Employers in the Eagle Ford shale say there’s a desperate need for truck drivers to haul water, sand and oil. But they’re having trouble filling those jobs because too many applicants fail drug tests and background checks.
They want to get the word out that anyone with a commercial driver’s license who can pass the tests is pretty much guaranteed a job, Manuel Ugues, business services director at Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend said at the second meeting of the Eagle Ford Task Force Wednesday.
The meeting was held at Coastal Bend College.
Workforce Solutions polled 10 employers in the Eagle Ford shale, and they reported that one out of every four applicants fails a company’s screening, Ugues said.
There are no easy solutions to finding good employees, task force members agreed, but Kirk Spilman, asset manager in San Antonio for Houston-based Marathon Oil, said his company has had good luck hiring former military people. “We’re proud of the recruitment from the military. We just hired seven people, and they’re very disciplined,” he said.
But Spilman added that qualified job applicants for his industry, especially in South Texas, aren’t likely to file applications online.
“You need a job fair,” said Glynis Strause, dean of institutional advancement at Coastal Bend College.
Ugues was one of several speakers who addressed the 24-member task force, which was formed earlier this summer by Railroad Commissioner David Porter. The task force includes county officials, landowners, water district officials, oil company representatives and educators.
Wednesday’s agenda touched on ways to find qualified workers, and Strause outlined the college’s programs
The task force, in setting an agenda for future monthly meetings, decided that water usage and the effect of drilling on the local community should be the initial topics for future discussions.
The task force needs to look at damage to South Texas roads caused by heavy trucks used by the industry, several members said.
“We’re going with hands out, begging, because we can’t raise enough to repair our roads,” said DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler.
Water usage for hydraulic fracturing is another issue the task force should address soon, members agreed.
Talking about water usage “is critical,” said Terry Retzloff, founder of TR Measurement Witnessing of Campbellton, an oil and mineral consulting firm. “It’s a big elephant.”
It would be beneficial, said Stephen Ingram, technology manager at Halliburton, for members of the task force look for ways to educate themselves on water usage and the state’s water laws.
And Mike Mahoney, general manager of the Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District in Pleasanton, said he needs, for planning purposes, “a reasonable estimate” of the amount of water the industry is using now and what will be needed in future years.
Getting accurate information to the public about industry practices and countering misleading or inaccurate information will be a key focus of the task force, members agreed. To that end, members suggested a website for the group, but there are no concrete plans for one.
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