A good deal?

[Big Tex]

I got a job offer this week and wanted to get some opinions on it; should I take it?

It is a small company (40 or so trucks) semi-local job hauling bulk sand to oil field locations, paying %23 of load.
Fueling is done though a small independent chain of stations, comdata is also used, but only for driver expenses.
I will be paid $10.00 per hour while being loaded/unloaded; if I sit for more than 24 hours, the pay is increased to 15 p/h.
Trucks are mostly 500hp Freightshaker Classics with automatics, governed at 76. Equipment isn't assigned, I would have to commute in my own vehicle each day to the yard (22 miles.)

I would be home pretty much every night, save for the odd load to Wyoming/Houston.
Benefits kick in after a month, they are decent but nothing to write home about; about the same you would get at most outfits.

I would also be getting Saturdays and (most) Sundays off. Drivers brought home an average of 2200 every 2 weeks, according to the owner.

Maybe not the dream job, but for a guy with slightly less than a year behind the wheel it seems alright; what do you think?

[repete]

if you can bring home $2200 for 2 weeks you'd better take it or someone else will, there's alot of O/O that would like a gig like that right now

[Ian Williams]

Sounds ok to good for the region and general job market.

How many hours per week are you spending on lines 3 & 4 to get earn that $1100?

[Big Tex]

Thanks, I kind of figured that it was a pretty good offer. The only thing I don't like is the non-assigned equipment, meaning that if I get an 2 day run, I'll be in a sleeping bag instead of my nice fitted sheets.

But, I'll be home (most) every night, so roughing it on occasion is no biggie.

As far as lines 3 and 4 go. I won't be doing any loading or unloading so line 4 will be negligible (pretrip, ect.) Line 3? Well I'm pretty sure I'll be running hard Mon-Fri, and seeing as how this is mostly running in West Texas, I am sure a few "liberties" will be taken on the logbook.

All said, I am looking at around 70 hours a week in 5 days, about equivalent to a 15 dollar an hour job, which is fairly decent for West Texas.

[Evinrude]

I am sure a few "liberties" will be taken on the logbook.




Be willing to pay the price if your get in an accident.

[Big Tex]

I don't run a "swindle sheet." The liberties I'm talking about is this; say you are 100 miles away from the house when your 14 or 11 is up. Tell me, with a straight face, that you would shut it down on the side of the road or amongst a bunch of half full pee bottles at a truckstop, when you could be at home.

I do see your point though, I have heard the story about the driver who had a drunk come across the median and bounce off of his trailer and into a car; the driver was charged.

[Sealord]

"2200 every 2 weeks," I think I'd want to see a payslip and the driver that goes with it. BOL

[countryhorseman]

I haul bulk, and $2200 every two weeks is next to impossible hauling sand, especially at 23%!

Hauling bulk, you will be the one doing the unloading! You hook up the blower hose, you hook up the product hose, you open and close valves, watch the pressure, etc.!

Loading sand can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours, depending on the order schedule of the plant. We have drivers that load out if the same processed sand terminal you will, and they are sometimes there for hours! Long haul loads from Amarillo to Wyoming at 23% will pay you around $350.00, for how many miles?

None of the major down well companies (Schlumberger, Haliburton, BJ Services, etc.) will pay detention until after the 2nd hour, and you had better have the documentation to prove arrival and departure!

Well sites, can be there as few as 30-45 minutes, or be there for 24 hours or better! Plants are better, but it sounds like the outfit you are looking at is mainly in field!

Figure you may get 6 loads a week, at an average per load of $125- 150, your average weekly gross would be around $750 - $900! It takes lots of experience to learn which loads pay the best, unload the fastest, and how to get there, to be in the top of the bracket!

Do not get me wrong, bulk is not bad if you want to get home every night during most weeks! But the hours are long and hard, and you will be loading at all times of day and night, with absolutely no set schedule! With the current economy and work load in East and South Texas, I average a little more than $850.00/wk hauling lime (all types) and cement (sand pays about the same as cement)! The problem was take home of $2200 every two weeks - that is a hard stretch, especially at 23%! Most all the outfits in central and east Texas pay around 25% of load.

Logbooks - they had better be correct and legal! Texas DOT officers have instant access to Comdata/Fleetone records, if they choose too! If the product you are hauling is going staight to a Texas well site - intrastate hours apply if you have not been out-of-state for the last 8 days! If it is going to a Bulk plant to be mixed - it falls under interstate rules, even though you have not crossed state lines!

Again, the job is not all that bad, but do not expect the numbers he told you! Ask for proof! If indeed his drivers are getting paid that well, then I will be on my way to Amarillo!