How Trucking Keeps America Moving | Tracy Dhamers on The Crude Truth
Transportation and trucking expert Tracy Dhamers joins The Crude Truth to reveal how the trucking industry literally fuels America’s economy — and why this West Texas business owner believes oil, grit, and entrepreneurship keep the country running. 🇺🇸💪
Tracy, owner of North Country Oil, shares her incredible journey from earning a PhD to becoming one of the only women in the oil trucking industry — learning the ropes from the ground up as a “swamper.” From buying a truck on her honeymoon to managing a fleet of 50 oil trucks, Tracy’s story is pure determination and Texas toughness.
https://www.northcountryoil.com
Episode Highlights:
1:45 – Why the trucking industry is getting leaner, meaner, and more efficient
2:36 – West Texas–owned: North Country Oil with Tracy Dhamers
3:13 – How Tracy built an oil trucking company without formal business training
3:50 – A true family-owned operation
4:00 – Running 50 oil trucks strong
4:30 – Are we in a downturn? How Tracy keeps her employees working
5:00 – From PhD to “swamper” — learning from the bottom up
6:50 – The dramatic shift from medical examiner to oilfield operator
8:00 – “My honeymoon was buying a truck!”
8:30 – The power of family in the business
9:00 – Moving a super load with a police escort
12:00 – How the trucking industry is adapting in Texas and North Dakota
14:55 – Why trucking isn’t going anywhere — doing more with less
🎧 The Crude Truth with Rey “RT” Treviño— real conversations about energy, entrepreneurship, and the people who keep America running.
Please reach out to Tracy Dhamers on LinkedIn
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We want to thank our sponsors of THE CRUDE TRUTH.
🚛 Trucking Fuels the Economy with Tracy Dhamers
Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.
Rey Treviño III [00:00:00] If you have heard any of my radio interviews on road dog trucking, you’ve heard me say it before that transportation and trucking is one of the key essentials to the United States of America economic survival. Today, I bring on a trucking expert on this episode of The Crude Truth.
Narrator [00:00:21] In 1901, at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, the future of Texas changed dramatically as, like a fountain of fortune, thousands of barrels of oil burst from the earth towards the sky. Soon Detroit would be cranking out Model Ts by the millions and America was on the move thanks to the black gold being produced in Texas. Now more than a century later, the vehicles are different but nothing else has truly changed. Sure, there may be many other alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric. But let’s be honest, America depends on oil and entrepreneurs, and if the USA is truly going to be independent, it has to know the crude truth.
Narrator [00:01:04] This episode is brought to you by LFS Chemistry. We are committed to being good stewards of the environment. We are providing the tools so you can be too. Nape Expo, where deals happen. Air Compressor Solutions. When everything is on the line, Air Compressed Solutions is the dependable choice to keep commercial business powered up. Sandstone Group. Exec Crue. Elevate your network, elevate your knowledge. Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country Operating, fueling our future.
Rey Treviño III [00:01:39] Well, thank you again, as always, for tuning into another episode of The Crude Truth. As my teaser said today, we’re gonna be talking about the trucking industry and what is going on and what changes we are seeing and why trucking companies are truly getting more leaner and meaner in what they’re doing because they understand that their job is pivotal to the economics in the United States of America. As we continue to go through. This economic boom, which I know to some may not feel like it, especially to all of us in the oil and gas at $60 oil, but let’s be real. We are producing 14 million barrels of oil a day, and we continue to only continue to drive the price in a positive direction so that Americans do have jobs. And it starts with trucking, from trucking the oil out to trucking the equipment in to even start to get that oil out. So I’m just so excited. Today, my guest is West Texas’ own. Tracy Dhamers, Tracy, how are you?Dhamers.
Tracy Dhamers [00:02:41] Dhamers, thank you.
Rey Treviño III [00:02:41] I went with the Dhamers, Tracy Dhamers of North Country Oil. How are you?
Tracy Dhamers [00:02:48] I’m good, thanks Ray for having me.
