It's a Team's Life

No delivery Address?

When we receive a load offer we are told pickup city, delivery city, loaded miles, weight, rate per loaded mile, and if there is any special needs such as team driver, lift gate, hazmat or anything else.

Once we received the load information I immediately called as we had a delivery city, but no delivery name or address. I was sure hoping it was not another train. The agent was called to get more details and I was given the number for our delivery contact and told have you heard of something called a salt-water disposal well? She said that is where you are delivering.

When I heard salt-water disposal well first I was excited as I learned to back a semi going round and round a salt-water disposal unit to get my Class A license and then my heart sank to my toes. Salt-water disposal units are down dirt roads... I called our contact Frank who I immediately liked and he said no worries not much dirt road and we get trucks in here there all the time. I told him our skirts are low and he let me know that my skirts would be fine. Like I said he had a sense of humor.

I got this information to explain what a salt water disposal unit is for those not from the oil & gas fields:

http://energy.about.com/od/drilling/qt/What-Is-A-Saltwater-Disposal-Well.htm

A saltwater disposal well is where the water from oil and gas well production is discarded. Called "saltwater" euphemistically by industry, this fluid is considered hazardous waste because of its high salt content, hydrocarbons, and industrial compounds. This fluid is injected into wells so that it doesn't contaminate land or water resources. Hydraulic fracturing of shale gas well sites produces millions of gallons of this "saltwater" (also known as "produced water"). Placement of high pressure saltwater disposal well sites is often controversial because of the potential for groundwater contamination and small earthquakes.

We were to meet him at 5 at a small town in Oklahoma at a small truck stop and he would lead me the 18 miles back to the well. I was afraid when he saw our truck he was going to shake his head and say oh no... Not Frank when he saw our truck we said wow am I glad you are in that little bitty truck it is going to be a lot easier to make some of those turns. He bought me a cup of coffee and off he went with me following. He kept to paved roads as long as possible and then we started back to the well and he was right the road was good. We crossed over a few cattle guards and finally we could see the well with the crane waiting on us.

From there it got fun and both Bob and I felt right at home working with these two guys. They were fun and like most oil field people we know they had the attitude we have a job to do lets get it done, not hurt anyone, not hurt the freight or the truck, and lets have enjoy what we are doing. It was all of the above and we laughed the whole time trying to get that 6000-lb motor out of the truck. Once the motor was sitting on the ground we shared oil field stories and we left still laughing over what a fun delivery that was and how much we enjoy oil field people and their can do it attitude.

Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
[email protected]

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.

Bob watching as the crane moves into the truck

Crane is straining to lift the 6000 pounds

What the motor looks like.  This one was struck by lightening and needed to be replaced