The land of opportunity is North Dakota. This picture is of a flowback site where two workover rigs are working to bring oil wells into production. I was on site to clean up some production water that had spilled on the ground. The hose laying on the ground is mine and the rear of my trailer is in the shadow. If you notice to the left of the picture, there is a line of trucks waiting to come into the well site to get a load of flowback water which will then be hauled off to a saltwater disposal.
I've been an employee driver in North Dakota since June of 2012 and have made really, really good money. I've made so much money that I got comfortable with my $3,000-$5,000 a week and never thought that it could ever be any better than that. About six months ago, two of my brothers came to me for advice about how they could come to work in the oilfield. They spent time with me on the job and decided that they would put their money together to get their own truck and trailer.
It took them a good month or two before they got rolling, but they hung in there until the checks started rolling in. It has always been my goal to get my own truck and I began buying one several months ago, but I was making so much money as an employee that I wasn't very motivated to become an owner operator. There is still really good money being made by employee water haulers, but I have recently found new motivation to get my own truck going.
I called my brother Duncan working out in North Dakota this week and he disclosed how much their truck has made over the last six months. My mouth dropped when he told me that the truck had earned over $270,000. I have found my new motivation to put everything I've got into making a go at becoming an owner operator water hauler in the oil patch. The only reason I'm as close as I am to reaching this goal is due to the insane amount of money I've made as an employee water hauler.
This is the most recent pic of my truck getting fitted with a pusher axle and a hydraulic wet kit. The pusher axle allows me to haul more weight and the wet kit helps operate a water trailer. I was an owner operator from 2007-2010 hauling flatbed freight across the nation and so I'm not a complete stranger to this process, but I still feel a little anxiety going it alone. The money potential quickly settles my anxiety and helps me push forward toward my goals. Until you have the money to make the transition from employee to owner operator, don't quit your day job!
My advice to anyone reading my words is to do as I've done. The path I have followed isn't a big secret. There are many truck drivers in North Dakota hauling water. I'm sure many of them are making a ton of money, however, I bet alot of them aren't making enough to have extra for becoming an owner operator. To those who feel this way, there is hope for you. Over the last year and a half I wrote down each step I've taken to get to where I'm at today. I then took what I wrote and organized it into an ebook that I sell at haulwater.com.
Whenever I learned new ways to make more money per load, I would write it down. Whenever I had a realization of how I had made a poor choice and how that choice had directly affected my pay, I thought of what I would have done differently and then I wrote down the better way. Learn from my mistakes to help yourself avoid them. If I had known a book like this had existed when I first set out to be a water hauler, I would have been all over it. The reason why this information isn't readily available in the oilfield, is because of the cutthroat nature of oilfield work. Each trucking company is always trying to steal the work from the other trucking company and so tight-lipped drivers is the norm.
I'm not too worried about sharing what I know, because I believe that by helping others, I help myself. The more I give the more I receive. Yes I get a little money for every book sale, but I keep giving by posting on my blog and creating free videos on my youtube channel. I hope that what I share encourages and enlightens water haulers who are looking for better information.
This is another pic on that same flowback site with the well head directly behind me. My hose is on the ground extending to the base of the well head. This area is known as the cellar. My job was to empty the cellar of the production water, because it was overflowing. It's not easy to become a water hauler, but my hope is that my ebook can help lighten the burden for those who aren't sure about which path to take.
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