Rey Treviño III [00:02:49] Well, thank you so much. You have really come out in West Texas as somebody that is that true expert in the trucking side of oil and gas. You’ve been in it now for definitely over one or two years. For those out there that don’t know you, Tracy, can you tell listeners out there a little bit about yourself.
Tracy Dhamers [00:03:09] Yes, thank you. So 15 years ago, I absolutely wanted nothing to do with trucking, if you can believe it, it was not what I went to school for. And I met somebody and he was been moving drilling rigs for almost 26 years now. And he wanted to start his own trucking company, he was currently running one for his best friend. So we put our heads together, bought one truck, and it just kind of exploded from there. And he’s really taught me everything I know. So when you say expert, I’ve learned from the best. That’s where it comes from.
Rey Treviño III [00:03:41] Well, and, and you know, this is a, um, technically it’s a family company. Is that correct?
Tracy Dhamers [00:03:48] Correct.
Rey Treviño III [00:03:49] Core JT, because it’s JT oils where y’all started out. Is that.
Tracy Dhamers [00:03:53] Correct. So Justin and I started the company almost 15 years ago.
Rey Treviño III [00:03:58] With one truck with one track and now y’all run over 50 trucks across the major basins in the United States is that correct
Tracy Dhamers [00:04:06] Correct, North Dakota and Texas.
Rey Treviño III [00:04:07] Yeah. Yeah. That’s still, as far as I’m concerned, the two majors with the way natural gas prices are, you know, Utica is not really, you know doing everything right now, but, but you know you guys have seen this and y’all this isn’t y’alls first downturn. And I use quotations for those out there that aren’t watching because we do feel like we are in one, but you know so this isn’yalls first rodeo, so to speak. What is it about this time right now that you guys are really finding different than other downturns.
Tracy Dhamers [00:04:38] Diversification. That’s really important in the trucking industry. You need to be able to decide, well, there’s not moving anything to do with drilling rigs. Let’s go haul cattle. And yes, we have done that. We’ve also hauled aggregate. Anything you can do to keep the trucks moving and to keep your employees employed is the biggest concern that, of course, anybody has is keeping their employees. They are the heart and soul of your company. It is not us that is it. It’s our employees and our son even works for us. So it is very important to keep. Those people employed so that they can support their families, because without them, we wouldn’t be here.
Rey Treviño III [00:05:11] So when you mentioned, hey, I wanted nothing to do with, or not that I wanted, you had no plan to be in trucking. And what was one of the biggest surprises when you did jump into the arena of trucking, 15 years ago? I mean, that was almost 2000, a little after. And when you think about it, how different was just 15 years from today? So what were your thoughts 15 years ago?
Tracy Dhamers [00:05:36] So I was actually in the medical field and I have a PhD. So when I married Justin, I continued to do that for a few years and then we just kept getting bigger and bigger. So there was more needed of me. And I actually liked it, but the crazy thing is, if I’m gonna do it, I have to learn everything. So he made me start out as a swamper. I don’t know, most people, if you’re not in the oil field, don’t what a swumper is. But so I was the kid on the ground that was the lowest person. On the totem pole, being able to hook up winch trucks. And then he made me learn how to drive and all the way to being able to push the trucks on location to be able to get the job completed. From the bottom up, I had to learn. And when people, I’ll tell you a little secret. I went out a few years, I think it’s been about two years ago and pushed trucks on a rig move. And I’m probably the only female that’s done it. And I’ve not ever seen another one. So if there is someone correct me. But at the end of the rig move, somebody came up and said, Oh my gosh, you did an amazing job. How do you know this? The secret was I had him in my ear the entire time and my son telling me what to do. So I looked phenomenal out there. Looked like I knew exactly what I was supposed to do, but I had the expert in my air telling me how to do everything.
Rey Treviño III [00:06:49] You know, let’s talk a little bit about that because, okay, so you have a PhD, what’s your PhD in?
Tracy Dhamers [00:06:56] Forensic pathology.
Rey Treviño III [00:06:58] Forensics pathology, which is like the stuff you see on the TV show.
