Driving Trucks in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Well, by now you’ve heard about the huge boom in the oilfields of Alberta with employers crying because they can’t get enough workers to do the work that’s available.

In many case, the employers are even willing to take workers without qualifications who are willing to learn on the job to become qualified. Unfortunately, truck driving in Alberta’s booming areas isn’t one of these learn as you go positions. Most of the truck driver jobs in Alberta’s oilfields are with construction companies that are contracted to the oil drilling companies to help them do their drilling jobs. Heavy equipment operators and truckers are needed in the oil sands region of Canada.

Trucks transport building materials ranging from lumber to structural steel girders and every type of material in between. Because the oil drilling industry is so prevalent in Alberta, many truck drivers need to have some form of CDL training that will allow them to safely transport potentially volatile or dangerous loads if they want to work in these areas. A great deal of truck driving jobs in the oilfield consists of moving the oil sands to specialized processing stations so that the crude oil can be extracted. After this process is complete, the spent soil is transported to a landfill area where the material is used to reclaim previously extracted soils.

It’s common knowledge that oil sands jobs are plentiful. Employers in the oilfields are always looking for qualified truck drivers. If you have more than basic training, you will find it much easier to have an employer hire you. First aid and any sort of WHMIS training will also go a long way to getting hired quickly. You need to have at least minimal qualifications to operate a truck which means you need to have at least a Class B license with intentions of getting a Class A very soon. Because of the number and variety of companies working in the Alberta oilfields, truck drivers are always in demand. Because of this variety however, the salaries that can be expected can range from a low of $32,000 annually, to a high of $54,000. Remember though, that this work (like many other jobs here) is usually seasonal and so the salary is actually much better as you only work for half the year in many cases.