So you want to haul crude oil in the badlands of ND?

Cableguy · Nov 9, 2010

I am so happy for you Gdyupgal. I was hoping I could be of some help to you. It feels awesome to know I was a part of your success. I will be heading to Kandahar in Afghanistan in November to work for Dyncorp as a truck driver. I will be delivering supplies for the military and coalition forces from one base to another. I worked in Iraq with KBR for the past 5 years doing the same thing. I would appreciate your prayers while I am over there.

Brickman · Nov 9, 2010

ben528 said: ↑

I am writing this simply because I wish someone had informed me of what I am writing that follows:

In this recession, jobs are hard to find but there is one exception: working in the oilfields of North Dakota. For any trucker who wants a job that pays good (I'm talking $70k+ starting), this is the place to be. There are 100 jobs for every man who applies. Send out 20 applications, and you seem to get 21+ replies. Your voicemail is filled with "Please return our call as soon as possible!" $70k+/yr starting seems to be the norm. There are positions for flatbed hauling of drilling rigs and equipment, water hauling, frac tank hauling, belly dump hauling gravel and scoria, and my favorite, crude oil hauling. A good place to look for work is http://www.jobsnd.com/

For the last two months, I've been hauling crude oil in and around the badlands of North Dakota, and it is the best (and scariest) job I've ever had. $70k+ starting, work two weeks, and one week off. This has been the best job I've ever had, but wish I had known some things before heading over.

Things to take into consideration before applying for a job hauling crude oil in the badlands:

First and foremost, if you are afraid to die, this is not the job for you. You will experience loooong periods of boredom marked by many brief periods of sheer terror. Not a day goes buy where you are in a situation where you wonder if its your last. I was caught in a freak electrical storm filling up with crude oil at a well that was the highest point around for many miles, watching lightning strike a mere hundred of yards away. Crude oil fumes everywhere leading to 4,000 barrels of oil ready to ignite. Nowhere to run or hide. Then you have to worry about the drunk drivers. Lots of them. Or the fog so thick you can't even see the nose of your truck, much less the road. Or the crazy people who like to beat up truckers. I was a victim of a failed attack a little more than a week ago where two guys in two pickup trucks tried to jack me. I ended up ripping a door off of one and busting the rear bumper off the other after they tried to block my truck and slow me down. Cops said I had every right to kill them. Or the tornadoes that spawn right over you after you hook up to a lact. No place to run or hide. I rolled up on a well once where the backfire preventer blew out of the ground leaving a small crater. And it was still on fire. If it continued, it would have blown up the treater, then onto the tanks. That would have been a huge crater. Anyway, in the two months I've been working, I've already seen a handful of guys quit after the first day because they are scared ######## even on the ride along.

All roads are pretty much 7% grades on mostly obliterated asphalt roads, with sharp curves at the bottom that you can't see around. The best road I drive on is Highway 23, which is also the deadliest highway in North Dakota. That should give you an idea. Sometimes you can drive faster on the gravel roads than the paved roads. Some parts of asphalt roads are missing altogether, and even when you hit them at less than 20 mph (while you're still in a 65 zone), you are now riding a 50-ton double-bottom bucking bronco on a road where both sides drop straight down to the bottom of the badlands. All roads seem to be two-lanes, and no shoulders. Anywhere.

Most of the time you are driving from one side of the middle of nowhere to the other side of nowhere. This means you are on your own. Bring your own food and WATER (at least a gallon at all times). MRE's are ideal, especially if you want a hot meal. No open flames for cooking, that's why the flameless ration heaters are a good thing.

When you are going to the wells, you are on your own. There are no truck stops, or even little gas stations you can pull into to get some crappy nuclear burrito.

You will lose weight. I've lost 20 lbs since I started and often look like Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway at the end of my two week tours.

Cell phone service is a luxury. Most of the time (95%) you have no service, even with a Wilson SignalBoost. Learn smoke signals.

Bring a roll of toilet paper in a ziplock baggy. Most of the time the nearest toilet is 50+ miles away.

Bring a full change of clothes. Sooner or later every crude oil hauler gets a crude oil shower.

Protect yourself and watch your back at all times. There are people out there that *really* hate truckers. Always lock your doors, carry Mace, and have a hammer or crowbar on hand with you. Most of the time cops are 30 miles away. And you have no signal so you can't call them anyway.

Make sure to ask the company for living arrangements if you are from out of town. All hotels and apartments on the oil field are booked solid into eternity.

There's a lot more than this, but it's a good start.
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exaggerate much?????????????

