Congrats! Let us know how you like it....Good luck

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"Keep it between the lines"........

Anything that runs on and runs off can't be all bad can it. Give it a try and let us know what you think. I had one of those union jobs back in the 70's-80's. Was nice while it lasted, but too many were too quick to cross lines and stewards quit doing their jobs. Unions are dieing because of that. No use paying dues for someone else to p@#s off. You can make more without them if you find the right job for you.

this job can burn anyone out. I'd kill for 12 hour days. mine are usually 14 to 18 hours and being on call means it can be any time of the day or night and then some. this is a hard job and it's best for short time to make allot of money then get out. I don't haul water though. I haul mud and pits mainly. our production guys (sltwater) are running 14 hour days mostly

I been doing alot of fresh water to frack tanks and pits myself lately,,even that black ABS Mud and i think i like it better than salt water.

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I never look for trouble. If it looks for me , I'm ususlly around.

Home every Sunday as well?

Hires a 19yr old?

Hey Guys/Gals...

First of all, this is a great thread with a lot of great information. Thanks for sharing your experiences and ideas!

I have a couple of questions concerning the Barnett Shale "boom".

I have just taken a buyout from my employer and am considering getting into trucking. I have worked an industrial maintenance type job for the past 20 years (next month) and almost all of that has been nights, so that wouldn't be any adjustment.

I was thinking of going OTR for a year or two then coming back home and run local/regional. After reading this thread, I may just try to start out local with one of the companies involved in the Barnett Shale.

Does anyone have any experience with C-1 driving school in Ft. Worth? The driving range is about 3 minutes from my home in Benbrook and would be really convenient. Any other recommendations?

Is it realistic that someone fresh out of driving school with no experience can get a job driving in the Barnett Shale? Would these companies do a pre-hire?

How well are the trucks maintained that run the Barnett Shale? I just don't want to get a junk truck.

Do these companies tend to slip seat?

If a driver gets a ticket for a truck/trailer safety violation (or even a moving violation), who takes care of the fine?

Sorry for so many questions but I just want to make sure that I make the right decision on a new career.

Thanks for any help and/or advice!

c-1 is ok but would not be my first choice. See them stop off 820 all the time. 5 or 6 pile out of truck under bridge for smoke break. IMO that's way too many students per instructor. Weatherford College has one of the best programs around DFW. $3000. 160 hrs. Used to be FED EX, KLLM, other approved. Don't know now. Give them a call and they can tell you more. There are several others. CR England, Stevens, Schneider all have schools in DLS. Schneider is only one I would consider. But going to DLS for no pay sucks. WC school is at old FT Walters base in Mineral Wells. About 40 miles, but a easy drive and way better than DLS traffic.

Thanks for the info.

I would much rather drive to Weatherford than to Dallas!

I want a good driving school and am willing to drive farther to get a good education.

I can't imagine you having any trouble at all getting on with someone after coming out of driving school, many of the guys hauling water had little or no driving experience before they got into this (myself included).

While truck maintenance is a relative thing, in general trucks in the oil field aren't well maintained. It's just the nature of the beast. It is up to you as the driver to make sure the vehicle you're fixing to drive is safe, it's your life on the line. I've driven trucks that I probably shouldn't have, but I will park a truck that has a problem with steer tires or brakes. A lot of other things I sometimes fight through, depending on the exact circumstances.

In water hauling, everyone slip seats to at least some extent. These trucks run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, very few companies have day trucks and night trucks. Some companies don't assign drivers to specific trucks at all, and even the ones that do assign trucks still have various drivers shuffling in and out between day and night shift as well as on the assigned driver's days off. The best situation I ended up in was where I was assigned a good truck on nights, and one driver was assigned it on days and we had the same days off, so we took good care of it. However, things would still come up and from time to time either of us would end up in a different truck.

Generally speaking, the company pays tickets for things like license plate lights not working and those kinds of things. Many water hauling companies prefer that you "scrub out" your trailer (filling it all the way up) which makes you illegally heavy, but they'll pay the overweight ticket if you get one. Any kind of ticket for the driver doing something in an unsafe manner is the driver's responsibility.

To be perfectly honest, once I've worked twelve hours it wouldn't matter much to me if I worked a few more. My problem comes in more with the nights and trying to have a life. I must admit I would not be at all fond of being on call, depending on how much advance notice you get.

I know it sounds contradictory, but I don't mind working long or strange hours, I just need some kind of down time around it so I can try to enjoy myself. It's entirely possible I picked the wrong line of work, but it's also possible that a year's worth of nights and hour to hour and a half commutes (each way) might be weighing a little to heavily on me.

Hope that didn't come across as whining. I can certainly say I don't envy you for being on call. How does your time on and time off work out that way?