Western North Dakota or any part of ND may not suit you if you hate cold. Average in the winter is 20 to 30 below. Then add some wind chill.

 

:thumbsup: Gracias Sanchez, Yea my wife is from Eastern Montana... Been there in winter time. funny thing though... long sleeve tshirt on Christmas Eve in Williston with 0 temp showing.. I was fine. Never ventured outside when it was blowing or blizzard though.

 

I haul sand for Halliburton in the West Texas oilfields.You make your money waiting to unload at the location,We make $19.20 an hour while we wait. I have waited as high as 4 days to unload. My average take home is $1200- $1400 a week.

 

i'm just about to head up there to drive crude for DVT. Everything looks like a good deal to me. A way to get out of debt and eventually a way out of CA, I hate the way my state is going (taxes,anti gun laws,to many stupid laws,spanish speaking...ect). I've been driving for 30 years mostly all here in So.Cal and ready to trade hours of grid lock for ice. I'm ready to go ... Any advice?

 

Lightsout - how does one make $400/night? As an O/O? And to Justruckin - what kind of shifts are you working to hit up to 100hr week? Days on-days off? Start time,stop time?

 

Lifeguard what kind of money does DVT talk about starting drivers off with? I've heard transporting crude pays more than water,but not by much. I've had my hazmat before and curious as to whether it's worth it to go through process again.

 

Depends on where you work, one outfit I was with ran around the clock, no log books. The outfit I am with now runs by the book, 14 on and 10 off, with a little leeway. Pound off around 90 hours a week at $30 an hour, do the math. We drive roughly 90 miles a day, all on pavement, hauling propane. Got a line on another job paying $40 an hour with a company vehicle and housing sitting behind a desk... Just get up here and start networking... More good paying jobs than a guy can shake a stick at. And normally you will work at least 80 hours a week. Hey, we are up here to work, not chase *****... Just saying.

 

sent you a couple pm's! Are you still working in nd?

 

I am still hauling propane and butane from the gas plant to the rail yard here in ND, three loads a day on average, around 100 - 150 miles total a day. We are now on salary (got a HEALTHY raise), get per diem and free housing. We now work the normal trucking rules, 14 hr days and 34 off, 70 hours a week. Like I said, our pay just went up, and getting another raise next month, allot of competition for workers here, now easily making 5 figures a month with plenty of time off. Can you say easy money?

One nice thing about working up here, is that everyone is hiring, employers are fighting to keep employee$. The pay is going up as more jobs come on line and the pool of available workers shrink, as we have a good sized labor shortage up here. Our unemployment is in the 1% range or less. Also, outfits that may never look at you for employment WILL hire and train you in fields that normally require a college degree. There is allot going on up here, more than I can type here, and it looks like this will last for quite a few years if not longer. Most of the higher ups I speak with are figuring around 5 to 10 years of a very robust economy here with long term futures for companies and employees that get into the right niche.

It is a very exciting time up here, and quite honestly I am really enjoying myself as well as making a very good living. God willing, I should easily hit 6 figures this year driving a propane truck. It is great work, very clean, drive on pavement the entire day and work with a great bunch of guys and gals. So far so good! And no, we are currently not hiring here. I found this job on Craig's List, it was a one day posting. So, keep your eyes on "North Dakota" in Craig's List, as it is probably one of the best places to find opportunities up here. And a word of advice, just get up here if you are serious about coming. Find a job, any job, and get up here. Once you are physically up here, that is when you find the real opportunities. Employers are fighting for workers, if you are good they will pay you very well to keep you happy as turn over is quite high. There are more than a few fly by nighters here, get a job with one of them if need be, and start your hunt for that perfect job or career on your days off. This is not the first oil boom up here, there are quite a few very solid companies here that are looking for men and women that want to work, but you need to physically be here.

Mike

 

TC,

I think most guys and gals that come up here for the first time can figure on $20 an hour + OT after 40 hours as a company driver. If you make more than $20 an hour, that is when ones pay normally roles into straight time, no over time. The owner ops normally make anywhere from $100 to $175 an hour, depending on the contract and commodity hauled. There are some outfits up here that do have trailers, you supply the truck, but those are hard to find and openings very rarely open up. So, if you bring a truck, you better have a trailer or know where to lease or buy one up here or back home. You will also need a wet kit or at the very least a PTO driven pump or compressor on your tractor depending on your application.

As far as shifts, most outfits run 12 on 12 off, 6am to 6pm or 7am to 7pm. But, there are other outfits that let you run around the clock if you want and the work is available. It all depends on who you hook up with. The bigger outfits like Missouri Basin or Power Fuels will keep you nailed down to that 70 hours a week. But, what I am seeing and hearing up here, and experiencing myself, is that we have a driver shortage so companies are now adjusting pay to keep the drivers they have. When I started here at my propane job, it worked out to $400 a day if you were able to make it all work. We have electronic logs in our trucks, and that right there cut our available time to complete our work. If you need 5 hours to do a turn, and only have three hours available you are not going to hit your $400. We started losing drivers because of this, as I know of no one up here running electronic logs in their trucks. We were running under the oil field DOT regs, but seeing as we do not go to drill sites, we were forced to go on regular OTR regs, losing our 24 hour reset and costing us 10 hours that would be available to work. So, our super/boss went to bat for us and nailed a new pay set up for us from the company. Now we get a set salary that works out to more money whether or not we hit our 70 hours. It works out to more than $400 a day, and we essentially get two days off a week, the 34 hour reset. It works out to just a tad over $10,000 a month gross salary as a company driver. And roughly 30% of that is non taxed per diem, along with some very nice furnished free housing.

Now, some of you are bugging out on that number. What I would tell you is that is about average pay up here for most of us that have been up here for a bit. It just depends on how many hours you have to work to get to that number. If you want to work more and make more, that can be done too. I am working less, making more, and coming home clean every night to a nice trailer with a real washer and dryer, full kitchen and private room that is provided for me by my company. Two of us share the trailer and have it worked out so that we work different hours and have some privacy. And it helps that the company I work for lets me do my own thing in regards to when I work and take my time off, which is another very nice perk. My responsibility is to work my 70 hours a week, hit that magic 14 hours a shift, and move the product. I chose to work nights, no traffic, no waiting to load, I like it, very stress free... And if the weather gets ugly, I can shut the truck down and head to the house, no chaining up here as we are hazmat and on pavement. We have chains, but have no real need to use them, knock on wood.

As far as time off, my company wants us to work at least 4 weeks on and take a week off, and you don't have to take that week off if you want to stay and work. And if there is a family emergency, which I just went through, they will let you head home no questions asked. Now, we do not get paid for that week off, but some companies are now paying that, along with your airfare if you live out of state. It all depends on who you work for and how serious they are in regards to keeping their employees happy and well paid.

Like I have said, you need to get up here with any job you can find. Once you are here, the door to opportunity swings open rather quickly. It might take a few tries, and trust me, employers understand that up here, to find that right fit.

Mike