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Old 03-19-2011, 06:47 PM
 
36 posts, read 102,426 times
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Heading out in mid to late April. Title says it all. Been doing a lot of reading and have pretty much resolved myself to the fact that housing is non-existent. Read somewhere on here that there was a tent city coming together in an abandoned lot? Also, will the drilling/oil companies let you set up a tent next to the drill/rig? Been very interested in the boom since I first started reading about Stanley back in '08.

Single, no kids, just me and my friend who's situation is the same. Decided it was finally time to quit reading and like Nike...JUST DO IT! We're not against going Bear Grills for a while. Have a cdl but no experience.

All stories, anecdotes, advice, recommendations, suggestions, warnings, etc. greatly appreciated!
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Old 03-19-2011, 10:50 PM
 
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Doubt very much that a drilling company would allow you to pitch a tent on the location. Locations are very dangerous, and I'm sure the company would not want the liability associated with any accident that could occur. OSHA and any safety regulatory group would also not allow this. As far as tent cities, not too sure where that might be? Definately not in any Williston parks anymore after last years complaints from residents when one of their more popular parks was pretty much taken over by tenters. I think they have banned it in the city of Williston, but maybe another town in the area will allow? If you get on a crew, you should seriously check into some of the man camps in the area. Some companies even shuttle you to and from the rig sites. I believe even some rigs sites house their workers (when they are clocked in) but not sure what happens when they are on their off days? Maybe someone who works the rigs could fill us in how it works?
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Old 03-20-2011, 09:44 AM
 
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Are you looking to work the rigs or drive truck? Trucking companies might have a hard time with "no experience". Halliburton/Schlumberger would take you if your record is clear and also supply housing. Good places to get experience. The really don't hire truck drivers, they hire "operators" to run equipment on location. Power Fuels hires drivers with no experience and also supplies some housing. I'd try and make some contacts before just showing up on a doorstep with no housing. Most of the time the first question you'll here is how much experience do you have and the second is where are you going to live. You and 100's of other guys are showing up every week with the same song and dance of "willing to work, no experience, and no place to stay".

The weathers getting nice.....here they come!
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Old 03-20-2011, 09:56 AM
 
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Roloff1976 - you are right. There will be no more "tent cities" in the Williston area. What an uproar that caused!! I witnessed it myself first hand and it did not turn out well. I would say that tents in and around Williston will be removed by the city or county officials almost immediately.

No way will a rig site allow tents anywhere near it. Safety is a HIGH priority by the oil companies and there is no way that they would allow that.

My advice would be to look up Williston companies that are hiring. (The Shopper Inc., - Classifieds: Help Wanted, Real Estate & More - Williston, North Dakota. We're not your average newspaper! Job Service North Dakota) Start making some calls from where you are now to set up appointments. If phone calls don't get you anywhere, then do a pop in once you get here. Some companies have online apps that can be filled out before you make your way to ND. Everyone up here is busy and especially the people that do the hiring. I didn't notice where you are coming out here from but there will be a job fair in Billings, MT this Tuesday that has a number of oil/trucking/service companies attending. That would be a great time to make contacts with these companies. Cdl with clean record would open you up to almost any job you wanted up here. The only part you'll have trouble with is the "no experience". Good luck. Get here before the rest of the country does...
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Old 03-20-2011, 10:26 AM
 
Location: Spots Wyoming
18,700 posts, read 41,877,205 times
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You might try outlying towns too. For instance, a trucking company here in Sheridan Wyoming opened up an office in Williston and in Stanley. But they hire out of Sheridan Wyoming and then send drivers up there. Right now they have a really good rotation going on with drivers. They send them up to the oil patch for so many months and then bring them back to Sheridan for so many months and then send them back up there again. That way they don't burn out married folks and they have reliable drivers.
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Old 03-20-2011, 10:35 AM
 
36 posts, read 102,426 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kychlo View Post
You and 100's of other guys are showing up every week with the same song and dance of "willing to work, no experience, and no place to stay".

The weathers getting nice.....here they come!
Waddayamean "you people"??????? Lol, just kidding. Couldn't resist .

Thanks for the replies!!! Driving truck, working the rigs, doing something else in town, it doesn't really matter to me. I'm not too picky.

I'm having a hard time finding the tent city post that I was referring to. If my memory serves me correctly, someone posted that there was one forming in an abandoned lot on West Broadway? Anyway, if the city brought in the bulldozers and knocked it down, we'll just have to figure something out. I also recall reading a thread started by a guy on here that drove to Williston from Cali, or Vegas maybe, in the middle of winter. Apparently he lived in his car until he made some connections and found a place to share with roommates. I guess anything is possible.

Thanks again and keep the ideas coming if you get any more.

P.S.
Coming from northern Minnesota btw.
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Old 03-20-2011, 12:18 PM
 
2,609 posts, read 4,344,208 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kychlo View Post
Are you looking to work the rigs or drive truck? Trucking companies might have a hard time with "no experience". Halliburton/Schlumberger would take you if your record is clear and also supply housing. Good places to get experience. The really don't hire truck drivers, they hire "operators" to run equipment on location. Power Fuels hires drivers with no experience and also supplies some housing. I'd try and make some contacts before just showing up on a doorstep with no housing. Most of the time the first question you'll here is how much experience do you have and the second is where are you going to live. You and 100's of other guys are showing up every week with the same song and dance of "willing to work, no experience, and no place to stay".

The weathers getting nice.....here they come!
Both Schlumberger and Halliburton have all of their operators get CDL's, the equipment they're operating has to get to location somehow.

Schlumberger hires through SOS Staffing, the provide housing for the first few months. It's only supposed to be 3 months but because of the housing problems up here they've been a little more lax with that rule. You'll likely be staying in a hotel and sharing your room with someone else, no bringing family or pets.

With Schlumberger you can have no felonies or DUI's. If you have anything that would come up on a background check you MUST tell them about it. Their well services division (frac) recruits out of state and rarely takes walk ins, you're best bet is to go to their wireline division.

I've heard that Baker Hughes is now paying out a "cost of living/rental assistance" amount on top of regular pay. Word has it that it is $1,500 a month but I'm not entirely sure on that.
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Old 03-20-2011, 12:23 PM
 
2,609 posts, read 4,344,208 times
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Also, I'd check out Cal-Frac. They just opened up here and are desperate for employees. If you get up here and are having problems finding something immediately you can go to SOS Staffing, they are across the street from the post office in the back of the building. I used to work for them, but they can typically get you a job quickly. It may not pay as much as the other jobs in the area and they tend to be a bit easier (physical but they don't require much thoughy). If you have welding experience they are ALWAYS looking for welders.

They're used to losing employees to higher paying jobs as well. They'll want you to stay on long term, but they also understand if you leave because you've found something better (as long as you tell them). You can fill out the application online (SOS Staffing) and give them a call once done (701-572-1440) to try and get most of the paperwork done before coming up here.

Also, check out jobsnd.com, register and get an account. They post a LOT of jobs on there. You can always check out the Williston Herald (Williston Herald - Online Edition) but in my opinion The Shopper is a better bet when looking for work and for a place to live.

Last edited by lisan23; 03-20-2011 at 12:41 PM.. Reason: t at the end of thought
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Old 03-20-2011, 12:36 PM
 
36 posts, read 102,426 times
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Thank you Lisan so much for the helpful info!
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Old 03-20-2011, 12:57 PM
 
36 posts, read 102,426 times
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It's a shame really. Look at all that tent-pitching room!

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