Midland/Odessa area. Frac, Sand or Crude?

1. With your experience, crude. 100%

2. Nope. It's a rare sight indeed, and the ones you do see generally are working in the data van or the logistics side rather than hauling iron with everyone else.

3. 12 hour shifts, rigging up and rigging down is hard work, the rest of it is sitting around and waiting, making sure nothing breaks or leaks (too much).

4. Crude, crude, and crude.

Pros: More money (in general), less silica dust in your lungs (a big plus unless you want lung cancer down the road).

Cons: DOT loves to look for things to knock crude haulers for around here.

Still, I would go crude if I were you.

5. There are absolutely RV spaces around, all you have to do is call around and you'll definitely find something.

Good luck.

 

TracyN, I'm not being a jerk about this, but it would behoove you to read a lot more of these threads. The oil patch is different than any other Trucking job. Schneider tried to "make it fit the box".......... and it just doesn't fit. It's a demanding work environment and has a lot of fluctuations. When there's work available, it needs to be done asap. There are several different factors that have to all work together and there are going to be problems with something, somewhere along the line. Things break. Things leak. Things wear out. Different jobs have different "reasonable expectations". Some are much more "schedule" friendly than others. Crude seems like a good choice as far as regularity ( and pay ) but be aware ahead of time that Vacuum ( Water Bottles ), Winch Trucks, Gin Pole Trucks and Sand Trucks are very "on demand" jobs. I've said this before and I'll probably feel compelled to say it again, if you are young enough and in good enough shape working as part of a Frac Crew has many benefits. Scheduled Time Off. Good Money. ( in many cases, better than most of the "Truck jobs" ) Insurance coverage, etc. etc. plus they feed you ! and there are sleeping quarters on site. Plus the opportunity to get cleaned up after a shift. Not to be gross, but a Porta-john ( or 10 ) is always within a few hundred feet. A lot of the Truck jobs are much less desirable than working on a Frac Crew. Just be aware that most Driving jobs demand service when it's needed, not after a "break" is finished. There's a lot of other people and equipment depending on you doing your part to keep work progressing as smoothly as possible, the same as you are relying on them to do the same. Some times things are slow and hours are few, but when things are fast you don't just stop because it's 70 hours. 100 and more can be expected of you at times. It fluctuates, so be prepared for either extreme. Good Luck and Best Wishes.

 

In shape and young enough to work frac crew??? LOL!!! Few are. Most are chug butts. And lots of hands out there 40-50-60+. Mainly because they have real work ethic missing in so many young folks these days. And frac crew is not that tough. Set up and run machine. Some are more physical than others. But not like drilling. Heat is main physical challenge in TX. Depending on which Yahoo is running safety. Can be forced to wear lot of real hot stuff on real hot day/night. Spend money and get Nomex coveralls. Best money you will ever spend. Super light and better protection. But you are correct about the hours. Grab sleep where you can. Not happy but not sad when something goes wrong and they tell you that coiled tubing is on the way to fix it. That means a good long sleep.

 

I've seen lots of people post opinion on frac crews and what it's like working on one but your never gonna know until you've done it. We've got a few guys on my crew in their late forties and early fifties and to be honest 90% of the time they can't hang when it gets real tough. Tell me how easy fracing is after you've worked a thirty six hour shift and then you've gotta rig down 30 pieces of equipment in ankle deep mud. I've seen many tough men lay down in the dirt and fall asleep because their so exhausted. Some days in frac can be real easy but the days that suck really suck.

 

Big Duker, yeah, that was my point. I'm too old for it myself BUT if I'd have had this opportunity when I was younger I'd have been all over it INSTEAD of doing the Truck job. We've been past the 36 hour mark ( barely ) but at least weren't facing "rigging down". Frac Crew don't always have it hard and tough, but my Cane and Walker straps down real good on the Catwalk. I think I'll just leave 'em there.

 

I saw just the opposite mainly with Trican and Weatherford and Compass. Young guys quitting after short while. Ones that stuck it out had great future ahead of them. Mostly ex military used to bad conditions. No women I can remember. Tough in spurts. Lot of sitting at controls on top of kings opening doors. New guys did lot of shoveling. Everyone did lot of shoveling if something went bad wrong. Set up and break down was normal hard work. Easier then lumber tarping on windy day. Hours are long as in all patch jobs. You can be inside control shack in a/c running job for 12+ hrs and get really tired. Everyone has their opinion on what is tough job. And I meet very few who don't consider theirs the worst. Especially lot of women working in offices. lol
Oil patch pays you for your time and discomfort. Money to be made if you want it bad enough. Once you get accustomed to it not so bad. Especially in US. Can go where you want on time off and eat shop etc.
Not like working in Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan , etc. Give it a try. Feels good to be part of a team that does a good job and pays you decent wages. Lot better then sitting around on Gov dole waiting for something to fall from the sky that never does.

 

Take a look, this is one of the better companies in the business.

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