Tracy Dhamers [00:07:01] So I was a medical examiner.
Rey Treviño III [00:07:03] Okay, all right, right. So, okay, all the TV shows that they talk about and all that kind of stuff. What a night and day different industry to be in. Absolutely. And obviously, I’m sure being a PhD, you have to know everything, which comes with the territory. So that’s probably just ingrained in you to just wanna be the best in any field that you’re in. Let’s talk about these other experts that you’ve been. So let’s talk Justin and… What experience that him and you are bringing to the trucking industry.
Tracy Dhamers [00:07:35] Well, we bring 20 years of experience, not necessarily all of it from me, but Justin moved rigs since he was 18 years old. This is what he’s done, oil and gas. He was a crane operator. He’s run every piece of equipment it takes to drill, other than, I mean, he’s been on the floor too, but that’s not where his passion was. And so when I came, when we got married, it was our honeymoon, literally we went and bought a semi truck.
Rey Treviño III [00:08:00] OK.
Tracy Dhamers [00:08:01] Since that day, we have been in a truck together 24 seven until we got big enough that we are neither one of us are in a track unless he has to be in a trunk. And it just something that I really enjoy about trucking was the family unity in it. I don’t necessarily always like the headache day to day from employees because employees are employees for a reason. And sometimes the family unity is a strain because my son works for me as well. But I have learned so much in the trucking industry, especially in oil and gas, and that is not the only arena we have been in. Like I said, diversification is extremely important, but we move really big stuff as well. We took an extremely large load, a super load out of Houston all the way to North Dakota that took us about five weeks to move. It was- Whoa. Yeah, 22 foot wide, 22 feet tall. Gross, and I think we’re like 220, I think actually more than that. I think we’re like 260. Gross weight and.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:03] It took five weeks.
Tracy Dhamers [00:09:04] Five weeks. Just a week to get out of Houston.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:07] Wow.
Tracy Dhamers [00:09:09] It would be phenomenal if I could show you some pictures of it. We had, you know, police escorts. We had all the power companies from every municipality from Houston, all the way to North Dakota with us, you know, dropping some off, picking up new ones and all of our escorts, it was, it’s amazing to watch. Cranes had to be in front of us to take poles down or light poles down or power poles down. It was pretty phenomenal.
Rey Treviño III [00:09:32] You know in today’s world and I just want to highlight one thing before I finish that is that Justin is here in the studio and in our pre-production meeting you can just tell that you two know so much together and that’s why I wanted to highlight Justin on just real quick because what a wealth of knowledge that I could that that he is. Yes absolutely. But it’s so getting back to your super load five weeks to go, what, 2,000 miles? I mean, I don’t know what it is. Roughly about 2,00 miles. In today’s age, you would never think that that would take that long. And took a whole week to get out of Houston, at least where I sit, you know, thinking, oh, there’s no way it would take five weeks. How many pilot cars, right? And escorts, you don’t, how many of those did y’all go through during that time? Do you remember?
Tracy Dhamers [00:10:21] So police escorts, we had to have three police escort, pilot cars, we have to have three, two in front and one in the rear because of the height, we’d have high poles. But it’s the bucket trucks that you have to have to lift the non powered lines and then all the electrical companies as well. So the pre planning of it was really extensive to get. If you think about all the municipalities that are going to be from just in Houston, you’re crossing over four different power grids. And so then you have to have a company. From, and represented from every one of those companies because nobody can touch their power lines but them.
Rey Treviño III [00:10:55] Right?
Tracy Dhamers [00:10:55] And so they’re having to turn power off to get us underneath certain power lines. Of course, the consumers were probably not happy with us coming through. But all the way through every single solitary state has multiple municipalities going through there. So you planning it to where, you know when you’re gonna stop at one power company and pick up the next. And being able to plan that and work around their schedules because they don’t work around your schedule, we work around theirs. So sometimes we’d have to wait three or four days for the next power company to pick us up.
Rey Treviño III [00:11:27] Wow.
