How Do I Get Into Oilfield Work?

I'll be done with cdl school in a couple weeks. We always have recruiters come in and give presentations, but they're mostly mega carriers. I keep hearing about big money in the oil fields. I don't care if I have to work for 35k/year for a couple years before I make good money. I don't care if I'll live in the middle of nowhere. I just want to put myself in a position (get my foot in the door) where I can be making big money down the road. Any suggestions on companies or ways to get working in this? Thanks in advance.

Just saying oilfield is pretty vague because there's all kinds of hauling involved with energy companies. What do you want to haul? Where do you live? What kind of environment do you want to work in would be a few questions. The other suggestion would be to hold off for a bit longer. It's slowly coming back but the guys making money are the ones who stuck it out during the slow times and the companies know them and their reputation. The new guys are still struggling at the moment.

Jim hears:

I keep hearing about big money in the oil fields.

James, that may be true. But "big money" isn't free. You will work, hard, for it. Also, oil is a business that has its real ups and downs. "Everybody" gets a job, working 70 hours a week. Then the price of oil drops or something, and suddenly there's lots of unemployed people in Wyoming and Texas. Is that what you're looking for?

I'll be done with cdl school in a couple weeks. We always have recruiters come in and give presentations, but they're mostly mega carriers. I keep hearing about big money in the oil fields. I don't care if I have to work for 35k/year for a couple years before I make good money. I don't care if I'll live in the middle of nowhere. I just want to put myself in a position (get my foot in the door) where I can be making big money down the road. Any suggestions on companies or ways to get working in this? Thanks in advance.

If you live in Texas, try Schlumberger, Par 5 Energy Services, 9 Energy Services, or Basic Energy Services. There are numerous other water haulers for the oil fields too. Where do you live exactly?

I'll be done with cdl school in a couple weeks. We always have recruiters come in and give presentations, but they're mostly mega carriers. I keep hearing about big money in the oil fields. I don't care if I have to work for 35k/year for a couple years before I make good money. I don't care if I'll live in the middle of nowhere. I just want to put myself in a position (get my foot in the door) where I can be making big money down the road. Any suggestions on companies or ways to get working in this? Thanks in advance.

If you live in Texas, try Schlumberger, Par 5 Energy Services, 9 Energy Services, or Basic Energy Services. There are numerous other water haulers for the oil fields too. Where do you live exactly?

I live in Portland Oregon. But but that doesn't matter because I can move wherever I need to.

James, I'm curious - what kind of annual income are you expecting from your trucking career. This is a great career for those who put in the commitment to excel at it. I've never heard a success story from anyone who approached it as a quick way to make big money.

If you'd be willing to throw a number out there of what kind of annual salary you think you should be worth, then I'm sure we could help point you in the right direction, and help you understand how to achieve your goals.

James,

I can’t help you out with Portland, but you can check those Texas companies I listed. You can add Halliburton to that list too.

Good luck to you in your endeavors.

There's a long list of companies I could recommend as well as a list to avoid but you do need to get some experience under your belt first. Driving in the oil fields isn't the easiest of work and it's very very easy to put yourself in a nasty position. Plus, you need to get some knowledge regarding simple repairs or you'll spend too much time sitting, many times in the middle of nowhere. That being said, yes you can make very good money once things really start rolling, easily more than you can make in most other aspects of trucking but you spend a lot of time sitting.

James, I'm curious - what kind of annual income are you expecting from your trucking career. This is a great career for those who put in the commitment to excel at it. I've never heard a success story from anyone who approached it as a quick way to make big money.

If you'd be willing to throw a number out there of what kind of annual salary you think you should be worth, then I'm sure we could help point you in the right direction, and help you understand how to achieve your goals.

I only need to make 40,000 a year. I would be willing to do that for 2 years before I could get a better job. I haven't even finished school yet, so I can't say what I'm worth.. but I'm hoping 40k is average for a first year driver.

You can easily achieve $40k your first year with some effort and discipline no matter what company you work for. So, besides oil field work what are you wanting to do? Flatbed, dry van , reefer , tanker, dry bulk tanker? Answer that and you know at least where to start looking.