Alberta oilfield driving jobs

Just arrived in FSJ a couple of hours ago. Just a little cooler than Van Island...lol. Report for work tomorrow at 8am.

 

Since they won't allow you out in the field until you go through green hand school. Enjoy sweeping the floors and emptying the garbage for the next few days. Good luck.

 

Thanks. I will do my best.

 

If i get out there ill stop by!!

 

I’ve read all 323 pages of the thread. Thanks to all for helping inexperienced people. I am one of those inexperienced.

Special thanks to Prairie Boy, Onetrack, Licensed to kill, cariboo_kid, nitrogen, nate980 and those, who I might have forgotten. You give very valuable information to us.

I am waiting for my immigration application to complete. Most probably I will be moving in Alberta in less than one year. I will choose Alberta to be in oil patch.

I lived in Toronto with a student visa for 1.5 years in 2007 – 2008. I got A-Z license when I was there. But I couldn’t manage to get a job, since no company was interested in work permit thing. So, I had to come back to Istanbul, my home. Since 2009 I’ve been working on tanker vessels as an engineer, as I have a mechanical engineering degree.

Trucking has always been my dream. I want to get in oil patch when I get to Alberta.

My A-Z license expired end of 2012. And as I read on MTO’s site, if the license is expired less than 3 years, I can get only the knowledge test and renew my license. So, I have 2 years to take care of renewing my license.

By the way, I work on tankers of one of the major oil contenders, Chevron. I will ask for onshore positions to my company, when I get my residency, but I don’t think it will be easy. So much struggle with licensing issues of engineering there. And also trucking side looks much more appealing to me.

After reading every page of this thread I shaped a plan on getting in the industry. So, please correct me if I am in the wrong direction. I will fly from Istanbul to Toronto first and renew my Ontario A-Z license and then take a flight to Edmonton. I will rent a place and buy a vehicle. I will convert my A-Z to Class 1 and get a driver’s abstract. And I will drop my resume in each company one by one with my Class 1 license and driver’s abstract on hand. After getting a job, I want to settle in Red Deer or somewhere near the job. Is this plan good to go?

In the long term, after gaining experience, I would like to operate haul truck in a mine. That looks so interesting.

 

Once you get some experience oilfield trucking I wouldn't think driving around in circles at a mine would be interesting.

 

If you have a mech engineering degree then why not find something in the oil patch that will be more beneficial to you instead of driving truck.

red deer would be a good start for employment.

I can probably speak for a number of people on here, if I could do it all over again I would go to school and get a degree for something.

 

Read his post, he clearly states why he's seeking a driving job...

 

Thank you for your comments Pinner and TheYoungBuck.

I have a degree from the best school in Turkey but it is totally useless when I am in Canada. I have to apply for Professional Engineer license. And to apply for that I have several years of experience, let's say 5-6 years at least. And I am a little fed up with white collar jobs actually. It pays well but takes a lot as well.

My parents always tell, when I was a small kid, they ask what I would like to be in the future, my answer was always a truck driver.. After all those years, nothing changed my mind.

Engineers earn more than drivers, it is for sure. But as an engineer with a non-Canadian degree, I am pretty sure it will take 10 years something to be able to earn more than 150K per year. As I read this thread, I guess this amount can be achievable in oil patch trucking in 5 years.

Other than all, the main reason is the trucking always looks appealing to me. Who knows maybe I meet a person from the management side of the company, I will be working at as a truck driver. Then things might change.

 

Just a thought many of the major players in fraccing, as well as the big oil companies have engineer in training programs. I imagine you apply as an engineer, then they move you around through all the departments. I'm sure you would get some driving time,but their engineering department also gives you assignments to add to what you learned in university. They spend a large amount of time and money teaching you what their equipment/ process challenges are, and giving you the knowledge to find solutions.