Tracy Dhamers [00:11:27] So it’d be stuck in Nebraska for a week because the next power company said, I’m sorry, we had a storm come through. We have to get power back to these people before we can move you again. So that’s why it takes so long to move.
Rey Treviño III [00:11:37] Wow, but again, like you said, I’m glad you highlighted all the stuff up front as well. I mean, that is a lot. And five weeks of, that’s just so much there. You know, you mentioned diversification in our pre-production meeting, we were talking about how in North Dakota, where again, that was one of the basins y’all are in, they’re now doing these four mile laterals and how on the exploration and production side, we’re getting larger amounts of oil from Oh my gosh, I’m butchering my own statement. Basically, we’re getting more oil from less wells and that the service side is having to change and adapt. How do you see that happening in the trucking side of what’s going on?
Tracy Dhamers [00:12:24] So we’re not moving the drilling rigs as often, correct? So we still have to service those wells. So we, up in North Dakota, we move all the work over rigs that are pretty much all of them up there. Because, so Cord came in and bought up a whole bunch of companies up there, and we are one of their top trucking companies they call us first. So we are moving all of the service for them. Which, even though we’re drilling lateral and moving less drilling rig, you’re still having to work over those wells. More often, in fact. And so we’re moving those daily.
Rey Treviño III [00:12:58] And are you finding then that even though these consolidations are happening, there’s still a lot of work out there on your side in the trucking?
Tracy Dhamers [00:13:07] I believe so. Yes.
Rey Treviño III [00:13:09] And then with the trucking side, again, I’ve done some fun interviews and I always give a shout out to trucking because without that, nothing moves. And so if somebody says, or they’re surprised, oh my gosh, you’re in trucking, what do you tell them? Like, oh man, if our prices or the economy is the way it is, and if diesel prices are high, what are you telling somebody about the truckings if they ever got, oh, we’re upset with the trunking industry or things like that. How many?
Tracy Dhamers [00:13:37] When you bring up diesel prices, I think it’s funny that in a trucking company, you’d think we’d hate the prices to be low. But if you’re in the oil and gas industry, you like those high diesel prices because then we’re working more. Because when it was $5 a gallon for diesel, I think we were what, 160 something a barrel, right? So we were working really hard then, and then our pricing can go higher. So we really fluctuate based on what the price of oil is. Yes, higher oil prices, higher diesel prices, but then we get to charge a little bit more too. So it works itself out, but I’ve, I mean, sometimes I’m even driving on the road and hate the trucks that are around me. So I can’t say that I’m not one of those people that are cussing the truck driver next to me, but we all need it. There’s nothing in the world that moves without trucks. It doesn’t matter what it is. Our sneakers got there from a truck. So it’s the perfect industry to be in, especially right now, trucking is not going anywhere. There’s a lot of laws that are changing, a lot of regulatory things that we have to adapt to and we have bend and change with. Laws govern all of us, it doesn’t matter what we’re doing. It’s just a matter of adapting and bending and making sure that we can fit in where the laws want us to be.
Rey Treviño III [00:14:49] You know, what is one attribute that you’re seeing on why trucking is not going away? Like, I know it’s kind of a hokey question, but sometimes I get that about, why do you think oil’s not going with? Like, well, here’s why. You know? What would be one reason why it’s like, it’s not gonna change to cargo ships or to rail or, you know, something else?
Tracy Dhamers [00:15:09] It’s a lot more expensive to drop rail down, to get to everywhere it needs to go. And trucking, I don’t think trucking can go away. I mean, you can’t drop ship things anywhere. So you have to have something, a way to transport every product we have. And you can get rid of trucking in the oil and gas industry, or you’re not gonna get that rig over to the next place. It just isn’t gonna happen. Now, I think that we’re seeing less and less trucks out there because we can do more with less. We’re able to move a drilling rig it may be, you know, a hundred and something components to it, but it’s not taking near as many trucks to get it moved to the distance. I think pre-planning is making a big difference. If you can get the oil company to pre-planned it’s a lot easier. We, you will see we’re drilling here and they want to drill over here, but we’re going to drill here the next week right next door. So a little bit of pre-planting makes it to where we don’t have to. Utilize so many trucks to be able to move it. I think they’re thinking about that more, is how can we utilize the trucking to make it a little more cost effective? And that’s the biggest solution we need is.
