Arky's Sunoco adventure begins in the west TX oilfields!

Interview and Physical.

This is how it went for me. I actually got a call fairly quick after filling out the full profile on the Sunoco site. We talked a bit. He confirmed a few things and we discussed how we would get the interview done (I was in AR, they are in Abilene). He did mention that they can do a phone interview, but prefer to do "in person". I told him that I wanted to check out San Angelo...look for a place to stay...so in person was fine.

He told me that he would send my file to HR and they would call within a day or so for another phone interview and to set up the in person interview. Well..that didn't happen for 3 or 4 days (actually a couple weekend days also..added to the suspense..lol). So, I finally called back. He got the ball rolling that time and they called within a couple of hours. The second phone interview was a whole lot of nothing. Not even sure why it is part of their process, but it obviously was. I suppose it was just to insure that HR was onboard. The interview was scheduled for a Monday in Abilene, physical and drug test were scheduled for tuesday. I had sleeping arrangements, so no issues there. I'm not sure if they would provide a motel at that point or not.

The interview was quite an interview. I was in an office with 2 district managers for about 3 hours. I have to say though that it could probably have been shorter. We talked a lot, just casual talk. I asked a lot of questions about the industry and Sunoco. The whole 3 hours was very relaxed and very informative. There was a point where one of them got on the phone and was obviously scheduling something, but I didn't know what until later. This was probably half way through the interview...the formal interview had not even really started yet. I figured out later that he was setting up my driving test. So, I was probably hired half way through, just didn't know it. There was about 30-45 minutes of formal, rapid fire interview questions. They are just trying to see what you know about your job. Some of the questions came straight out of the fmcsa regs. I did good on some, crashed and burned on some. Just relax, be honest and let it play out. By that point, I think they are just trying to judge where they want to start you on the pay scale.

The physical was scheduled for Tuesday...but got rescheduled to wednesday. So, I had Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday with no obligations. I went to San Angelo to look around. Having a van to sleep in was great. I found the terminal, then spent the rest of the day driving around looking at different areas trying to just get a feel for what part of town I would want look for apartments. To be honest, I didn't see a lot that I was excited about. I knew I would have some more time at the end of the week, so back to Abilene for the Physical.

The physical was thorough. I remember doing a very thorough physical at Maverick when hired onto them (my first and only other company driver job). This was all that and then some. They did all the normal stuff..plus an ekg test, hair follicle drug test, urine test, blood test, hearing test, chest xray, etc, etc. It was full blown free medical checkup. Then they had me do the physical abilities testing. They put something like 20 lbs in a box and you carry it around the room a few times, then you put on a weighted vest and climb a ladder outside...twice, then you have to crawl on your hands and knees for like 30 feet or something. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some things, but these are apparently things that a lot of trucking companies do. I've never seen physicals this thorough in any other career, but hey, it's a good checkup! I did get a copy of all the blood work results. I ended up with a good, clean bill of health that I can feel secure about. There were two things flagged that one of them is of no concern, the other one I'm going to get checked out just for clarification. All in all, I felt the physical benefitted me as much as it did Sunoco.

The driving test was scheduled for immediately after the physical...but that got rescheduled to Thursday morning. It went well. Open dirt lot with a few orange cones. You just back in between the cones and stop withing 6-8 feet of the back cone and don't go over it. You do 1 driver side 90 degree backing maneuver, 1 driver side @ 45 degrees and one blind side @ less than 45 degrees...not bad at all. I think just want to see if you can get the truck in gear and not run over anything important...lol. They are going to train you anyway.

So...after all of that was done. I went back to San Angelo to look around some more. I did find a perfect little mobile home park that I wouldn't kind staying in at all. It was very neat and clean, well kept and quiet. I'm also learning where some of the nicer apartments are. I left on Friday night to head back home with a decent amount of confidence that I could find a place to be comfortable in the $500-$650/month range.

They guy that interviewed me told he was going to try to have me in orientation within a week or so. The lady who did my physical kind of gave me a heads up that. It takes longer than that to get some of the drug tests back. I think the background checks take a while also. So...if your waiting it out. Expect at least two weeks from the day you take your physical. It was one week, 6 days for me when I got the All Clear phone call. Then orientation was scheduled for the following monday..so you that's exactly 3 weeks from the day I interviewed.

I've been told that the crude haulers...especially the big companies like Sunoco take a while to get hired. My experience backs that up. All in all, it took me well over a month from the time I got that first call to the day I will show up for orientation. Just be prepared and now you know what to expect.

