Oilfield Driving is the ultimate challenge for a trucker. Snow, mud, ice, extreme grades, tire chains and bitter cold temperatures will test your nerves, skill, patience, and even your sanity. Every trucking job has it’s own challenges, but oilfield driving will be one of the most difficult ones a driver can face.
You’ll need to adapt to the roads, hazards, terrain, conditions and weather quickly to be an oilfield driver. This is something you should be used to as an experienced driver, because adapting is what truck driving is all about. As a highway driver you adapt all the time for things like city traffic, mountains or prairie winds.
There’s always one thing that remains constant behind the wheel no matter what you’re doing,
“You always drive to the conditions, your abilities, your comfort level, the comfort and safety of those with you and around you no matter where you are.”
So if you’re a professional driver that craves mental and physical challenges, oil patch jobs in trucking may be the career for you.
Oilfield Driving is a challenging career that will test your skill, nerves, patience and your sanity.
Welcome to Section 6 in our Oilfield Trucking series.
If you’re just joining us on this page from a web search make sure you check out the rest of the series. It’s an educational resource designed to help drivers decide if oilfield trucking is the right career move for them. For those of you not used to driving off road, we’re going to cover some of the challenges you’ll be faced with.
There’s enough pictures and stories around to make one think twice about becoming an oilfield trucker. My intention is not to show you how to become a statistic. I’d rather you be aware of how not to become one. You already have all the tools to do any job safely, but how you use them is up to you.
After this section we’ll cover how driving in the oilfields is made safer by using a VHF radio. First, let’s cover some of the conditions you’ll encounter so you know what you’ll be getting into.
There’s always expectation and reality. We put together this short video clip at night in the dark to show you the reality of what you’ll encounter with oilfield driving. Forget about the nice sunny days and gravel roads, although you’ll have those too. We want you to think about working all hours of the night in snow, ice, mud, or -30 degree temperatures while chaining up for steep icy hills. Are you ready for this part of the job too?
Mud
Along with freezing rain and glare ice, mud is one of the worst driving conditions you can face. Mud slick roads are comparable to hydroplaning on water or slush. The difference is you lose control over your steering at much lower speeds driving in mud. The mud becomes a slippery film under the pressure applied by your tires. This is a similar phenomenon to a “slide plane” effect that creates a landslide.
Your steering tires follow the ruts in the road, and it’s difficult to get out once you’re in them. You’re usually required to chain up and you should always drive slower when conditions are muddy. Sometimes oilfield roads can be shut down during these conditions with the risk of damage to the roads and equipment being increased.
One of the toughest things to do is to haul b-trains through mud. It doesn’t matter if you’re empty, loaded, or chained up. The drag from so many tires through thick mud is difficult to overcome.
Continue reading Oilfield Driving…..
Snow
Packed snow is my favourite oilfield driving condition to drive on, mostly because I hate mud. I also don’t care for gravel because I like my windshield intact. Windshields don’t last very long with rocks being kicked up from passing vehicles on gravel roads.
There are many rules and speed limits posted regarding passing other vehicles and the unwritten rule is slow down as much as possible. 40 to 50 km/hr is considered a safe and courteous speed. Just because there isn’t a sign to tell you what to do, it shouldn’t prevent you from being courteous.
The great thing about snow is knowing what you’re driving on. You can adjust your speed accordingly. It’s far nicer than driving on a highway that may have black ice or glaze.
Slow down and stay well back of snow dust being kicked up from vehicles in front of you and slow down when passing vehicles going the other way. (Don’t dust them out with your snow cloud). I already mentioned you’re paid by the hour, so what’s the rush? The roads are extremely narrow, so a snow dust cloud can easily put others in the ditch.
Be careful of freshly graded roads after a snowstorm. Finding the edge of the road could be a costly mistake. If a plow blade is level with the road, it can appear like the road is wider than it actually is.
Oilfield driving in the winter on snow packed roads is far better than playing in the mud.
