Ladies of the oil boom

From hauling crude in semi-trucks to getting their hands dirty out at the oil rigs, these women are living in America's newest boomtown and are hard at work in a traditionally male-dominated world.

Heidi Wrenson
Heidi Wrenson
Occupation: Truck driver
Age: 46

When the economy got bad it was really tough to pay the bills.

So when my brother started a trucking company, I learned how to drive a truck and got my commercial driver's license and headed to North Dakota to work. I live in St. Paul, Minn., so I drive 600 miles to Belfield, North Dakota to work for two weeks each month.

I make $30 an hour driving water to well sites, and we work a lot of hours.

I see hundreds of drivers a day, and one or two are women. That means when there's a women's bathroom, it's going to be really clean. I never fear for my safety in terms of violence against women. I feel protected and taken care of. But there are always gonna be a few guys who say, `What are you doing out here?' and wait for me to screw up.

My first week, I cried three times -- once because I was humiliated when I couldn't back up my truck to a tank while people were watching, another because I was just so frustrated I couldn't make my truck do what I wanted it to do, and the third because my trailer almost slid off the road. But I haven't cried since that first week.

I used to live in my truck. I would pee in a coffee can, clean up at truck stops and shower once every four days. That was really hard, but then my employer got me housing, so now I pay $250 a month to share a two-bedroom trailer with 12 stinky guys who don't clean up after themselves and snore really loudly.

But every single guy I love. I'm a real softie at heart. [My previous job in] social work prepared me beautifully for all of this, with so many people from all over the world who have all different backgrounds. I feel like I can talk to anyone.


By Blake Ellis - Last updated November 02 2011: 7:17 PM ET
Land a job in a North Dakota boomtown

Workers are landing six-figure jobs in the oil boomtowns of North Dakota. Here's what you need to know to find a job there -- just make sure the money is worth it before you move.

Find Homes for sale
  • Property Type
  • Find a home in:
    New York | Atlanta | Chicago | Los Angeles
    Washington D.C | Houston | Philadelphia | More options
Most Popular
 
 
 
 
 

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.