[quote=craptcha]A friend of mine is a trucker. He used to spend weekends at home and go coast to coast during the week. He now spends one week at home then three weeks on the road. He has a wife and two daughters.
Another guy I know came here with his wife and two sons about 10 years ago. The wife and the kids went back to their home country after few years. He spends 8-9 months trucking in the US (lives in the truck) and 3-4 months with his family.
A cousin of mine has been working on oil drills (Middle East, Africa, Northern Sea) for almost 30 years. 2 months at home, 2 months in the field since more than 20 years ago. They have one kid. They wanted to have more but he lost fertility along the way.[/quote]
craptcha, I think a lot of the scheduling issues your truck-driving friends had in the past have been addressed by the major transportation firms in recent years. If you watched the video in the OP, it stated that drivers were being used regionally and trading off to other drivers as they reached the end of their “region” for just the retention reasons you mentioned. And 4 day on, 3 day off schedules and other quality-of-life changes have been made. The industry is trying to make the profession more “palatable” to potential drivers. The current cohort of drivers is aging fast and it is not uncommon to see a whole table full of drivers at a truck stop all OVER the age of 70. These road warriors won’t last forever and the industry is desperate for new blood.
I don’t think a oilfield laborer is a good job for a parent, either. It is a good job for a young adult who is just starting out in life and needs to save up money to get where they need to go. Five years married to a rig is about as much as anyone could be expected to do. That would net enough money to buy vehicles, a house, have a savings account, pay for some job training (all debt free) and even get married!
The petroleum engineers and other professionals in the field don’t usually spend more than ten days per month away from home, unless they accept a long-term assignment on an offshore rig or an overseas assignment (in which they may be able to move their families, as well).
I just found this short video on a career in petroleum engineering (which appears to be CA-based).