Oilfield Ice Roads
Muskeg Ice roads in the oilfields are built by water trucks flooding the road like a hockey rink. They build thick layers of ice to be able to support the heavy vehicles on top of muskeg areas. You’ll rarely be allowed to run chains on man made ice roads, so slower controlled driving is important.
The only positive thing about Muskeg ice roads, is you’ll rarely have any hills to worry about. A muskeg is a low lying bog or swampy area.
Steep Grades and Chaining Up
This is the big one. Steep grades are where most people seem to get into trouble. The biggest reason is the drivers lack of judgement regarding when to put on truck tire chains.
If you’re unsure, you probably need them. Especially if you’re new and don’t know the roads you’re traveling on. Truck chains are very cheap insurance that make the roads safer for everyone and they cover your butt if anything should happen.
Putting on tire chains at the right time is not the easiest call to make, and we all learn lessons the hard way. Chaining up when you’re spun out on a hill has some serious safety risks. There’s nothing worse than holding the chains in your hands as you watch your truck and trailer sliding away on you.
This may sound funny, but many oilfield truckers can relate to this. Don’t ever get complacent just because you’re familiar with a road and the hills. Most experienced drivers that think they can do it, or have done it before are the ones that get caught in complacency. This is always the time when some unknown hazard will get you.
It could be anything from a change in road conditions, to an accident scene where people are out of their vehicles, or another driver failing to use chains that spun out. Don’t count on other’s to warn you of these hazards on the radio, because this isn’t always possible. (Especially if it just happened).
Oilfield Driving has many deceiving hazards especially at night. This hill may not be big, but there’s a rough bridge before it and the grade is over 15%.
Look at the picture above and imagine your first time on this road at night. The terrain may be relatively flat in the area and you decided you wouldn’t need chains. There is very little chance to run at a small steep hill like this with a rough temporary bridge before it. The tow tractor operator may not be around. If you spin out on this hill, you’ll be coming down backwards in icy conditions.
You don’t chain up for what you know, you chain up for what you don’t know.
As driver’s, we’re more prepared for what we know will challenge us like the mountain pass, the big hill, or the sharp bend. We know these things are coming and we can prepare for them. In Oilfield Driving, there’s far more unknown challenges and they increase at night where so much of our work takes place.
When a driver knows a road they can easily become complacent. A “drivers edge” is a slight level of caution when they drive on snow, ice, challenging, or unknown terrain. This edge is what keeps them in check. This edge can disappear when you become complacent and can be easily replaced with aggression, according to how well they know a section of road or terrain.
Sadly, I believe that we can all be guilty of this. Here’s an example of what I mean.
If you’ve lived on a road for 30 years and you come home in a thick fog, do you ever overdrive your vision?
The truth is, the better we know a road, the more dangerous we can become. This is the opposite of what one might expect, but it’s human nature. You won’t ever see a race car driver doing test runs on a track so they can be more cautious and safe. They are “learning” the track so they can attack it more aggressively.
Continue reading Oilfield Driving…..
What you don’t know, will bite you in the….
Oilfield driving can humble the best and most experienced highway drivers and I’ve seen situations like this following video so many times. Drivers with 30 or more years of accident free driving and new to the oilfields having their first accident ever.
Here’s a true story of complacency and why you chain up for what you don’t know. One night I was driving to a location down a familiar road with another driver. We came to a moderately sized coulee crossing a river. I stopped at the chain up area to put on my chains. He told me ” I’m not going to bother, I make this hill every time”. I agreed it’s possible to do it, but explained that I didn’t take chances so I was going to chain up
I finished chaining up, got back in the truck, and heard him calling on the VHF radio saying he was in the ditch. I asked if there was room to get around so I could go up to the other side of the hill and walk back down from there. I was too far away from where I was to offer any help. I drove past him to stop at the top of the hill and walked back down. He was OK, but his trailer was well in the ditch. So what happened to “I make this hill every time”?
