Dangers in working the Oil Fields---Trucking?

yeah there are not street lights in nd...lol a busy location will have some light plants on site but most the time the only lighting will be on your truck

when it gets cold, its cold, and equipment does not like it ether. pumps and blowers and truck operated equipment tends to be finicky when its cold

yes you do have to go outside in the cold, spend some money on warm clothing come winter

narrow roads steep hills on glare ice that has not been plowed in weeks and never salted. driving can be a challenge even to experienced drivers in the winter time. at at times even during the summer months when theirs no gravel left on the road and its all clay and it rains.

how to do it all safely, use you're head. don't let yourself get in a hurry.

 

There's plenty of videos on the oil fields and what its exactly like.Not anything positive from what I saw and heard on those videos.But that was also in ND.I do know they have wicked winters.I would think Texas would be a better location to work in the Winter.

 

Very many drivers get stuck even with chains on and has to call a wrecker?If so who has to pay the bill?I know in reg trucking some companies will make the drivers pay.

 

getting stuck is common. if you are working for a oil field company most the time they will send a wench truck to pull you out. witch isn't really a tow truck but used for lifting/moving tanks ect and have 100k+ rated winches on them. sometimes a fellow truck driver can hook onto you and pull you out if you just need a little tug. every once in a while it might take a big wrecker to get you out. but if your stuck that bad you probably should have used your head before you got in that situation. if your a hired driver unless you did somthing really stupid to get yourself stuck the company will pay the bill to get you out. getting stuck can just be part of the job at times. if you use your head you can avoid it most of time but iv always said if you have never been stuck in the oil fields you have not been in the oil fields long.

spring of 2011 after big snow falls winter 2010-11 it was almost a weekly thing to get stuck in the mud. did a frac that spring where they pulled every truck in up a muddy hill with a dozer. you would just drive up till you spun stop and the cat would back down and hook onto you and pull you the rest of the way up.

 

[video]http://vid11.photobucket.com/albums/a170/Ezrider_42101/DSCF2767.mp4[/video]

 

Yes there are dangers in the oilfield, but the same dangers are there for OTR. Winter weather is NO fun anytime.

Getting stuck, with chains on, normal occurrence.

Driving at night with just the truck lights, yea, but many have spot lights, and extra lights to help with that... On the dirt roads/lease roads, many times if it was new to me, i used the spot light as an additional bright light so I could see ahead for curves. Usually I was the only truck in the area.

If we were chained up, then there was no problem from the company that we got stuck. no chains, 10% reduction in safety bonus per incident. And I do know for some of the fields we went into, the company billed the producer, for the tow bill, since they did not maintain the lease roads.

Never worked outdoors in freezing weather, wind blowing, better learn what thermal underwear are, and how to dress in layers.

Smells, yes crude oil smells, like money in my pocket. Dangerous smells, the companies issue you monitors for the dangerous ones.

A person has to learn, take it easy, work slower in the cold, you and the equipment both hate the cold.

But you also need to learn how to work in the heat, and not get dehydrated.

 

Not sure how ND compares to OK or TX, but one aspect may be gases coming from the well. My brother wears a HazMat suit and oxygen tank on some wells. Pay attention to the wind sock and on site safety manager.

 

There are H2S wells out here but most companies provide you with a mask and those sites with H2S should either have a digital gauge or supplied oxygen to hook into your mask.

As its been said, getting stuck with chains on is pretty normal. You have to know how to properly keep your momentum and work your throttle and that comes with experience. Applies to ice and mud. I don't think its been mentioned but its windy here with dry snow, so even if it hasn't been snowing drifts and snow blowing across the road is a common occurrence.

 

Good thread.
I was doing some research too about this...and (from what i've found) it looks like this type of driving could be (and is) very dangerous. I guess that's why they make big $.

Anyway, i would suggest you also do some video viewing on You Tube. I saw one today where a driver (young guy) got a call from his boss who informed him that one of his co-workers (an older guy) had an accident and died. (not trying to be a downer) but this does happen.

Also, do a search on driving deaths in the Bakken. Remember, its not just the trucks but other drivers who don't know where they are going that cause accidents.

For what's its worth, I think that you should get some experience in driving....then perhaps consider going out there.