I'm a stone cold rookie, gonna work the texas oil fields

Naw, they dont get me down, if it did, i'd just tell the guy to f off or ignore him. He's a guy with experience, so i'll listen to him and definately keep what he and other voices of experience in mind. I think what he says is absolutely corect, thats why i dont tie myself down with major expenses. I save as much money as possible and continue to remain flexible. Ive personally went bust too many times in life, so now i live really defensively.

What i dont really care for though is guys with the experience and then spouting off vague descriptions of what "we should do" but not give reasonable detail. Its very easy to start off in this field in the wrong direction because its not like theres a website that tells you "this is what you should do". From my research and what i hear though, its understandable because certain areas get booming and then slow down and then theres another state or place thats "hot".

For instance, right now, i hear midland/odessa is "hot". If you got a hazmat endorsement, you can haul oil and get paid by the load and its definately a drivers market. I have no idea if they hire rookies or whatever and who knows how long it will last.

So from that angle, i can easily see how experienced guys can say stuff that sounds like the glass is half empty. It seems that theres alot in the oil buisness that isnt written in stone, so one has to be careful......i knew this already but i shouldnt talk like everything is secure out here. I'm not an expert writer or an expert in the oil field and when i write my posts, i am so very pressed for time and extremely tired also. Its not like the work is hard but the hours are very long. I sleep on average about 5-6 hours a night. When i go back and read some of my posts, they seem pretty terribly written, so please everyone who is interested in the information or story, give me a little break and use my thread as part of a tool if your interested in the same pursuits.

I have no angle or gain to this thread. I'm not a recruiter or anything else other than a guy like yourselves who are interested in working and driving for a living and not getting screwed. There is no perfect job but i got to say this job is better than my previous jobs......but thats just my opinion. A few people have private messaged me about getting work and i can honestly attest that i dont push "nabors" on anyone. As a matter of fact, if someone is interested in more money, i'd say nabors is not for you and midland/odessa has better prospects. Thats all i know right now. I'll help anyone out if i can but let me remind everyone, I AM NO EXPERT.

So anyway dirtsquirter, i guess you lived in RI? i suppose you are acustomed to snow and cold weather? I dont know why, but i have the feeling perhaps you are underplaying the extremely tough challenge of n. dakota? I could be wrong though.

I'm not saying this is you but anyone who takes on an attitude of "hell yeah i'm goin to dakota to make the big bucks"....and even though they know its gonna be cold and whatever, i really dont think they know what they are truly bargaining for.

I myself would take on the dakota challenge as "i'm expecting hell and be prepared for even worse than that".....and try to visualize and prepare my mind for every possible scenario.

For instance, you been working three 14 hour days in a row (we're not even talking about wake up time and drive time etc.) and you come to work and youre knee deep in snow, everything is frozen on your truck, spring brakes are frozen etc. etc. and this is just some of the stuff you have to deal with that here in writing sounds like no big deal but when a person is actually out there with that stinging cold and youre tired and just getting in and out of your truck is a procedure of dressing up or down or just leaving all your thick clothes on and being uncomfortable etc. etc......well i know these things add up and can get old or on your nerves after the novelty of the job wears off. You never really hear of the guys running back home with their tails between their legs but there is a high turn over rate in dakota and thats got to tell you something. That place weeds out the weaklings for sure.

I just wanted to make sure you were aware of this stuff, if you are, then i hope you have a ball because thats the attitude i would take.....hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. As ive heard more than once, "you will earn every dime out there".

Not trying to be negative, just a realist.

 

Ha ha, i grabbed it off the internet when i heard about the court ruling of those girls who were kicked out of school for posting some racy pics on myspace. I wanted to see the pics they were talking about but when i googled it, i couldnt find any of them but i found the volleyball pics. I dont think they are the same girls but i liked the pics for sure. Yeah, small world, six degrees of seperation lol.

Hey buddy, i hear alot of good things about midland/odessa, let us know how things are going for ya.

 

could you please give me a link to that thread you are reading?

I haul mostly water related liquids, brine, produced water, fresh water, contaminated water, my side of the trade is not very dangerous at all in comparison to others i'm sure.

what is csa? i didnt pay much attention to stuff i felt wasnt important. In other words, they tell me to wear something and say its good, i say ok and move on. Theres SO MUCH information thrown at you when you start, i just focused mostly on my job related stuff or else i'd go nuts and overstuff my brain.

I must have signed my name 100 times, i swear to god with all the paper work.

 

hijack away friend, this is a information thread for people interested in working the oil fields.

 

yeah, well schneider hauls more than just oil field stuff, so i dont know much about them or what workers are ######## about what.

Speaking of ########, me and another guy assisted a 3 man crew who cleaned out an oil tank. It was such a bad situation, i'm gonna talk to my supervisor about it tomorrow on my day off. These idiots were prying open the back plate of a 500 barrel tank by hamering with steel tools while vapors were rushing out......it was beyond stupid.

I'm not going to discuss much more about it, but when the two guys went in the tank to sqweegy out the solids, they went in with no respirators. I didnt want to ##### about possibly getting blown up because this situation was new to me but next time, i'm gonna use my authority to stop the job or stop my assistance or just flat out walk off the job. It was insane.

The reason why i say it was insane was because i assisted a chevron crew one time do the same thing. They did everything by the book and the crew leader was an absolute master of his trade and controlled his crew to each and every step and movement. They barely spilled a drop of oil and used brass tools, respirator suits, briefed me on the job before we got started......I MEAN ##### PROFESSIONAL. I was very proud to be part of that.

The company i assisted today should be run off the oil field on a rail. I dont blame their workers because they only do what they been taught. They were pissed that they got a text to go in with no respirator.....i would have told the boss to kiss my ### if i were them.

 

Yeah, sounds like you got it all figured out for sure and you will probably do ok. You just got to WANT IT. Even if you hate it, do it for one full season just so you can say you did it. Its only a year and you only live once. Life is about struggle and enjoying the struggle.