Before he started through the coulee, he said he called on his VHF radio making sure the hill was clear. This is normal when you want to run at a hill with everything you have. He said there was no response which indicated it was clear.
He crested the first hill going down and saw another driver spun out on the hill going up the other side, but it was too late. (I guess the other driver didn’t think he needed chains either.) He slowed down barely making it around the other driver who was half sideways on the hill. His run at the hill was sacrificed, his momentum was lost, and having no chains ended his chance of making it up the hill. He ended up in a worse position than the first truck.
Here’s the problem that he wasn’t aware of.
The other driver was out of his truck chaining up and wasn’t able to let anyone know it wasn’t clear. You can sometimes count on others using the road to point out hazards like this, but what if it’s not busy and there’s nobody around?
I’m going to say this again.
Don’t chain up for what you know, chain up for what you don’t know.
Don’t ever forget this.
This happens every day in oilfield driving and guess who gets the blame? The person on the hill chaining up, but the person too lazy to chain up is just as responsible. Remember the first time you do something like this it’s a mistake. Every other time after it’s a choice.
It’s a small world when you’re working in the bush and if the consultant for the oil company you’re working for finds out what happened, so will your company.
Remember CYA from another section we covered?
Cover your ass. I told you that you’d hear this a lot working in the oilfields. If you have chains on and something happens, you’ll have people covering your back. If you don’t, you’re on your own. (This could even mean the tow bill.)
When anything happens on route to an oil lease, the first thing the Consultant for the oil company will ask is,
“Are they OK?” If the answer is yes, the next question is “Were they chained up?”
If they weren’t chained up, the oil company won’t cover the tow bill.
Oilfield Driving in Alberta offers a variety of terrain. Grande Cache Alberta is 2 hours south of Grande Prairie and can serve up some challenging hills once you leave the pavement.
How steep of a grade can you expect?
A typical steep grade on a main highway is about 5% to 8%, but rarely more than that. Grades on secondary highways in the mountains can be 10% or more. Climbing a steep hill with loaded b-trains for 30 minutes can be challenging in the winter. Oilfield driving in Northern Alberta and BC has some challenging bush roads with grades over 25%.
If you think drivers from ice road truckers had their challenges, wait until you do some off road oilfield driving. Northern Alberta along the mountains and Northern BC can dish up some of the most challenging terrain you’ll find in North America.
You’ll need some advanced shifting skills unless you’re in an automatic. Steep grades may require you to take 2 or 3 gears at once. If you can’t quite master shifting this work may not be for you. there is no margin of error as a missed shift could cost you dearly. I’d suggest working in a prairie region or find a company that has as automatic trucks in their fleet, but 18 speed transmissions are still very popular in the Oilfields.
On the lighter side, do a google search on some of the deadliest roads in the world or click on the link below. The “Death Road” in Bolivia is one of these roads that will make you feel pretty safe and secure on our roads.
Expect to use truck tires chains frequently as you’ll be off road a lot. Chaining up multiple times a day, or even multiple times on the same road can happen. (On off, on off, etc…) Chaining up will be a standard part of your routine just like strapping a load, or checking your equipment. You might not enjoy it with frozen hands at -40, but you won’t have a choice.
After doing this a lot, it’ll be second nature to you. When you’re good at chaining up, it could be done in just under 5 minutes on a good day. (Chaining up 1 axle on both sides with a set of triples). Keep in mind we all have good days and bad days. A bad day could take you 20 minutes or more dealing with tangled, kinked, frozen, muddy, or even damaged chains in need of quick repairs.
Continue reading Oilfield Driving…..
Tow Tractors
Fortunately, most oilfield companies will supply mandatory tow tractors when grades are steep. They do this for a few reasons. (Read on further down where we relate a story about the consequences of a blocked road.) This is becoming more common now as safety continues to be an issue.
