work in the Bakken

Call the producers and shmooze with the big haulers out here to get on their o/o waiting list. Depending on how desperate they are at the moment for o/o, you may not have to wait for your shot. Have all your ducks in a row and be able to show proof that you are current with all insurance, authority, licenses, etc.

Spend a few grand to get up here, drive around, talk with the Power Fuels, MBI, Cascade Tanks owner-operators to see how the game is played with those big haulers. Get lots of names and numbers while passing out business cards/pens, because things change fast up here and a driver you meet today may be in management in a few months or, more likely, will work for a different company by then. Stick your friendly and food-bearing nose into every dispatch office you can find (they like anything with meat, even pizza, as it is hard to come by up here).

You can also spend a hundred grand in a few months by hiring someone to go out and line up work for you. Either way, you have to have a presence here to make it happen.

That was free.