> Ohio has one of the strongest professional driving standards in the
> country and these standards are enforced. The commercial drivers
> license(cdl) requires written testing/training, oral testing/training
> and practical training/testing and regular drug testing and
> re-certification for special loads that includes training.
ANd they never have wrecks, right?
> How come the pay of roughnecks and roustabouts has dropped
> to between $7.50 and $11.50 an hour in Texas & OK?
I have no idea how this post could possibly be considered responsive to what I wrote previously and I'm not at all interested in pictures of flaming car wrecks (one reason I don't often watch TV news). But your wonderful OH commercial driver's standards don't mean shit when someone from out of state comes driving through. That someone doesn't have to be one of your hated wetbacks, it could be a native born and bred Texan. I drive 100 miles/day if I do nothing other than commute to work and back and I can assure you that a huge portion of the commercial truck drivers here have not even a passing familiarity with safe driving standards. Loads on trucks are ROUTINELY not tarped/tied or otherwise properly secured. They tailgate, exceed posted limits (through school zones fer crissakes!), have non-functioning tail/break/turn lights etc. These are all good 'ole boys that thanks to the Full Faith and Credit clause can drive through your beloved Ohio any time.
Without a visa or a passport.
In answer to your question about payrates for routabouts; I would guess that there is precious little requirement for oil field workers in Texas at the moment as the oil is all imported. The only thriving part of the oil bidness in TX at the moment is offshore in the Gulf. Those people get paid quite a bit more than $11.50/hr (I have a friend that works in HR at a major oil co, I can get excat fgures if you want.)
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Joseph Noonan Houston, TX jfn1 at msc.com