Truck Driving Jobs in North Dakota Pay Better Than Anywhere else in the Nation, but they are extremely dangerous

Truck drivers are flocking to the oilfields of North Dakota, but a lot of the drivers coming here don't always know the best way to go about getting the best driving jobs here. In my opinion, water hauling jobs are the best truck driving jobs in the oilfield. The money is good and the work is plentiful and exciting.

In the short 17 months that I've been a water hauler in North Dakota, I've made really good money and encourage anybody with a commercial driver license to look into the jobs up here. If you have wanted to get up here, but aren't really sure how to find a good job, please consider reading my book. In the book, I share my story and provide in depth questions every job seeker needs to know the answers to before interviewing potential employers. Save yourself time and money by learning from my mistakes.

Landing the job may be the hard part, but truck driving in North Dakota will put your skills to the ultimate test. I learned that the key to being a professional truck driver is keeping cool in hot situations and letting go of what happened yesterday. Drivers who hold grudges should never be allowed behind the wheel of a big rig.

I'm not a thrill seeker by any means, especially when I have a wife and three kids to look after, but my job does give me a thrill. It thrills me to make so much money doing something that I don't think is very hard to do. There are days here in the patch when my driving skills are tested to the core. I'm not going to brag about my driving skill level, but I am grateful for my previous 7 years of over the road driving. I hauled flatbed freight during those years.

The most eventful loads of freight I hauled during those years were loads of pipe that I delivered to the oil and gas fields of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming during the winter. Those ice and snow covered mountainous roads really prepared me for driving here in North Dakota. The winters are brutal and the spring mud is horrendous. I don't always enjoy the white-knuckle driving, but I do enjoy a good challenge.

I've experienced some gnarly rain and fog that has literally sent trucks off the road. While I haven't been able to take pictures of every single crash or accident that I've passed while driving down the road, I have captured quite a few. The majority of these pictures were taken on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The three tribes on this reservation are the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara. With the constant barrage of road construction and lack thereof, everyday driving in this region can be a worthy challenge for even the most seasoned truck driver.

This rollover happened on an oilfield service road near Mandaree, North Dakota when a driver hauling fresh water was just going to fast. I later heard that the driver had a reputation for driving too fast. If you notice, the road is flat and perfectly dry. Many rookie drivers forget about how 5,000 gallons of water can surge enough to roll the vehicle when cornering.

These next three pictures were taken in sequence as I was driving down the road. The road graders had made the crown of this dirt road too steep and so all it took was a little rain for this disaster in waiting to occur. The only way I've found to manuever this type of situation is to chain up and then ride the center of the road. If you stay in the middle, your chances of staying on the road improve greatly.

Those are pictures taken on the infamous BIA 14. I met a guy who told me that he actually broken a tooth driving down that road. I believe him. I've had days driving this road where it took all the strength I had to keep my wheels in the ruts just to stay afloat. The next day after a day like that, I've had a sore chest and rib cage. Many trucks have had the straps on their fuel tanks break when they fall into the deep potholes enroute. Why do we do it? The MONEY!

Mud, dust, ice, wind, snow, rain and fog seem to be the norm on any given day in North Dakota. I'm a strong believer in pulling over and putting chains on my tires. That 20 minutes of work saves me hours and sometimes days that I might spend being stuck on the side of the road. No thank you! It's very expensive to get a truck pulled out on the oilfield. Everything is expensive and takes a long, long time.

I actually witnessed this next accident. The tractor you see all busted up was following too close when I began slowing down on an icy road. I looked in my side mirror and noticed him begin to fishtail. He then slid into oncoming traffic sideways and a white pickup truck T-boned him. Both drivers were okay. I called 911 and reported the incident. God bless them! If you look close at the frame rails, you'll note where the bumper of the pickup made its impression. I still remember what the collision sounded like.

These next photos of truck accidents in the oilfield of North Dakota were all taken during the winter and spring of 2012-2013. This first one is on BIA 14.

BIA 14

SR 23 near Keene, ND

BIA 14

This boom truck is located on SR 73

 

This truck in the next picture drove off the road in some of the most dense fog I've ever driven in. I nearly drove off the road myself. This pic is near the BIA 14/ SR 22. You can't always count on that convenient white reflective line on the side of the road in North Dakota. Sometimes it's there, but faded or covered with snow or dirt.

This next photo is often an all to common scene in North Dakota. A trucker comes up on his turn and thinks he's going slow enough to take the turn. We are creatures of habit and often forget that conditions change when snow and ice are present. I've even overshot a turn like this before.

Another common mistake of oilfield drivers, is pulling off the road onto the shoulder thinking that the ground is frozen beneath the snow. It doesn't take much to sink up to an axle in the soft mud of North Dakota. 

I took these pictures the day of and after this truck burned to the ground on an oil well pad near Mandaree, ND. The driver said it was caused by a wiring problem. 

The driver of this truck had never driven off road and only had over the road experience. He tried to acsend a muddy hill to get up to a well pad. He didn't get enough momentum to make it up and tried to back up to get another run at it, but ended up in a predicament. I was called in to pull him out and then to go ahead and do the work he was called to do. A pump house had been flooded during the spring thaw and I had to suck up the snow melt. 

On a cloudy day, there aren't any shadows and as I was traveling an oil-well access road, I failed to see this snow drift that brought me to a dead stop. Luckily I had a buddy close by who was able to pull me out. 

If you notice in this picture, there are two dead cows on the shoulder of this road. If you notice further back in the picture, there are tire tracks heading up the hill inbetween the railroad tie and the telephone pole. I saw the truck that hit these cows the night before being pulled down the hill by a tow truck. It was pulling a water tanker. The driver was extremely lucky to be able to miss the fence post and the telephone pole. The cows weren't so lucky. 

I used to wonder how it was possible for truck drivers to hit 1500 pound cows at night. I stopped wondering when I came within inches of hitting one myself. I didn't even see it and it was right in front of me. There are a ton of loose cattle and horses on the reservation.

If you come to North Dakota to work in the oilfield, be advised that this ain't no place for rookies. You must be on guard at all times. I have photos of accidents where the dead bodies aren't the bodies of cows. Professional drivers are desperately needed in this part of the country. Come one, come all and join me at doing The Best Job in North Dakota!