Rey Treviño III [00:16:16] And when these, you know, customers or clients are using you guys and trying to be more cost effective with their bottom line, obviously that means y’all, as I tease you, y’al are becoming leaner and meaner. What are y’ all doing on y’alls end to actually do that leaner?
Tracy Dhamers [00:16:32] So we do some pre-planning with our customers. So we have some exclusive customers that we only move their equipment. And so at the beginning of every year, we sit down and pre-planned, you know, this is what we project. They’re projecting to us how often they’re gonna move in the distances. And so we’ll sit down and prebid what we’re gonna do it for. So we one particular customer that we move their rigs probably three or four times a week, sometimes more, depending on how far they’re moving or what they’re drilling, you now, depth matters. And so we’ve been able to go in at the beginning of this year and went and told them, these are our prices for moving it so many miles. And that has made it to where they can pre-plan and they know when they go to the oil company and say, we’re gonna go work for you, they know this many miles, it’s gonna cost them this much to move it. They can talk to the Oil companies and get that approval before it’s even moved. It’s all in budgeting. And we know where we’re going to be too. So it helps us to be able to budget. Where we’re at and project. Projection is what matters. If we can project that we’re gonna, you know, make this much money and then at the end of the year, we’re like, well, we were a little lean, we need to make some more. We go back to the table in January and just do it again.
Rey Treviño III [00:17:43] Okay, I want to switch gears because you said something that was fun. It’s like, hey, I understand not liking trucking, especially being on the roads, safety. You guys are knock on wood, phenomenal. What are y’all doing? And for those out there that don’t understand the safety aspect of what y’ all are doing, can you just start there and just talk about how much safety is involved in everyday trucking that child, not just those. Super size loads that y’all got.
Tracy Dhamers [00:18:15] Well, safety is the number one thing because everyone wants to get home to their family, correct? And so we have safety meetings all the time. If it’s a tailgate meeting, first thing before a rig move, that’s mandatory. So they’ll pre-plan everything and everybody needs to be involved in safety. Safety doesn’t come from the top. Safety comes from the swamper on the ground that’s directing the trucks where to be, what to do. But it also, if you just build a safety environment always, and there’s there’s no room for error. It’s not. So the owner of Key Energy had said something the other day on LinkedIn and I loved it where he was talking about safety. I don’t know if you read his Marshall’s post, but he had said that if you can basically foster safety in everything you do, it becomes second nature. It’s not in what’s written down. It is not that JSA that everybody just skims over and checks some boxes and says, you know, this is our safety analysis of It’s a safety culture. It becomes where it’s procedure. It’s something that is done every single step, every single solitary day. And if you start that when you hire that person and they know that there’s no other options, safety is mandatory, then they all go home every day. Now in West Texas, it’s one of the deadliest places you can be in a truck. There are so many accidents that are preventable. We had a dear friend of ours this year that was killed and in a split second. He did nothing wrong, but somebody had just veered into his lane. Two semi trucks had on collision. It was a terrible, terrible accident. He was leaving a job site that he was on for us. We’d hired him. I think about the company that hit him, underinsured, no safety standards, no safety records, and the industry has to change. And I’m just gonna, I will jump on that soapbox right now. The industry must change. We must have a safety culture out there. Defensive driving is extremely important. We road test every single driver that comes to work for us. We know their capabilities, and we don’t allow drivers to come that aren’t willing to. Ride the brand. Don’t go out there and do it all different than how we said we want it done. And if you can’t do that, you just don’t have a place with us because safety is so important. My son works for us. I want to make sure he comes home to my grandchild. So he has to be safe. And I’m probably the hardest on him out of anybody because I don’t know if you have children, but your children, you expect more out of them than anybody else. And he really pushes that home with everybody else too. You gotta be safe, you gotta be save. And he’s turned down loads and to our own customers called me up and said, I’m pulling the mom card. Tell me if I should do this or not. If it’s not safe, we just don’t do it. It’s that simple, just stop. And it has to change. The industry has to changed to be a safer industry.
