Estevan 鈥� Making sure you have enough workers can be a challenge when you鈥檙e running a service rig company. Tim Huber, Jerry Mehler and Brian Crossman are three of the partners that own and operate Estevan-based Independent Well Servicing. Huber and Crossman spoke to Pipeline News on Oct. 25.
鈥淲hat work there is, we鈥檙e far from 小蓝视频 swamped,鈥� Huber said. That 小蓝视频 said, he has spoken to a number of other contractors and found, 鈥淓verybody is majorly in a bind for finding people.鈥�
鈥淕ood people,鈥� Crossman added.
鈥淎nd you have a combination of several different reasons for that,鈥� Huber said. 鈥淲e have 10 rigs. We have crews for six. For the most part, we鈥檝e been running six rigs, but they don鈥檛 run every day.鈥�
If they had enough people for seven or eight rigs, could they put them out?
鈥淪ometimes,鈥� Huber replied. 鈥淪ometimes we could have seven or more rigs running. But, the fact is, trying to find enough people to keep six people running right now is a challenge鈥︹��
Crossman said, 鈥淏etween accommodating guys wanting days off and people who try for a while and they quit, and go somewhere else. It鈥檚 an ongoing thing. And everyone has the same story, from the people I鈥檝e talked to.鈥�
Huber said, 鈥淧art of it, of course, is a combination of reasons. One is wages aren鈥檛 what they were. Even more critical is the fact that you can鈥檛 offer anyone steady work. And what I think is playing into this is the combination that most young people, now, have been indoctrinated from pretty well Kindergarten that we (the oil industry) are the worst thing since the devil.
鈥淲hy would you go work for something that you鈥檝e been taught, from Day 1, is worse than the devil?鈥� Huber said in exasperation.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e 小蓝视频 indoctrinated into this, and I do believe that is part of the reason,鈥� Huber said.
He added that trades don鈥檛 get a lot of promotion in school.
Crossman said, 鈥淚f they say we鈥檙e not going to need oil pretty soon, so I鈥檓 going to look at another direction. And none of them have the sense to realize that we still need oil, even if we go electric tomorrow, which is an impossibility.鈥�
Asked what demographic they usually hire, Crossman said, 鈥淥ur workforce is actually getting older. We do get some young guys come in, but not as many as we used to, by far.鈥�
Huber said they鈥檙e getting people in their 30s and 40s. 鈥淪ervice rigs, normally, have been a young man鈥檚 game. To give you a rough example, if you go back to the early 80s, when I started, in 鈥�79, I was field supervising when I was 26 years old. We鈥檝e got rig managers and drillers in their early 40s. We鈥檝e got roughnecks in their 30s and 40s, and even a little bit older than that.鈥�
Crossman said, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got guys in their 20s, but also guys in their 30s and 40s.鈥�
鈥淏efore, you wouldn鈥檛 even have someone coming in that age, because you would have so many young people coming in,鈥� Huber said.
鈥淭hey鈥檇 already have a career going, too, but what they鈥檝e been doing has fallen apart due to whatever circumstances. Some of them have experience, some of them don鈥檛,鈥� Crossman said.
鈥淚f their job disappeared, whether on a service rig, or oil related, so many of these people basically left, and they aren鈥檛 going to come back. Even if they鈥檙e working for $5 or $10 an hour less, or whatever the situation is, but it is steady work, and they can put food on the table. They鈥檙e not going to come back to not have steady work,鈥� Huber said.
IWS does keep people around during spring break-up, but they鈥檙e not working in the field and they鈥檙e making less money during that annual slowdown. 鈥淥ut of 52 weeks, you figure the six to eight week road ban, give or take, a week at Christmas, and off and on for weather, so you鈥檙e give or take 10 weeks a year that you don鈥檛 work that are unavoidable,鈥� Huber said of the time not in the field.
Crossman added, 鈥淎nd then you get lots of rain, like we had this fall, and all of a sudden your rig is sitting for a week.鈥�
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 unusual,鈥� Huber said.
It also depends on which company individual rigs are working on. That can mean 35 to 40 weeks of work in a year if a particular oil company is not as active. Some years can see less than 30 weeks.
That can make retention difficult. 鈥淵ou do everything you can to hold them, because you know you鈥檙e going to need them at some point,鈥� Crossman said.
鈥淵ou try all sorts of things like work sharing. Every week you put this guy here, and that guy there, and switch people around to get some hours for some people. And we鈥檝e been in the mode of that for five years now,鈥� Huber said.
鈥淵ears ago, you had the same crew for a year or more, quite often. If you started the year with the same group of guys, you鈥檇 finish with them. You might lose a guy, or someone would get promoted to another rig,鈥� Crossman said. 鈥淣ow, it鈥檚 not quite the same.鈥�
Huber gave an example where one worker was on four different rigs within the same week. That鈥檚 the sort of juggling the labour shortage had meant.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hassle for the guys, too, because they鈥檙e always bringing their clothes in 鈥� because you don鈥檛 know where you鈥檙e going to be the next day,鈥� he said. The usual practice would be to leave your work clothes in the doghouse of the rig at the end of the day.
Asked about the possibility of reducing the number of active rigs to correspond with the available labour, they both explained that doing so doesn鈥檛 address the fixed costs of running the business. Reducing rigs would mean reducing other staff, like management and mechanics, something they wouldn鈥檛 want to do. And it would be very difficult to ramp back up when things do pick up.
Independent Well Servicing has 42 people, total, including office staff, supervision and mechanics. Asked how many people they鈥檇 hire right now, Crossman said, 鈥淚f 12 guys walked in the door, and they鈥檙e all green, you can鈥檛 hire them.鈥�
That鈥檚 because they can only put a limited amount of inexperienced people on each crew, until they are up to speed.
鈥淵ou try to have at least three to four spare guys to cover days off. That鈥檚 the other thing. Even if guys aren鈥檛 working steady, they always need days off for something. And obviously, their days off aren鈥檛 like a normal work schedule. Rigs don鈥檛 work a normal work schedule. So you have to deal with that, and sick people,鈥� Huber said.
Their oil companies work different rotations. One works 12 on, two off. Earlier this year, they were 10 on and four off. Another is six and one. 鈥淥ther companies work until they want to stop,鈥� Crossman said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 different scheduling for different guys. The average is four to seven days a week. This last month has been a bit better. But we鈥檝e had months like September, where we were four days a week,鈥� Huber said. But now, there鈥檚 more of a push on.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you want to carry at least four to five extra guys, if you can, on a normal basis, just to accommodate people,鈥� Huber said.
As for how many hours per day, Huber said, 鈥淥n the rig itself, it鈥檚 an average 10-hour day, but you鈥檙e on the road, usually most of our rigs are working give or take an hour from town. So that鈥檚 a 12-hour day, from the time you鈥檙e picked up, to the time you鈥檙e dropped off, minimum.鈥�
It actually is a bit longer, when you factor in the time to pick up the whole crew, stop at a convenience store, fuel up, and stop at the shop. They typically pick up their workers at home, and go out as a crew.
鈥淚f we could get six experienced rig hands walking in the door, we could crew up another rig,鈥� Crossman said, 鈥淏ut good luck.鈥�
Huber, 鈥淚f two guys walked in the door today, willing to work, we would hire them in a second.鈥�
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