Jobs in ND Oil Patch

What can you expect for income as an owner operator hauling water in Williston. $100 hr for 24 hrs a day is what i heard? Also look for that number to double based on a vaccum attachment?? looking at starting a fleet of 3 trucks running non stop? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

What about an experienced driver with Haz-Mat, Tanker, and Doubles/Triples...BUT has a DUI June of 2009? Any Chance?

 

JWALLACE - most companies, along with mine, require 3 years of the MVR to be pretty clean. DUI in 09 would disqualify you from working for us among many others. Some "mom and pop" outfits might be able to hire you but I really doubt it. I hate to discourage you but it's the truth, and I think that's what you are looking for. Casing Crews/Rigs might hire a guys with a DUI but generally trucking companies wont. Most guys with bad driving records end up on a rig crew or casing crew. Depends how much work you are really looking for. Trucking is the easiest money in the patch for sure. Don't take "easiest" the wrong way. I respect all oilfield trucks, it's really a different world than any other trucking!!!


Truck1331 - I hate to burst your bubble but there is NO ONE in the basin gettting $200/hour for any kind of trucking work. I mean that not even the trucking companies that have the work, much less the owner operators. The majority of trucking companies are making $125-$150 per hour and then paying leasers around 20-30% of the truck. $100/hr is a great rate for hauling water but that would be a vac truck rate. That means your trailer needs to be a "vac trailer". Vac pump mounted on trailer. The company I work for pays leasers a little under $100 per hour for water hauling with a VAC TRAILER. Big difference in speed of unloading and loading. Vac pump unloads in 7 minutes and a roper would unload in 30 minutes. I'm assuming this is for FRESH WATER. Saltwater/or production water is also hauled which would pay about the same but by the barrel rather than by the hour. When waiting in line to load fresh water you can sit there for a few hours. Better hope you are paid by the hour then, right! There is a possibility of hauling 24/7 but you better have 2 drivers per truck. Most legit companies won't let you run your guys so hard they are putting themselves at risk. Don't get me wrong, many fly by night outfits are running hard and causing problems. Drivers falling asleep causing wrecks OR drivers from warm climates that don't know how to drive in winter weather. It snowed 6
inches last week in the basin and plenty of trucks in the ditch already.

You also need to remember that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. There are a lot of guys with trucks trying to get up here and go to work but very few that can make it work. Tons of hours = lots of drivers = lots of turnover = unhappy truck owner. If you can find the right drivers to fill those trucks and have been promised 24/7 work by all means get up here and get to work. Be warned though that some do require you to buy a trailer, have your own DOT, insurance, drug and alcohol program, safety program, and authority. Others will let you run everything through them and it's a cakewalk to get started. If you told me what company you talked to I could let you know what kind of reputation they have and if their story is accurate. I've been doing this for 6 years and have seen a lot of things, but one thing I've never seen is a trucking company getting $200 per hour, much less a leaser.

Does the company have parking spots for your trucks, do they have housing for your guys or will they really be running 24/7. Hard time believing that cuz everyone has a slow day. Housing is VERY tough every where in the basin. You'd need to have an RV or rental for guys when they are working.

My last note is to see when the pay schedule is. if you are running 24/7 for $100 per hour and not getting paid but once every 60 days it's #### tough to pay drivers and keep up on fuel, tires, etc. My company pays every other week and only holds out one week. I've talked to many owner ops that work for 60-90 days before getting their first paycheck. Some guys wait for the oil company to pay them before they pay you. 45 days is a minimum in that case!! Sorry I rambled on but this is what I do and I like to help guys out even if you aren't working for us!! Haha! Good luck.

 

JWALLACE - I forgot to post www.jobsnd.com or www.theshopperinc.net for all job postings in the Williston area. Jobsnd requires you to create a login but you can seach any city in ND for job listings. The Shopper is a classified paper based in Williston but is all over western ND. The back few pages have help wanted and housing listings. Good luck. All you can do is call. The worst you are going to hear is No. We get a 100 calls a week for guys looking for work.

 

Outstanding information. Im actually inquiring because i have a couple of friends that recently bought a truck, with no experience in trucking what so ever. The driver they have going out their has already been there and was told he needs to buy his own truck to make real money instead of leasing. They crunched the numbers and are going to be sending 2 drivers out to work 12 hrs each daily. They are using a broker that charges 20%. Apparently they have been told that working this much would produce about 15k a week with the broker fee already taken out. Taking out expenses...tires, gas etc and paying the drivers they are figuring taking home 2500 a week each just for owning the truck. Eventually turning this into 2 or 3 trucks. I dont know the company but im sure i can find out. In my opinion making 10k a month each for just owning a truck and trailer costing a total of 14k would be too good to be true? The trailer does not have a vac but have been told about $110 hr? They are looking into the vac and apparently have been told $250 hr with it. Does this just sound too good to be true? Thanks for your info, very very helpful.

 

The comment to buy their own truck instead of leasing. When i say leasing, I mean that you own a truck and lease it on to a company that already has the work. Ie) I own a trucking company that has too much work to keep up with my own trucks so i "lease on" owner operators to work for me to help me keep up or gain more work for MY company. The broker is how you put it, I guess is all in the same.
Anyway....$250 per hour is not reality. If you find it is true please let me know because our work generally pays more than vac work and we are not even $150 per hour for our OWN trucks much less owner ops that are $100 for us. You should look into the details about the $110 to $250? Big difference for a pump that costs less that $10k to put on. The highest rates I've heard of recently is $170 per hour for the "broker". If leasers were making that kind of money every company driver in the basin would be buying 10 trucks! You find out the broker and I'll see what I can find out for you. $110 24/7 is doable, but $250 is no friggen way.

Another thing is....if the trailer doesn't have a pump...how are they going to load or unload it?????? They need a vac pump on a vac trailer before it is able to be put in service. A truck with a wet kit and and a vac trailer with no vac pump is worthless. Wet kit runs the pump on the trailer.

I might be missing something but it isn't adding up. Let me know what else you find out about the company.

 

Hey AC22, PM sent

 

AC22 very helpful info been digging around this for a while, if you don't mind I'd like to chat with you, not trying to strike it rich, but make than most available out there.
So if you don't mind I'd like to talk with you, let me know, thanks.

 

@AC22, you seem very knowledgeable about the trucking business, do you have any advice for a young entrepreneur who is looking to start his own trucking business in ND? Thanks.

 

Yea be prepared to dodge the crooks and thieves that don't pay owner operators. No offense guys but most highway truckers don't last. Knee deep mud, throwing chains, and -40 temps are common.