Obligatory this didn't happen recently, but back in 2015. On mobile, please forgive formatting.
Scene: it's 2015, I'm 19 years old and just got my first real job. I worked at a local nobody oil and gas company. This company provided pilot truck services for the back roads of the mountains for fracking pads. Piloting is basically safely escorting the 18-wheelers with flashing yellow lights and ensuring no accidents happen.
At first, the company seemed good. Dispatch was a group of elderly ladies who mostly were sweet. Coworkers were great. The boss was a dick, but I'll get to him.
I worked the escorting job for a while. Made okay pay for the poverty stricken area. Hours were hell at 14 on for as many days as you want until you request a day off. Made good pay in exchange for destroying myself. I worked nights, so I tried to sleep in the truck (F-150) when not driving.
After awhile, I got thrown into the Sand Coordinator position at a local truck stop. My job was intake and outtake of trucks carrying varying different types of sand going to different locations. I had to take orders from the well locations and get truckers moving. I did so well there, I got two raises in a few months.
Fast forward a little bit. I'm still working there and I got along well with the day shift guy who did my job as well. We'll call him Doug, about 42 years, male. During a handover one morning, however, I saw some business cards for a rival company. I asked him about, them and Doug flew off the handle screaming at me, a 19yr old kid. Full on psycho screaming. Guy wasn't right or had a bad day, I'm not sure.
So I report it to dispatch after he leaves and ask to get moved back to the escorting job for a bit so he can cool off and figure out his problems. They did NOT take this well, but they were short staffed, so I got relocated. I did that job for a bit. Telling people what happened with Doug and everything because they're used to me being at the truck stop. Everything was great, or so I thought.
One morning on shift change, another employee assaulted me physically. Threw me over the truck seat on an ambush. Screamed at me saying how dare I bad mouth Doug like that. Apparently the game of telephone got passed around and a bunch of lies were levied at me. Not true.
So again, I told dispatch and filed a police report. They suspended me right there. Told me to go home while they “investigate”. I figured it would take a couple of days. I was young and naive. Turns out, that employee was a friend of the boss. They straight up were gonna starve me. So I call the boss and tell him that this needs resolved immediately because I have bills to pay and so on. I threatened labor board involvement.
Big mistake apparently, because he told me to come in the next day. I go in, expecting my job back, but was greeted by him and a lawyer. He basically berated me and told me that he'll “find work for me to do around the mechanics shop”. That guy tried to turn me into a shop bitch when I was the one physically assaulted at work! And to make things better, not a single coworker intervened. Afraid of losing a decent paying job in the area.
I told the boss and lawyer how I felt and where he could shove his opinion and quit on the spot. I went from a high performing employee, who was incredibly competent in my sand coordination position, to leaving them high and dry. The sherrifs office pressed charges on the guy who attacked me, but that's the last I heard of it. I was young, terrified, and had no idea of my rights.
Been a lurker here for awhile and thought I'd share my nightmare experience with working in oil and gas.