Clarify something for me about water hauling

They basically spend ALL of their time on rough, bumpy roads? They never get paid to sleep? They never set the cruise and settle in for a nice long trip listening to the Alex Jones radio show or a book or anything like that? And, the same goes for crude?

See, we often talk about pay differential, but we don't spend a lot of time talking about the work itself.

Sand, most of the driving is on blacktop except for the last 5-20 miles, or so. That 5-20 miles of rough roads can blow, but I can't imagine staying on the bad roads constantly. And with sand, oftentimes you get break. You might sit and wait at the well, and after two hours I start to get paid. The hourly guys are paid the entire time. It's really nice to come off 10 hours getting paid to sleep and you are ready to go the moment you are empty. That hasn't been happening much for me lately, however.

Does the incessant pounding from a water or crude job wear you out? Is there anything you like better about water or crude besides the money? TIA

 

OK, DFW it's paved roads. Interesting. Anyone know about ND?

 

OK thanks, great answer. You can imagine what I'm talking about. I endure the "Indian" reservation up here, but I don't live on it. The water guys, as far as I know, it must be constant pounding.

But, hauling crude, no one is paying you to sleep, are they? Just so no one takes this the wrong way, like I'm being lazy, paid down time has to be taken into the calculation when evaluating a job. If I get paid to sleep, that means when I'm empty I'm ready to go get another load, I don't have to find some place to shut down. Further, there is just the exhaustion factor. Pounding, pounding, pounding, that's going to wear you out.

I know sand haulers make less, but the demurrage used to offset that somewhat. I've spent as long as 50 hours sitting at a well, on the clock, resting and getting paid. Back in the day, these guys would sit on a load for a week, oftentimes at a truck stop, all on the clock. It sounds like the O/Os made out like bandits. But, I get little demurrage anymore. Without that perk, I'm considering switching to one of these $25-$30/hr "working" jobs.

 

Home? What's that?