Lilbit said: ↑

I think I'll pass on that. I think I'd rather have root canal done.
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Big Duker said: ↑

I've delivered over 40 loads all around Minot, Stanley, Ross, Parshal and other areas up there and never had any of the problems you list except having few places to eat. Lot of rip off convenience stores. Most people have been friendly as anywhere else. Had Shaker dealer in Minot leave parts for me under his dumpster w/ credit card after hours. Saved me hundreds on a tow from far side of Stanley. I use ATT and had problems off main roads but most crane and well operators that met us had no problem w/ phone service . Think they used Verizon. As far as getting car/truck jacked you did just right. Screw that LA pull over Reginald Denny crap. Grab a lower gear every time you smash another section of their vehicle off. Yee Haw!!
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Thanks Duker, as a former crude hauler myself I knew that a lot of what was posted was BS. Why some folks feel the need to make things sound many times worse than what they are is beyond me. They only come across as a super trucker loud mouth and loose all credibility they might have in the fragment of truth in the rest of the post.

gdyupgal · Nov 9, 2010

Cableguy said: ↑

I am so happy for you Gdyupgal. I was hoping I could be of some help to you. It feels awesome to know I was a part of your success. I will be heading to Kandahar in Afghanistan in November to work for Dyncorp as a truck driver. I will be delivering supplies for the military and coalition forces from one base to another. I worked in Iraq with KBR for the past 5 years doing the same thing. I would appreciate your prayers while I am over there.
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Lots of Prayers definatly for you..you certainly are brave to go there..and yes there alot of roller coaster roads with sloped edges in ND so you need to keep it safe here..I'm going to do my best to make it thru the winter but no promises..lol..PF also needs mechanics real bad..for every truck that gets fixed 2 break..the roads are hard on trucks here and it's a continuouse dodge of dips and pot holes..H2S certainly leaves something to be desired..stinky stuff and you have to always be aware of wind direction..well sites can sometimes be small and a bit of a challenge to get around in especially when there are 3 or 4 of you trying at the same time....but I'm not sceered and if I can give it a go then anyone can..just have to be careful and think ahead..

Lowbed · Nov 9, 2010

gdyupgal said: ↑

Lots of Prayers definatly for you..you certainly are brave to go there..and yes there alot of roller coaster roads with sloped edges in ND so you need to keep it safe here..I'm going to do my best to make it thru the winter but no promises..lol..PF also needs mechanics real bad..for every truck that gets fixed 2 break..the roads are hard on trucks here and it's a continuouse dodge of dips and pot holes..H2S certainly leaves something to be desired..stinky stuff and you have to always be aware of wind direction..well sites can sometimes be small and a bit of a challenge to get around in especially when there are 3 or 4 of you trying at the same time....but I'm not sceered and if I can give it a go then anyone can..just have to be careful and think ahead..
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H2S is stinky with the smell of rotten eggs. Hope you don't try getting a wiff of it or they'll be burying you.

Brickman · Nov 9, 2010

Lowbed said: ↑

H2S is stinky with the smell of rotten eggs. Hope you don't try getting a wiff of it or they'll be burying you.
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I've probably been buried about 500 times then.

Obviously "a whiff" doesn't kill you.

gdyupgal · Nov 9, 2010

Lowbed said: ↑

H2S is stinky with the smell of rotten eggs. Hope you don't try getting a wiff of it or they'll be burying you.
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Nah....that's why wind direction is important and an H2S monitor that we wear..

mysticguido · Nov 10, 2010

What is H2S???

Brickman · Nov 10, 2010

Google it, that'll explain it better than we can.

Basically a poison gas.

Lastkidpicked · Nov 10, 2010

When you are on top of the tank, ready to drop your tape in, have you ever not been able to vent the tank so you LEAN on the lid and push down on it to vent?

Those fumes gave me a headache that I thought would never go away.

Why teenagers go puffing is beyond me.

gdyupgal · Nov 10, 2010

Lastkidpicked said: ↑

When you are on top of the tank, ready to drop your tape in, have you ever not been able to vent the tank so you LEAN on the lid and push down on it to vent?

Those fumes gave me a headache that I thought would never go away.

Why teenagers go puffing is beyond me.
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It's really important to watch the wind sock..if the wind is blowing in my face then I try to wait or stand to one side before I flip the lid and I always turn my face away..the smell did bother my sinuses but I keep my monitor on me and watch the sock..you can never be careful enough but it can be done safely..I had my monitor go off once and that's where the wind sock is important to know which way to move

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