Fake Oil Field Recruiters

by Dennis Shipman
(Baltimore, MD)

I just had someone - claiming tongue-in-cheek to be a recruiter - call offering me a three to four week out, one week home gig in the W. Virginia oil field paying approximately $50,000/year with free housing and a straight face.

I almost laughed in it, but decided to politely give him enough rope with which he could continue strangling himself. What's the problem you may naively ask? The problem is oil field work pays treble what typical truck driving jobs do.

Drivers working the Bakken formation in North Dakota are averaging $150,000/year with the low range being $75k and high being $200k/annum.

The same with most of the other major oil fields. A typical local driving job in the Baltimore market pays $18 to $19/hour nonunion and $3 to $4/hour more for union gigs.

Why would I willingly opt to work a hazardous oil field position staying away from my family for three weeks at a shot for $50k/year, when I can make the same money driving locally? The math does not add up.

Recruiters prey on the stupid and desperate who all conspire to drive - no pun intended - down wages in our industry.

Be wary of these false recruiters offering similarly insulting deals. $50/annum is not the prevailing wage for Class A CDL oil field work and, more importantly, inexperienced driving school graduates (never went to driving school myself.

Learned the old fashioned way: with an experienced driver out on the road) hurting experienced drivers who deserve to share in the tremendous profits these companies are raking in...

If companies are not offering or paying between $21 to $23/hour for oil field work, just walk away for everyone's sake... word to the wise.