You don't have to go to North Dakota to make good money.We are having an oil boom in West Texas as well. The company I drive for is contracted to Halliburton, we haul frac sand. My average take home is $1400 per week.Might be better pay in North Dakota, but we don't have the cold weather to deal with.We stay out 2 weeks at a time then home for a few days so housing isn't an issue.Housing is readily available.If you have a CDL you can get a job hauling water,frac sand.Every trucking company out here has a help wanted sign for truck drivers.

Binder, how much overtime are the drivers getting down there?

As much as they can stand.


And they are spending what they make just as fast as they can.

I bet they are! I treat my jobs like business myself, keep what we need to live and pay the bills, then bank the rest for our future. Works out pretty good that way. Would be better if I had the same income as the folks in Texas or North Dakota. Hopefully will be going to ND pretty soon.

justruckin: I have been trying to pm you but having trouble. Please e-mail me at [email protected] i would appreciate it very much. PS i am also from SE mich.

Any companies in West Texas hiring newbies that need training for CDL?

Bruce, email sent...

There has been alot of information on the the ND and Texas oil fields on these forums and I do have a question for you Justruckin, I do have experience operating heavy equipment and handling aviation fuel and a friend of mine is trying to get me to go to either ND or Texas to haul fuel, frac, or whatever they will need me to do. My question that I have is that I do not have a CDL, but I do have heavy equipment experience (fuel trucks mainly). You can e-mail me at [email protected]. There is a lot of information on this forum, but I still have a few of my own.

Reaper, I don't know of any jobs available in your list... They all require a CDL with all the endorsements. Maybe not the HE operator, but most of those guys have to drive the truck to get the equipment to the site. I don't know what else to tell you.

That is cool, a friend of mine is pushing me to go to ND or Texas, and as of right now I may look at a OTR company for 6 months and then hit the Oil Fields. I drive a fuel truck for a living, but where I am at now, I cannot move up with my company without taking a big pay hit, and I do not make that much money as it is. I like driving, but my problem is that I do not have a CDL since the FAA does not require us to have one and yes we do drive our trucks on public roads, but only a few hundred yards to go to the farm from the ramp.

My friend is telling me that I need to get out to the fields and that "I have experience" with driving fuel. Yes I do, but these trucks are straight trucks, and they weigh alot more than your tractor trailers. Also the only combo experience I had was a yard dog, but it only lasted a few weeks cause the company went under, not unless you count pushing or towing a airliner. But thanks anyway, I will think of a way to get out there