What's Happening In The Bakken Now? and Personal Story

Depends on who you work for in the end, some companies are always better than others. Most out here are hiring, specifically rig workers and truck drivers. I can only speak to MBI but they do have housing that you will pay for and compared to what you would be paying for it by yourself its pretty reasonable. You are slip seating day cabs usually but sand has sleepers. Anything specific you want to know feel free to ask me.

 

Thank you very much. MBI is one of the names near the top of my inquiry list. The main things I am looking at is take home pay versus the cost of living. And are you encouraged to bend, break or completely destroy the rules? I have worked where they demanded your paperwork rival Stephen Kings work on a daily basis. An earlier poster mentioned that campsites were coming available again. that interests me because of the less expensive eating. If you are not careful your food budget can rival lodging very quickly. Where does MBI usually put you up and can you ball park costs? If it's man camps I see they have dining halls but can't find info on if meals are included in room or if I have to budget extra there. Didn't realize what you were offering, did ya? Thank you for your time and I appreciate what answers you can give me.

 

Our dispatchers will never tell you to run heavy or require you to do it. Now, rig guys will try and get you to load heavy or get pissed when you are bringing them smaller loads and taking longer to do the job but at the end of the day it is your license and your decision about if you want to run it heavy or not. I like the apartment I live in because it doesn't have the extra costs like wifi, washer and dryer, etc because it is included in your rent. So I pay a little more in rent but also save money by not having to pay for my laundry, able to buy and cook my own food, etc. You need to keep track of all your wait times and things of that nature on top of your run ticket, field order and JSA but the paperwork is pretty easy and is shifting to all be electronic. My apartment is 575 a month and I spend more on food than your average guy because I am a heavy lifter so I spend a lot of money on boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bulk, protein heavy foods, etc. Our man camp does not have a dining hall or food involved in the cost of rent.

 

Then you understand the food situation and the costs of eating well. $ 575.00 per month? Are you sharing with others or not in ND? I was hearing much higher rents there, but again that's why I started this thread to get "fresh" info. As far as running heavy, I'm out there to make money not hand it over to the weight wagons that I hear are invading there...... Important question in my position, how long before my first paycheck when I make the jump?

 

Yep I don't eat truck stop junk food or frozen stuff. Spending as much time as we do at work its vital to eat properly so you don't gain a bunch of weight. There are 3 of us in a 2 bedroom but I took the smaller room when I moved into the apartment and when I eventually did get roommates they just split the larger room. Rent for the man camps with MBI at the ross yard start at around 375 or 400 I believe and I told you my apartment rates and there is one more expensive option at around 700 a month but I'm not totally sure what it all entails. I picked the apartments because they are in Stanley so its a short drive and the gym/grocery store/etc is there. I will tell you that most of us tend to run pretty heavy but you also need to pay attention to your surroundings, what time of day, etc. If you are going to be running through New Town, Williston, etc it would be wise to load legally. If you are running from a lease site out to a rig on all dirt roads it is sort of at your desecration. Also be aware that in the spring there is this "frost law" deal they do where they drop all the weight restrictions down to like 6 ton to prevent damage to the roads from heavy loads and the melting frost underneath them. When you get your first check depends on when you start on the pay cycle. Could be a week, could be 2.

 

Yeah I completely understand the weights and for a big guy I am surprisingly flexible (and not in a man camp kinda way). As far as the frost law they just put up the orange posted signs up here in Maine so I have a good idea what you're talking about. How do they service sites on the posted roads? Or do you try to kick up enough mud they can't see you? I am thinking of dragging a camper with me so I am not rushed into grabbing the first bed that comes along to get out of sleeping in the pick up. The apartments sound like a good option especially the way you're set up. Can always put camper in storage or use it to help out somebody else. Man camp rate isn't bad either (sharing a room?) but then you have the question of eating well again. Schedules are pretty well covered on the web. And I know better than to ask your opinion of the equipment on an open forum. Can you still get the hours out there to bring down a bankable check? Thanks again for all you time and patience.

 

They just haul what they are comfortable with on the posted roads, which is about all that is expected during this time period. At nights tends to be when a lot of jobs finish up because the night guys will load super heavy and roll out since cops at night are few and far between. You could drag the camper, but there is always mbi housing available, we are far from full up. You have your own room in the man camp but you share a trailer. Actually the water equipment is really solid, we have 2013 volvo day cabs w/ automatics and a few older freightliners. 3, I think. Trailers could use some updating but they are still not bad at all. I can't speak to the oil equipment. I would say that our sand stuff is probably the worst stuff that we have but still better than a lot of the junk you see running around out here. What do you define as bankable? If I net less than 2,500 every two weeks I consider that a bad few weeks and thats after rent, taxes, etc. Its possibly and common to gross 9-11k a month.

 

Bankable question answered. You have my attention. Automatics?? Have to get used to something with a "D"uh in the pattern but I could get used to that. Housing would be a balancing act if not an apartment. Camper you can't close a door on the other guy BUT you have a kitchen. Man camps I have my own room to keep my gear to myself but no kitchen and sounds like it might be a challenge to keep eating right. Speaking of which it sounds like we are in about the same kind of menu. boom town food prices a hit on your budget but with the numbers you're quoting I don't see an issue. Do you see any reason for me to get my Hazardous back before coming out? Pricey hassle but doable if needed. MBI still hungry for drivers or is the sun bringing back the snow birds?

 

It's literally reverse, neutral, drive, and manual mode but your manual is restricted with how far you can up/downshift based on your rpms and you have limited ability to up/down shift it when it is in drive mode. Hazmat opens your options for hauling, even on the water side. We haul chemicals to rigs and such that require an endorsement so thats a feather in your cap and makes you more marketable anyways. Plus, if you want to switch to oil down the road its already on your license. The big grocery store in town is not terribly priced and not that much different than walmart prices really. It was worse a few months ago back when we only had one smaller store but they opened a larger one 6 or 7 weeks ago that is probably 3 times the size with a much larger selection and better pricing. MBI is always hungry for drivers and I know for a fact that they are short handed on nights up in Ross. Bonus is that night drivers get a 3 dollar an hour bump in pay.

 

That's a bonus I can handle. And, there's less "traffic" on the roads on night shift. One more thing to add into the housing situation. I'm out there to make money and once my body is used to the back side of the clock it only becomes a problem on my "reset" days. Yeah, I had the Hazmat before along with tank, triple and bus. It just got too expensive to keep it if I wasn't using it all the time. Expensive feather but would pay for itself in the long run. Thank you for your time and please keep an eye on here I know I have a million other questions, just can't think of them at the moment. My trouble is going to be "verifiable" experience. I worked for little guys up here when drilling (my main occupation) was slow. The owners have (a). died (b). closed up shop or (C). never kept very good records to begin with. But, I have driven East Coast mostly including delivering in NYC and Boston. My main experience has been straight truck (drill machine) off-road where if you can see the road in the mirrors you are off the road.