for jobs paying $30/hr straight time or 30% commission. The dollar amount will come out the same, unless your firm or o/o pays extra for wait time, chain-up, pre/post trip, etc. One guy I know hauls water and makes $30 an hour on time loads and 30% commission on barrel loads, and brings home $15k/month. But he never comes home, lol.

Watch out for traps in oil patch jobs, like bosses wanting to carry (spend) some of your compensation until after you leave or get fired. Another one is paying bi-weekly or monthly, which sounds innocent enough until you get cheated once or twice. Another one is working as self-employed or on a 1099. Working 1099 or SE means you have to get paid 40% more just to break even with the same job via W-2, after insurance, SSI, Medicare, income tax and other goodies. This is a dangerous line of work, and only you can make sure your firm is legit and carries workers comp insurance from the state. In ND, such insurance is optional. If they dont, and you get hurt, you're screwed because they dont have to pay you sheet. Good luck suing or sending the labor board after someone without a ND office. They'll just run another ad and get another body in the truck. Same old OTR attitude toward drivers.

Back in the nineties, a new business term was born called "virtual business" meaning a form of business whose value and reputation was not in a traditional "brick and mortar" type of established businesses before the Internet craze. Do not give trust to a business just because they own trucks and seem busy. They could be gone tomorrow and you would be out a month's worth of oil commissions. Don't let it happen.

About insurance... only the big companies offer really good insurance and make it affordable to drivers. Plains Marketing is at the top. $300/mo covers the family, good coverage, starting on day ONE of employment. The o/o offer retail plans that cost you close to a grand per month and are inferior in coverage, deductibles, etc. IMO, you would be better off buying your own emergency/catastrophic plan for $300/mo and paying out-of-pocket for all the doctor visits, prescriptions, shots and antibiotics.

One final thought on insurance: I can appreciate wanting family coverage. Are you planning on bringing them here or leaving them at home? The pros and cons of family relocation are discussed elsewhere on this board, but the point I raise is that ND health insurance may not be valid in your home state, or may offer just a limited number of providers there. Check it out before you consider your insurance "OK" just because you can get it.

Good luck in your decision. Bundle up, it was below zero last night...

 

The $300/day average is as a new driver fresh out of trucking school...you can make more of course.

As for dangerous fumes...EVERYONE in the patch is potentially exposed to H2S...that's why we wear monitors...

At least with the company I work for, all the tanks are strapped already. All we have to do is gauge and work the oil then pump it into the tanker, drive it to the unload station and pump it out.

...it's a pretty easy job.

 

FWIW my company seems to have individuals in each area that run around to leases in a pickup truck doing the strapping, marking and inspecting the sites.

 

Oil haulers, and dirty water haulers, are exposed to 100x more and different fumes than fresh water guys.

 

hello guys I been hauling crude oil for the last year first its better if you have a cell phone with satellite maps so you can see where the leases are how looks the tanks and the gravel roads.always keep your h2s thing close to your chest NOT IN YOUR TRUCK OR BACK SIDE OF YOUR HARD HAT!!!!always climb the tanks first take your samples chek temperature check the tank bottom gauge the tank go down back to the truck heat the samples spin the samples to check for (bs&w %)base sediment and water if its good then hook the houses always check the back of the tank there its a small drain valve its have to be close also check the tanks next to tha one you will work with be sure are close too.

 

I know guys who make $1000 per day hauling water during the Winter. Not everyday. But 3 out of 5 days, yep. A grand a day. No, I am not sheeting you. It's out there. Are you willing to sleep six hours a night and live in the truck? Are you willing to eat at truck stops (die early), or (better) stock your own fridge with microwaveable food (no need for a freezer right now, just hang the bag out the window) and forgo daily comforts of life? Willing to say goodbye to "having a life" for a while, shower twice a week and wear the same clothes for three days at a time?

Then do it.