Trucking Advocate and Activist Allen Smith of TruthAboutTrucking.com : Articles Current News and Information for CDL Truck Drivers and Truck Driving Students…"Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry"
The most recentDan Rather Reports, a second in a series, filmed on location in Carl’s Corner, Texas at Willie Nelson’s truck stop, Willie’s Place – brought a large number of truckers together who had the opportunity to mingle and discuss problems within the trucking industry. Owner Operators specifically, were sharing their concerns about the future of their livelihood.
Concerns such as opening the Mexican Border . . . the Cap and Trade issue . . . new EPA stipulations such as the SCR or EGR and its direct costs to the owner operators who for many, can barely keep their heads above water right now.
It was a good thing to see so many drivers discussing these important issues within the industry as long as it does not turn out to be just “more talk” as many of them shared with me was one of their concerns.
Jimmy Watson – Driver/Trainer for KLLM
Donna and I enjoyed spending time with one of the many drivers who attended, Jimmy Watson, a veteran driver and trainer with KLLM Transport.
I enjoyed my days of working in the oilfields of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas back in the late ’70s and early 80’s. Back when the oil boom was going full force before President Reagan brought it all to an end. Working both in trucking and other various jobs, one of my favorite was working as a mud logger. As a mud logger, you would spend 24 hours on and 24 hours off, working on-site at the drilling rig. My job was to periodically take mud samples and looking through a microscope, draw out a log showing what percentage of what formation was being drilled through at any specific time. The mud logger would also help determine at what point a section of gas would be found and at what depth . . . as well as testing the drill samples through a gas chromatograph and under a UV light and other various tasks.
As a mud logger, you would basically live out on the drilling rig through its completion, which could be months. You dealt directly with the “driller,” “tool pusher” and “company man.” They would rely on the mud logger to keep them informed of the geological formations being drilled through, how much “gas” was being produced at any given time and most importantly . . . was there anything showing the possibility of a sudden “hit” coming up? It was fun work . . . but there was danger involved as well . . . it was no game anybody was playing, and we always knew that.
Once, while working on a rig in Western Oklahoma bordering the Texas line, I began noticing more and more sandstone showing up. According to drilling logs of previous rigs from the area and the depth that we were at . . . there should not be any sandstone. Shortly after noticing it, the company man called me over the intercom and asked, “What are you showing coming up?” I went out to meet him on the platform of the drilling rig and showed him and the others what I had . . . still some shale, but ever increasing sandstone. We all knew what was coming . . .
Things started moving real fast, but a few minutes later the entire rig started shaking and seconds later . . . the earth began moving. Somewhere in the distance we heard someone shouting, “RUN RUN RUN!” One of the first things you learn when working on an oil rig, is that when you hear somebody shouting, “RUN” . . . you run. So . . . we ran.
They had drilled into a large section of sandstone and, of course, gas . . . and it was coming up fast. The guy who had shouted to run, was the worker over at the BOP (blowout preventer), who could see real quick that the BOP was not going to do its job on this one. Everyone made it out safe and we were now about a half of a mile away and once things settled down a bit, I was able to take a photo of the experience with my Canon AE-1 and telephoto lens. The blowout was so great, that it was left to burn itself out and the fire was so intense, that it eventually ended up even melting a large section of the rig and platform. What happened, was one of the largest blowouts in Oklahoma history.
I still keep this photo hanging up on my wall, as well do several members of my family. Why? It’s always a reminder that our dependence on foreign oil is all done on purpose. It tells me that our leaders of this country are more concerned about appeasing special interests groups than they are for bringing relief to millions of Americans. It relates to me the fact that many of those who talk about finding ways to bring gas prices down and cutting our dependence on foreign oil, is just talk. Talk means nothing when there is no action. Furthermore, it is always a reminder that there are so many talkers out there who have no idea about the real world experiences of petroleum production.
I’m all for keeping our planet clean and doing whatever we can for its protection. On the other hand, it has been here for 6 billion years and will be here billion of years more, long after mankind is gone. Technology has come so far, that we can now put up a drilling rig, drill, cap it off, tear it down and remove it and you can barely tell that it has been there. There are pumping units from the 1930’s out in Texas and Oklahoma that are still producing oil to this day.
So for all of those who have never even seen a drilling rig, except in pictures . . . for those who have never stood on a rig’s deck as the Earth shook because Mother Earth was about to release her fury . . . and for all of those who have never dipped their hands through drilling mud and experienced the sense of raw petroleum from the shale, lime and sandstone . . . you really want to bring gas prices down? Are you really serious about cutting our dependence on foreign oil?
The answer is so simple and is right here on this page . . . DRILL.
The 2009 Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, Texas came to a close yesterday but there was a lot of fun and informative works that took place during the three day event. Our booth for “Trucker” – the world’s first iPhone application for the trucking industry, was well received and Donna did a great job with the much appreciative help and assistance of Trucker Desiree.
Also on hand, and giving much of his time in helping out was Daniel Audet of The Truck Star and Truck Star Radio. We will be posting more pictures and stories from the event and would like to thank everyone for their help during the event. It was a big three days but well worth the time and effort. Donna also finally got to meet the Rivenburgs and family of Jason’s Law, and we will be sharing all the pictures as they come in, right here on our blog.
Also, we will be posting the winner of the PC Miler GPS System very soon. My understanding is that a lucky lady from Texas claimed the prize that was donated by GoTruckStop. She was one happy winner!
Check back later, as there will be more posts coming about the GATS event of 2009.
: cap and trade, carl's corner, epa, jimmy watson, kllm, KLLM Transport, mexican border, opening, owner operators, texas, truck drivers, truck stop, trucking industry problems, willie nelson, willie's place
I enjoyed my days of working in the oilfields of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas back in the late ’70s and early 80’s. Back when the oil boom was going full force before President Reagan brought it all to an end. Working both in trucking and other various jobs, one of my favorite was working as a mud logger. As a mud logger, you would spend 24 hours on and 24 hours off, working on-site at the drilling rig. My job was to periodically take mud samples and looking through a microscope, draw out a log showing what percentage of what formation was being drilled through at any specific time. The mud logger would also help determine at what point a section of gas would be found and at what depth . . . as well as testing the drill samples through a gas chromatograph and under a UV light and other various tasks.
