Oilfield Owner Operator - Canadian in the USA

Hello Mr. Bonder45,
Are you still working in the oil field in ND or SD? If so, what company do you recommend? I have a CDL with 13 months of driving experienced all dry van and I do have my hazmat and tanker endorsements (TX). Would you kindly please guide me to a company in the oil field? Perhaps at your current company if available? Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

 

@bonder45

Bonder hasn't been here on the Forum since last April -- so he may not reply to your query.

Others may chime in, though....

-- L

 

@RockinChair

 

@RockinChair

 

Thanks so much for letting me know re Bonder. Hopefully @RockingChair may chime in with some insights. Much appreciated for your help.

 

@Tominator380 --

With only 13 months of driving experience....I think most worthwhile oil field players will want you to have more experience than that, first.

However, here's a "no brainer" exception...that many stay with until retirement:

Oilfield Heavy Truck Driver - DFW, TX https://share.google/KDDEhJP3NRjKumUm1

-- L

 

@lual

I knew that coming in but wanted to try my luck if Bonder45 might have a wildcard for me. Appreciated the job posting link. I applied for Haliburton in SD and got ghosted or denied. I doubt I will have luck with this one. I guess I will continue on trucking to gain one more year experienced. My first yr with Swift was agonizing but I guess I have to endured another painful yr of trucking. Thanks again for your help. God bless u and please continue to be a kind soul.
B/R,
T

 

Thanks for tagging me, @lual .

@Tominator380 It's good that you have 13 months of experience. Did you have any accidents, tickets, or out-of-service orders during those 13 months?

And it's good that you have your hazmat & tanker endorsements. Some companies will want you to have tanker experience, but you can work your way up to those jobs. Getting your foot in the door and learning how to work in an oil field environment is the most important thing right now.

Also, where do you live? I don't know much about the Dakotas but I can tell you plenty about the oilfields in West Texas and South Texas.

 

@RockinChair
My MVR record clean as a whistle. No accidents, no tickets, no DUI and no out of service. I lived in the Dallas area. I am currently a 1099 OTR driver for an O/O at the moment. I had 11 months driving experienced with Swift. I know it would be better if I have two yrs of experience to have a chance with a good decent company. Any recommendations to get my foot wet in the tanker or crude oil hauling? Your time and attention is greatly appreciated.
B/R,
T

 

The best jobs generally require two years of driving experience or one year of tanker experience. So your best bet is probably to start out driving a vacuum tanker, stay there for a year and make a good name for yourself, then you'll be ready to jump to a crude hauling job.

The good news is that you're right on top of a major formation that produces tons of natural gas as well as crude oil: the Barnett shale. Unfortunately I don't know what companies are active in that area, and I'm not sure which little towns their yards are located in. So look on Indeed or Craigslist for jobs like "water hauler," "vacuum truck driver," get an idea of where their yards are located and the schedule and pay that's available. You might even be able to find a crude hauling job with a third party carrier.