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

Big John · Dec 10, 2011

SHIP IT said: ↑

Found some job leads, maybe it will help you out.

www.dakotaoiljobs.com
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Great post Ship It!

I seen one company posting for blade hands with two years exp. and pay was $23 an hour. They pay that wage here in Oklahoma for blade hands.

Candidate must be willing to endure harsh weather and rough road conditions.

DAGWOOD · Dec 12, 2011

Just had a new vantage pnuematic trailer shiped up from texas. Had a gentlemans agreament on hauling out of williston that fell threw. Looking for frac sand hauling in nd. Thoughts any one?

AC22 · Dec 12, 2011

DAGWOOD said: ↑

Just had a new vantage pnuematic trailer shiped up from texas. Had a gentlemans agreament on hauling out of williston that fell threw. Looking for frac sand hauling in nd. Thoughts any one?
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Can you tell who the gentleman's agreement was with so no one else falls prey to them? Or is that against board rules?

DAGWOOD · Dec 12, 2011

I wont say who it was, but it was a very small company that leased on to a larger outfit.

Gparker3 · Dec 12, 2011

I had to register just to let you know how hard I laughed at this posting. I know ultimately your being serious, but you are funny as hell. Be safe Tom Hanks and tell Wilson I said hello.

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

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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jvar4001 · Dec 13, 2011

Gparker3 said: ↑

I had to register just to let you know how hard I laughed at this posting. I know ultimately your being serious, but you are funny as hell. Be safe Tom Hanks and tell Wilson I said hello.
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i think he meant for experience (2years) drivers other like us are screw
. he is blessed because he got his 2 years or maybe a year thats why he is earning 70k.

Gparker3 · Dec 13, 2011

gdyupgal said: ↑

Myself & most everyone I work with wear the steal toe muck boots they're warm and not so huge that its hard driving but get your self a good pair of grippers also and under armoure is an absolute must...personally the less must warmest clothes is the best it gets soo cumbersum trying to drive and work with to many layers and everything is slower in winter ie: driving walking..moving getting in and out of the truck..and get yer chaining muscles in shape cuz the beggining and ending of winter is the worst because you can chain and unchain quite a few times in 1 day..if you plan on driving tanker then your outer cloths should be as water proof as possable..its crazy we just had a week of below temps and now its in the 40's hahaha and we have the Harley out
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Do they require you to wear steel toe boots? I have a pair of muck boots that I wear during the winters down here in Ohio and they work great, but they are not steel toe. I have a pair of steel toe work boots, but I know my feet would freeze wearing them. Just wondering if I could get away with muck boots that I have now until I get some cash rolling in. Money is super tight for me right now and the steel toe muck boots are running $100-$200 a pair.

nitrogen · Dec 13, 2011

if you're trucking you will be in and out a lot so while it might get nippy there should be opportunity to warm your feet back up. steel toe will be mandatory I'm sure.

Gparker3 · Dec 14, 2011

nitrogen said: ↑

if you're trucking you will be in and out a lot so while it might get nippy there should be opportunity to warm your feet back up. steel toe will be mandatory I'm sure.
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Thanks for your feed back Nitrogen. I'll work with what I've got, but I will be purchasing a pair steel toe arctic mucks asap. Dry warm feet... are happy feet.

Nogy · Dec 14, 2011

I just bought boots by Rocky for $129 at Minot Home of Economy. 1200 insulate n steel toes. Working great so far but as the last fella said, it hasnt been too cold yet. Even more troublesome is the new requirement for independents to wear FR clothes. That stuff is ridiculously expensive. My advice, if u cant afford $500 to buy required gear, stay where u r n start saving money. OSHA and DOT are starting to swarm up here.

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