Rey Treviño III [00:21:13] You know, how can the word get out to change that? You know you mentioned regulations and rules and the safety side of things. I remember just even back in 2011. I mean, and again, it wasn’t that long ago, but it was a wild, wild west out there. Purple Kettle Guard Road out there with Jow before the giant, not all sus, but the J before the J’s was there. I mean it was, it was different time out there but safety has changed and it has evolved. But from where I sit literally right now, I mean, how many commercials do I see every day on TV about, you know, were you in an accident with a big rig? And so for you to sit here and say, hey, we do need to be better about this. What an eye-opener that is, Tracy, to really share with that going, no, like we want people to be at the same standards that we are if not. And I think again, that’s reason why y’all are one of the premier companies in the trucking industry is because of that safety standard that y’al hold alone. So thank you guys for that. You know, how can we change this and do these things? I know obviously y’ all are setting an example but what else can be done?
Tracy Dhamers [00:22:31] I really, when you say legislation, legislation’s there. It’s changing every day, FMCSA just put out a big announcement that, you know, they, you have to have a CDL and you have, I mean- The what? You have to, FM CSA, so that’s the Federal Motor Carrier Association. That’s our governing agency.
Rey Treviño III [00:22:48] They just did that because of an accident incident with an illegal person. Yes. Okay.
Tracy Dhamers [00:22:53] So legislation is changing and for the better and everybody says we don’t want more regulations, more regulations more regulations but we need the regulations. It is so important to make sure that something as simple as doing a pre-check like you have to do a pre check pre-trip whatever we’re calling them before you get out there. Are your tires inflated? Are your brakes suggested, it is so important just to make sure that the truck is ready to go. You and I don’t check our vehicles when we go, we walk around and jump in a car and we just assume everything’s great, right? But it’s also not 80,000 pounds. That’s a big difference. So making sure the drivers are doing their pre-checks, making sure that everything looks good and safe is very important. I know a lot of companies probably don’t do it. And I hate to say that, but I could drive down the road and look at a truck and if it has been done or not. I can also look at my trucks and tell if it’s been done or not, but it’s not something that we allow. It must be done. It just has to be. Like I said, you have to start that from day one that you employ somebody. You have to push safety. The oil and gas industry is great about safety. When I very first started on oil and gasses, I used to say, we’re going to safety ourselves out of work because there’s just so many regulations and they just keep coming. They’re just going to keep coming too. Yeah. But it’s important because we want people to go home. Yeah. I mean, we’ve had incidents and we’ve have accidents out on location. And you know what happens is we stop. We talk about it. What happened? Why did it happen? And how do we not have it happen again? And if we have to change things, it’s changed immediately. If something needs to be implemented to bring on more safety, it’s done immediately. It’s not questioned. It’s, can we budget for this next month? That’s not an option. It’s now, and it will be fixed. And every company must do that. And I hold people accountable to it. If I hire you, you have to meet our standards. We’re not coming to your standards. And that’s just how it has to be.
Rey Treviño III [00:24:52] You know, when you talk about y’all standards and what y’ all are doing with your employees, what are some of the services, because you talk rig moving and what was that giant thing that’s- A compressor, so we move compressors. So y’al do a lot of the compressors as well. And then you mentioned the back trucks. So what are just, you know, what are all the services y’a all provide?
Tracy Dhamers [00:25:16] So we do hot shots, which are just pickups. And then we do wench trucks. We have rig up trucks, which our bed trucks, pole trucks, rig up and rig down the rigs. And we have Hydravax. So it’s not just moving liquids, it’s actually cleaning out tanks. And I really don’t know so much about Hydravax. That’s a new arena for me, but I know they can dig safety safely. So they line locate, they locate pipes in the ground. Such, I don’t know a ton about that, so I don’t want to say more. Ask me anything about rig up trucks or winch trucks. I got you. We’re moving a rig, but we do offer that service and it’s a new one in West Texas for us. So we’ve just been doing that about five months.