 

Giggles answered most of your questions better than I could...Thanks Giggles . I actually applied to water and crude haulers alike. I actually got phone calls back from two crude haulers and only one water. The first crude hauler needed more "recent" otr experience, the water hauler called after I had talked to Sunoco. It was kind of odd, but I mentioned that I wanted to eventually haul crude and that I had talked to Sunoco...I know that this company hauls crude as well. It offended the guy I guess....long story, but at the end of the conversation, his secretary was supposed to call within a half hour and get me hired...I never heard from them again...lol. That's when I called Sunoco back...I was like "hey dude, I can't keep turning down jobs here ya know"...lol. He was all over that. Thats when the ball actually got rolling at Sunoco.

As for the time and fees. Yes, it will take some effort and some money to get hazmat...and you should go ahead with a twic card also...imo. The hazmat, you will have to do the test at your dmv ($20 or something for the test), then the background/fingerprint is something less than $100 and you will likely have to travel somewhere to do the fingerprints. The twic is another $100+.

I know that it can be a lot of cash if your tight on cash, but you gotta look at it as an investment. If you can make the same without it, sure forget it and haul water. From my research though (insert everything Giggles said here), I wanted to haul crude and the $200 or so to get the required endorsements was pretty small. AND...once I have the crude hauling experience, I can always haul water too...or sand.

 

Without knowing your situation completely. I would advise you that if it's not going to change your current job or lifestyle too much, go ahead and move to TX. It does make a difference to some of them. It is even better if you move down and go ahead with getting a tx cdl, then you don't have to do your hazmat again...if you choose to haul crude. You can get a job while out of state (i just did), but you'll get one a lot quicker from some companies if your already in-state. I'm guessing that the rat-race stories are numerous from the guys that they invested time into with the hiring process....who never showed up or got there, then never got their tx license, etc. The guys in charge of these companies have too much on their plates to be messing with stuff like that.

If you move down on your own, you will be showing them your commitment up front...speaks volumes. You will also have the advantage of having a place to stay during the hiring process...if it turns out to be a long one like mine was.

 

They have a process that they follow. It takes time. That doesn't bother me...but for those that it does bother, can't say I didn't warn ya

 

Thanks Rockdoctor!

Yes, they did raise their barrel pay from 18-19 cents to 23-24 cents and the mileage pay went from 40 cents to 50 cents. That's a heck of a percentage increase and it brings them more in line with other that I have seen advertised. They announced that about a week after I interviewed. That was a nice surprise!

There is no doubt in my mind that there are better paying crude hauler jobs out there, but I'm not so sure that people like me that have never seen an oil field can get them. It's a great start..imo.

Something else that I mentioned to Rockdoctor that I should put out here too. When I was in San Angelo looking around, I met a guy who worked in a different industry but has lived in San Angelo most of his life. He was telling me why he thought Sunoco was a great place to work in the oilfields. He said that during the last oil boom down there, Sunoco was there before, during and after the boom and they have been there all along. He mentioned several names of other top rated companies that were there during the boom, but when the boom died off, they laid off their drivers and left town. So, he was a huge Sunoco supporter just because of their long term commitment. The people who live in these towns...they have seen this dog and pony show before..lol.

 

I wanted to expand on this a little more. My hiring process did take a long time. For me, it wasn't a problem. I have patience though when it comes to getting what I want. I look at the big picture. For me, my options were limited by the fact that I don't feel like i need to work on the rigs, I would prefer to start out hauling crude rather than water and I wanted to start with a stable company. I've seen small operations that were great...and I've seen some that I would rather just stay at the house than work for too. So, without having enough knowledge of the industry or the players within the industry, I felt Sunoco was a good, safe bet for me. For all of those things to line up, I was more than content to wait it out. In fact, once they called the first time, I stopped filling out apps. I was still looking and researching, but I knew that if they hired me, that's where I wanted to start my oil field driving career.

So, it's not always about the short term hurdles. In life, you have to get a bigger picture than that. Obviously, there are short term financial considerations, but you have to see the whole picture.

As for the physical itself, I had no problem with it. As mentioned, I had done a similar one before at Maverick and I have heard about it at other large carriers. I'm not sure why they do it, but a lot of them do it. For me, it was a FREE full blown medical check up. It was better than one I paid a few hundred dollars out of pocket for a few years back. I hope they give me another one next year!