For many drivers, it was an exciting challenge to “make” a bad hill on your own. Maybe for a few bragging rights to say…..”I made that hill barefoot.” Most older experienced drivers will just say “Why try if there’s a tow tractor”? It’s not your road or equipment. Digging, clawing, and bucking up a hill can easily take out a drive shaft and chews up the road.
Sliding down an icy hill backwards and ending up in the ditch is no fun either. If you slide down backwards, it’ll be a combination of skill and luck that will keep you out of the ditch.
Oilfield driving has changed with mandatory tow tractors assigned to steeper hills. The consequences of a blocked road can cost, time, money, equipment damage, damage to the road, and block access in emergency situations.
Somewhere around 2007 I remember a green (new) driver bailing out of his truck on an icy hill after it started to slide backwards. His truck collided with 2 more trucks from his company on the way down. (They were all brand new.)
Another lesson we covered earlier is, don’t start up a bad hill until you’re sure it’s clear from the other drivers.
This next story really shows the consequences of blocking a road because of a poor judgement call.
My best friend and I were on our way to a location. We made the decision to chain up on the way in knowing the area was challenging. About 1 km away from arriving at the location we came across an accident. There were three trucks all from the same company headed to the same place, but they decided they didn’t need any chains.
Two of them were in the ditch and they had the narrow road completely blocked. To make things worse, there was a medic trying to get to the hospital with an injured worker from location that couldn’t get by. This looks incredibly bad on the driver and the company. An incident like this can cost a life, your job, or your company a pretty big contract. This next picture is where the incident happened. Take a look at the overall terrain and decide if you would expect to chain up in a place like this or not?
Oilfield Driving. Make the right call on when to chain up.
Over the summer of 2016 we’ll be working on a small series on chaining up. This includes some pictures and video, so keep your eyes on the site. Watching video will help, but it’s also a hands on learning thing. Watch and learn from others in the field and have an experienced driver help you until you’re comfortable chaining up on your own.
Everyone will teach you something with oilfield driving whether it’s what you should do, or shouldn’t do. You’ll always find a way that works best for you and find your own groove.
When learning from others, always keep this in mind.
“Moral Intelligence”
“Moral intelligence is the capacity to understand right from wrong; it means to have strong ethical convictions and to act on them so that one behaves in the right and honourable way”.
̴ Dr. Michelle Borba
The importance of this quote as a training tool is it allows you to differentiate between good habits and bad habits that others will teach you. Don’t let the mistakes of others cost you.
General oilfield driving tips
- Oilfield roads are sometimes patrolled by the companies that own them. Some oil companies even run their own radar patrols. Getting caught doing anything careless could mean a fine, suspension from the road, or being banned from working for a particular company.
- Oilfield driving roads are often narrow and rough so drive accordingly. Observe the posted limits and slow down when passing other vehicles so you don’t spray their windshield with rocks. Unfortunately, not everyone will be considerate out there, but the drivers that aren’t usually don’t last very long. Someone will report them and they could be banned from using the roads.
- You never know who’s watching you. or who’s in the vehicle you’re passing.
- Watch out for narrow bridges, and drive slow. They’re not designed to have a 50 ton load slammed into them at high speeds. They’re designed to have heavy loads roll over them at a reasonable speeds. If you hit these bridges hard enough you can dislodge the support, or disturb the ground around it.
- Washboard gravel roads are dangerous and can almost vibrate you off the road. Slow down for washboard areas, which typically occur in uphill sections. Watch out for wildlife like deer, bears, moose, buffalo, elk, mountain sheep, caribou and even cougars.
Oilfield Driving is all about safety. Many companies now have their own radar patrols and and equipment to monitor drivers.
So these are some of the conditions you can encounter in the oilfields. Hopefully, you’re not deterred from pursuing a career in oilfield driving. It really is a fun, challenging, and financially rewarding career.
What makes it all come together is that you’re not alone out there. VHF radios are how everyone communicates safely on these back roads. That’s our next section.