Rey Treviño III [00:25:56] Diversification.
Tracy Dhamers [00:25:57] Exactly. That’s very important.
Rey Treviño III [00:25:58] You know, um, let me ask you, where do you see trucking headed in the future?
Tracy Dhamers [00:26:05] Let’s not say automatic, automatonmas, or however you read it, I do not, I do not like that. So.
Rey Treviño III [00:26:12] Peterbilt has some, right?
Tracy Dhamers [00:26:13] They do. And so there’s a frat company or sand company out in West Texas and New Mexico that’s running them. And they’ve been doing it for a while now. I heard they just had an accident with two of them colliding because of the dust. I know in our industry, as far as rig moving, it’s an impossibility. We can’t do it. I mean, they’ve talked about it. They’ve talked about getting less drivers in those trucks. So, you know, AI is super smart and can do anything. And that, I mean we’ve talked about that just yesterday at the power conference is how AI is coming, which it is. We’re, we all know AI is coming, but let’s not have.
Rey Treviño III [00:26:49] Is it kind of weird how everybody’s like just like it’s coming like like like there’s nothing we can do about it is that like totally off subject there but isn’t that kind of weird that we’re just like oh it’s common but yet we’ve seen several movies. I know when’s that coming? I’m sorry but you’re just basically like it’s coming embrace it but okay so AI and what else?
Tracy Dhamers [00:27:17] Well, and so, I don’t know, AI is such a huge subject right now. We could like spend another hour just on AI.
Rey Treviño III [00:27:23] I know, I know. I was at two panels. I did two panels for family offices myself just two weeks ago. And one of them was about AI and oil and gas really, really is gonna be natural gas providing the power for not only AI, but for the data centers that are gonna hold all the data right for the AI and that people are starting to really learn now that a Google search And AI is 10 times, takes 10 times as much energy. Yes. And, you know, I’ve said that before, but AI is coming. And you know this auto.
Tracy Dhamers [00:28:00] Automaton is a.
Rey Treviño III [00:28:01] Truck with no people.
Tracy Dhamers [00:28:03] Yes.
Rey Treviño III [00:28:05] OK. That is a little crazy. And then also the electrical trucks that, that’s what I like to always tell people. And correct me if I’m wrong. Here’s what tell people, we’re not gonna see real significant changes to the auto industry electric wise or solar power wise until cargo transportation has adapted to it and can actually use it. Cause how much does one, normal 18 wheeler, how many miles can one, the average 18 wheelers travel on a tank of gas?
Tracy Dhamers [00:28:38] No, about 300 miles. Okay, three, 400, depending on how heavy the load is, but three, four hundred. But I’d say three, 400 miles.
Rey Treviño III [00:28:43] Three, 400 mile, right. So that means we have to have a solar power or electrical vehicle that can do that and then also be able to fill up in the same amount of time and keep on the road. Once I feel like they’ve embraced it on the cargo transportation side, then it will actually change on the personal vehicle. That’s what I tell people.
Tracy Dhamers [00:29:06] Well, I always wonder how what AI is going to fill that load. Like who’s putting all those boxes in there for Amazon? Who’s changing those loads down? We absolutely cannot have no drivers when it’s sand. It’s easy to pull up to a conveyor belt that dumps it in there. So it’s working great for sand.
Rey Treviño III [00:29:23] Yeah.
Tracy Dhamers [00:29:23] But who’s loading those van trucks? Who’s chaining down all these loads? I don’t want a robot doing it.
Rey Treviño III [00:29:28] Yeah
Tracy Dhamers [00:29:29] because do we know that it’s tied down correctly? It’s an impossibility. We’re never going to get away from drivers. It’s just, I can’t see it happening because you still have to have someone loading it. You still have someone checking to make sure the refrigerants in there to keep all the food cold, you know? Who’s doing that? Can a computer can do it and see that there’s enough Freon in there and that everything’s still cold, but who’s loading it? Who’s, I don’t know. I just, I don’t see it. I see it becoming a huge problem. What I look at is an 80,000 pound something where AI just got pissed off at you that day and is now crashing. You know, I’m sure that’s what I see because I’m also a product of, you know, child from back in the eighties where we saw all these crazy movies where short circuit. Who’s doing this Wednesday? I’m mad. And so all of a sudden I robot or whatever it is with Will Smith.
