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My boyfriend and I have heard of owner operators hauling oil, not sure of the location, but making a thousand dollars a day. Heard all you have to have is a durable truck and a CDL. Wondering if this was true? My boyfriend has had his CDL for 24 years, now with double triples hass mat and clean record at that. Any info would be appreciated!
I don't think that is quite true, it sounds more like a company man's wage to me then hauling crude oil. I have heard of that per week, but not day, I just have a few friends working in the oil patch and going on by what they tell me. However, lol, as crazy as it is getting around here, the western part of the state, who knows?????
Let's suppose that I went out and obtained a Class A CDL without having any prior trucking experience and that I already had a place to live in Williston (so that housing was not an issue). Without having any prior trucking experience (just the CDL license), how hard would it be for me to find a driving job and what kind of wages could I expect? What if I lived in Minot?
Last edited by Bhaalspawn; 09-30-2010 at 10:55 PM..
My hubby has experience driving smaller CDL trucks like dump trucks with trailers hauling stuff and her went out to Williston. It took him 3 weeks to find a job. He makes $15 per hour and isn't allowed to drive because he don't have experience driving in the oil field. He has to observe for a while before they will give him a chance.
Also if your not from North Dakota they will look down on you. Where he got hired in at, there was an older guy who saw the new hire in young kid drive recklessly and crash into something in the yard. When the supervisor came over to see what happened and the out of stater told him, he got fired and when he asked why the supervisor said well some one has to be fired for this and he (the kid) is from North Dakota, your from Montana so you can go. Don't know if this is how all the companies are like but I can see why there isn't enough workers out there.
My husband has been called out of state trash by locals. The only people that have been decent are those from out of state. Hate the out of staters but at least be an adult and be nice, how do we expect kids to play nice with other kids that are different when the parents can't even get that skill down???
Also if your not from North Dakota they will look down on you. Where he got hired in at, there was an older guy who saw the new hire in young kid drive recklessly and crash into something in the yard. When the supervisor came over to see what happened and the out of stater told him, he got fired and when he asked why the supervisor said well some one has to be fired for this and he (the kid) is from North Dakota, your from Montana so you can go. Don't know if this is how all the companies are like but I can see why there isn't enough workers out there.
Sounds like there might be an opportunity available there for an enterprising young lawyer who wants to build an employment law practice as part of a general practice.
Also if your not from North Dakota they will look down on you. Where he got hired in at, there was an older guy who saw the new hire in young kid drive recklessly and crash into something in the yard. When the supervisor came over to see what happened and the out of stater told him, he got fired and when he asked why the supervisor said well some one has to be fired for this and he (the kid) is from North Dakota, your from Montana so you can go. Don't know if this is how all the companies are like but I can see why there isn't enough workers out there.
Completely illegal.
Even if it weren't, the company would rather have a "local kid" take out a cyclist or cause an accident in the future, due to his lack of skill? They'd rather risk a lawsuit? They'd rather pay for the kid's recklessness and hammering the equipment? Sounds like the supervisor has the IQ of a toadstool. Speaking of lawsuits, the scapegoat should pursue one.
Owner operators in many cases are "making" more more than $1000 per day. Would they actually be putting that much $$ in their pockets...No. Most owner operators are paid by the hour or by the barrel. The company I work for pays owner operators $100 per hour. Most days are 14 hours per day. That's $1400 per day but that all not gravy. Trucks are expensive. Fuel, tires, breakdowns, insurance, etc. Owner operators make good money there is no doubt but there's always the chance that the trucking company can kick owner operators to the curb by adding more of their own equipment. If you can get on with the right outfit you can make some serious $$$$. We pay our owner operators every 2 weeks so they have a ton of cash flow. Some trucking companies pay the leasers when the oil company pays them.....which could be 30, 45, 60, and even 90 days! Tough to budget for sure.
Regarding the harassment of out of ND, MT workers....It might be true for some companies but the majority of people working in this oil boom are not from ND. If the company I work for didn't hire out of state workers we'd be about 40 people short. There's no way ND can do it without out of state workers. There just aren't enough people in ND to keep up with the oilfield! Don't listen to the horror stories of mean ND employers. If they employers want to make $$, they need workers! ND/MT has some of the nicest people in the nation. I have yet to hear any of these stories of ND employers picking on out of staters.
It is tough to just show up on a companies doorstep and lease a truck on. Generally you need to know someone who knows someone. We rarely hire guys that don't have ties to someone that works for us. Good luck! Tons of opportunity here in ND. The least your boyfriend can do is try working for someone that leases trucks on as a company driver with the option to add a truck if he turns out to be a good hand.
I don't think the "if your not a local they look down on you" is really an accurate statement. Half of the people living in Williston, are not from Williston. People have been coming and going in Williston since the 50's oil boom. Williston has always been an oil town, and have roots from many states. Some people are maybe tired of the traffic, price gouging, and other things that come with a boom town, but for the most part, the majority of people...local and transplants alike, welcome what is going on there. The majority of oil field truckers are not from Williston. With nearly 3,000 oil field related jobs based in Williston (according to the last job service statistics... http://www.ndworkforceintelligence.com/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/lmi_ap2010williston.pdf (broken link)
Williston only had around 12,500 people and are now up to at least 15,000-16,000... the number of new people did not sprout out of the wheat fields surrounding Williston...they moved there from other towns and states, to fill those 3,000 new jobs.
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