Going rate hauling frack?

For those of you that took the time to help me out with my recent post (thank you) but I've got a new situation arising, but please bare with me for this mini book I'm writing, as I'd like some insight because I feel partly relieved to have a job due to the bills that are staring me in the face, neatly hanging on the magnets my wife placed on our fridge, and partly feeling like I'm being bent over. Apparently I need some type of emotional reassurance like the attention ##### of the group on a girls night out who keeps asking all night long "do you girls really think I'm pretty enough?"

And here we go, so after getting 5 job offers today, some of which were from ACME for sandbox's, 1845 (no thanks), Amerifield (again), Cypress (regional flatbed) and one other I won't name, I think I've decided to run with the unnamed company.

The fella I spoke with was honest and up front from the get go (60 yr old former sand hauler) and not one of those young, desk jokey recruiters who act like their doing you a favor by blowing sunshine up your ###. That was probably a bit harsh, but I've been dealing with those folks for the past 2 weeks. For the current 40 mile one way trip on this particular contract, their getting 100 bucks a load (if I remember correctly) running pneumatic trailers. He himself said this wage was not great, which a refreshing bit of truth for once.

Obviously the longer the run, the more the money, (I would assume?) I've never run a pneumatic trailer, but "supposedly" their company is the only one delivering to this well in this area of West Tx / Carlsbad New Mexico. Guaranteed me I'd never make less than 100 a load, and said as long as there was no major well problems, you could get 2 loads a day, 7 days a week, "legal" but was honest about the fact that no matter what, you WILL be sitting at some point, so be prepared for that.

Now, I'm not sure what the going rate is for frac sand in a pneumatic running 40 miles one way, but barring any unforeseen wait times, 1400 a week running "legal" (I have no problem doctoring my book) is a HELL of a lot better than grossing 700 bucks a week, which is about the best you're going to do locally in my area unless you get on with an LTL outfit, which I have no desire to do. If you hit 15 loads in a week, you get an extra 100 bucks on your check, at 19 loads you get an additional 100 bucks on your check but I'm not seeing 19 being very likely.

It seems to be a smaller outfit from what I can tell, no 1099 work, BCBS benefits after 90 days, half of which the company pays, nice equipment form what I can tell. I'll be placed in a 2017 pete 389 with an x15 Cummings, 18 spd etc, etc, which is supposed to washed and detailed by the time I arrive Monday. 21 days on, 5 off, running loose leaf logs, and you can run however you see fit, as long as you don't slip up, as well as being able to take the truck home on my off time once they see I'm not out there to fool around, (which would greatly cut down on the time it takes to get me home) as I wouldn't have to get a ride from someone 3 hours away to get home, once I drop the truck at the yard.

I know it's not 150 bucks a load like some are getting running a pneumatic, but with no sand experience, it's about the best offer I've gotten when you factor everything in, from freedom to run when and how you want, equipment, yadda yadda yadda, as jobs locally are just about stagnant. Another thing I liked was that I'll be arriving at the hotel Sunday afternoon, I'll wake up Monday, he'll pick me up, take me to the yard, I'll sign paper work, run to take my drug test, put my #### in my truck, get a once over on the trailer, and then I'm making the 9 hour drive to the West Tx/ New Mexico area.

Now, some might think that's crazy as I've never run a pneumatic, but I've been thrown to the wolves ever since I obtained my CDL so that's really all I know unfortunately. He did say though, that I'd be meeting with a more experienced driver, who I will run a couple of loads with (aka follow him in my truck) to get the hang of things, so I'm not 100% being thrown to the wolves but you get the idea, and that's fine with me.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance as always for the insight you all take the time to provide,
Dave

 

I know it's long fellas and ladies but no thoughts or opinions at all?

 

Yea maalt invited me to orientation but I'm no interested in slip seating. Any opinion on the rate I mentioned?

 

Thanks for taking the time to shed some insight there Shooter. Yes I was assuming I "could" do 3 if things flow smoothly, that's "IF" but I won't expect more than 2 for atleast the first few days as I'm new to running pneumatic. I do pick things up pretty quickly but we'll see how that goes as I'll only get the gist of how the trailer works before taking off from East tx to West Tx. Hopefully one of the more seasoned drivers form my company will be willing to shed some light on things such a clogs, etc so I can save some time and not have to learn everything the hard way. As mentioned in my original post, he did say that their company are the only ones delivering on this particular contract, and that their people are also the ones in charge of running the sand at the well supposedly (whatever that means). I don't know much about how that stuff works but that's what was told to me.

I will admit though, I'm a bit up in the air on learning as I go with the pneumatic trailer. I was watching videos last night on YouTube to better prepare myself so I'm not completely oblivious, and it's doesn't necessarily seem "difficult" just something that will come with practice. While that's true with anything, I do think there will be a bit more of a learning curve in a faster paced environment such as the oil field. I could be wrong, but that's what I'm thinking so far. It kind of makes the other offer I had seem somewhat intriguing, which was hauling the sandboxes. For the same amount of miles, I'd make 40 bucks less per load, but there's no learning curve. You pull up, they take the loaded container, throw on an empty "if they have any available" and then you hit the road, rinse and repeat. It's pretty straight forward, the only drawback being, if a well goes down or anything of that nature occurs, you have a lot more "making up to do" due to the loads paying less, but it's still intriguing to me as it's a pretty cut and dry job.

By the way, the company that's wanting me to pull the boxes was going to pay for my HS2 and PEC certs when I got to the Midland/Odessa area since apparently Halliburton requires that, and that's who their contract is with. The unnamed company however, says the well their working on does NOT require such certifications. I'm not sure if that means anything one way or the other, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

Dave

 

Thanks for taking the time plater, I really appreciate it. I've noticed a trend when it comes to not paying dumurge. I've talked to a lot of companies the last 2 weeks and I don't think I've come across 1 that does, and if they do, they have it setup to where you sit for several hours before it kicks in. Since I'm not speaking ill of this company, and just genuinely asking questions, I'll share the name. The company I'm referring to that has hired me is "Spartan Sands" out of Kilgore which is a sister company of TW Transport. I tried my best to find driver reviews, etc but couldn't find anything negative, OR positive. If anyone has additional info on them, please feel free to share here in this thread, as I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Dave