Trican Well Services

I worked at Trican in Redcliffe for 5 Years, In the Fracturing Devision.
Being a Satellite Base we travelled all over, That comes with the territory being down in Southern Alberta.

Overall The Management team wasn't to bad, Not perfect But who Is, They Listened to My concerns if i had any and acted on them, Thats what counts.

Overall most of the guys were very good to work with, You can't get on with every one right,  When push came to shove in my experience every one got stuff done, rigged in and out safely, and got home safely.   

They Guys ,(Girls) were the most enjoyable part of the job. These are the people that you spend most of your time with, These are the people that get you through the -40 nights, Muddy Spring conditions, and when your on day 13 of 15 and are tired ready for days off and grumpy, they are the ones that will do something totally silly and get ya laughing again.

For me i learned how to interact with different people,and and different learning abilities, i learned how to pass on all the valuable things i had learned to others.

A typical day could start leaving your home base or a hotel some where for the lease, ( well site where the job is )
Once on lease you may Rig in the job after the approate safety meetings. Or you may do a cross shift with the day or night crew you are swapping out and continue the job. Or finish the Job, Rig out and do equipment Maintenance before heading back to the shop, hotel, or next lease.
 
This is not the right job for you if your not a team player, or scared of hard work, you work hard for the money.  it can be a lot of fun, but some times it can be a hard hitch,

I personally enjoyed my time at Trican, but was terminated when our base closed there doors in 2016. I would work for them again if i wanted to go back to oilfield.

I hope this is of help to you job seekers

Company is profit driven 
Anything to save a dollar 
CEO and top brass is in it for themselves the more they can get out of the company in whatever way possible they will do it 
Field employees are treated like second class 
Lunches and social parties are for them not the field hands it is planned around the office 
Job is secure as long as there is work the more they can work you the more they will weather it is legal or ethical and family life is not a concern to them you are there to work and it saves them from having to go out and hire more workers 
If they do bring people in for a busy spurt they are only left to their own once things slow down, you are told to stay at home and you might get a call if somethings comes up, it doesn’t matter if you need to work to pay bills you are told to manage your money properly so that you have some for when there is no work, your finances are not their concern neither are you bills 
You are there to work and make them money!!!

One word can sum up the problems with Trican....MANAGEMENT. I can't speak for all of the bases as I was in the cement department at RDT, but it seemed that as soon as someone was behind the desk they'd forget what life in the field was like. We were constantly pushed over hours in our logbooks, and over weight in our trucks by the co-ordinators. The branch manager wouldn't do anything about it because he wants a base of "yes" men that simply do as they're told without question. however, if you're caught you will be fired for not following the law. The salary and bonus structure was alright, though it seemed to be a little below that of the competition. The benefits package I found to be second to none. As a company, Trican really seemed to treat it's employees well with great RRSP and ESOP packages as well. I've worked with other bases that don't seem to have the problems at RDT, and truly believe that as a whole it is a great company to be with.

I was living home in Ontario when I received the call from Trican. Asking me if I was interested in coming out west to work.  They were in dire need of drivers/labourers to run their bulkers, pumpers, and other divisions they had informed me of.  I took the job that was offered which was running a bulker.  I found the job to be very boring, and the lack of communication between the dispatch and myself to be extremely non-existent.  I had talks with my base manager with my concerns about these issues, with no resolution.  My final talk with him was on March 7, 2014 informing him once again I wasn't happy with the job he had placed me in.  I asked him to place me in one of the other divisions that needs men.  Which is all of them! unfortunately his response was "I need a bulker" and although he needs men elsewhere, and after I moved all the way here.  He decided to not place me where I would be a happier man.

Start the days off with mechanics that are working that day to meet up in the shop before beginning work. We receive our jobs and instructions along with it and any important news going on in the company etc. Crew change days sometimes too many people for the present jobs and confusion tends to happen. Shop clean up every week to maintain a clean shop. Maintenance meetings every Wednesday after lunch get everyone on the same page and find a solution to existing issues. Tend to wait on parts since it was the major rebuild shop. The more difficult tasks were changing piping and related parts on Blenders and re-hosing units. The enjoyable jobs were ones where we had all the parts or where we could just plug away at a job all day. Management in the shop was really good and fair to everyone.

I really enjoyed my time at trican and would have stayed except for missing my wife back in the Kootenays.  there was no point in moving to my base community in Alberta as my job sites were very spread out and I was living in hotels most of the time. So for me not perfect.
However, if I was younger and looking for a career this would definitely be it. The work was interesting, the co-workers were a lot of fun, and management was people, goal and task oriented and balanced those well,. something you rarely find.
the compensation and benefits were excellent and the company from the top down really made an effort to care about the people working there.

- 40% Driving time; 40% on lease; 20% preventive maintenance over the pit or at the shop;

- Learned a lot on running different equipments; frac pumps maintenance and complete maintenance and repairs on fluid-end;

- 12 to 16 hours/day or 8h+ shop days;

- If you can handle being a member of a very large men crewn (+/-25 guys), well I guess you'll do fine!

- Hard work but not the sketchiest on well pad location...depending which role you're playing.

Trican was a typical well servicing company. Long hours, away from home for entire shift. Most in managerial positions got there from a long service record and in-house training, as opposed to formal training... you can get away with this in SOME positions, but it starts to show deficiencies in upper levels of mgmnt. 

OVER emphasis on "value" of engineers! Like... WAAAAY to much. Classroom smarts are one thing, but you cannot beat education AND a long history of field work.

I liked this business while I worked for them. They are a well managed business with excellent training and safety. Time in the field with co-workers forms strong bonds and time off with the family, makes up for the time away from home. Down side was time away from home and this was the main reason for my departing.

Trican will again be a shining example of well service business in Canada when the energy market recovers. If you have the chance, take it with this company - they are truly one f the best.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Learning to operate some equipment

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
To work with Supervisor, discriminating people for deferent culture and no respect for people, specially for green hat

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Productivity, fun working with co-worker

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Learning to eperate the equipment

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