Rey Treviño III [00:30:20] That was basically Terminator. But yes, but yeah, but it was Will Smith, he has a gift.
Tracy Dhamers [00:30:26] Our age, we all think about the movies that came out and our children are bracing it. They’re like, we love it. We love we love AI. We don’t have to think anymore. So like I said, AI, we could go on forever. How I feel about it.
Rey Treviño III [00:30:39] Yeah.
Tracy Dhamers [00:30:39] I don’t want it in trucking. I’m just gonna, and it’s not because I own trucks and I have employees. That’s not the reason I don’t want it. I think I’m the safety issues. It is a huge safety issue because a computer can mess up, so can a human. But when a computer messes up, who’s fixing it? When, yeah. And when a driver messes, I’m a phone call away and I can walk him through it. Let’s figure it out together. Justin’s a phone, call away and they can say, I made a wrong turn, help me figure this out. You know I’m 17 feet tall and I have a 14 foot bridge in front of me and text pros routed me this way What am I supposed to do? That ai truck is going to drive through that because text pros said that bridge is 18 foot tall But they forgot that it’s not anymore. Yeah, construction changed it. We run into that with permitting all the time Where we are too big to fit under the bridge
Rey Treviño III [00:31:29] Y’all triple check, yeah.
Tracy Dhamers [00:31:31] Yeah, so you can’t that AI trucks not going to know that.
Rey Treviño III [00:31:36] And I know as a, as a driver on the road, you know, I get nervous sometimes when you’re going underneath like, Oh, is that truck going to make it? You know, but knock on wood, they always have, whatever I’m driving. Tracy, for those out there that, you don’t want to get a hold of you guys. We want to work with y’all. Can you tell me again, what kind of clients and customers y’ all are looking for and then how they can reach you guys?
Tracy Dhamers [00:31:57] So oil and gas, anything in the oil and gas industry and not I shouldn’t say that because really will move anything. I was telling you earlier, trucks have tires for a reason. They can go wherever the need is.
Rey Treviño III [00:32:06] Yeah, you said they go where they gotta go.
Tracy Dhamers [00:32:08] People will always call me up and say, do you work out of South Texas? We do, because we can drive there and move it for you. A way to reach us is northcountryoil.com. And also, I can leave my phone number out here so anybody can call me. I’m the one that people call when they need the work, and then I’ll pass it on to my dispatchers and they can make sure that the trucks are scheduled.
Rey Treviño III [00:32:31] Gotcha. And you guys are 24 seven.
Tracy Dhamers [00:32:34] 24-7.
Rey Treviño III [00:32:35] 365 days a year.
Tracy Dhamers [00:32:36] The only day Texas doesn’t let us move anything is Christmas. Other than that, Texas is pretty lenient on getting everything moved.
Rey Treviño III [00:32:41] Golly, God bless Texas, right?
Tracy Dhamers [00:32:43] We can always work
Rey Treviño III [00:32:45] Now y’all have a heavy presence like you mentioned in North Dakota, but y’ all are from here, is that correct?
Tracy Dhamers [00:32:51] So we live here. Yes. I tried to live in East Texas for a long time, but I kind of missed my family. So now I am in West Texas as well. We have a huge business in North Dakota as well, we’re out of partial North Dakota and have quite a big presence up there. But West Texas is home to us and that’s where I think we’re going to be for a while.
Rey Treviño III [00:33:14] Oh, man. Well, West Texas isn’t going anywhere and neither is the oil.
Tracy Dhamers [00:33:19] No, It’s not
Rey Treviño III [00:33:19] It’s going to continue to be produced and we’re going to continue to find more ways to produce it and find reasons to get trucks there. You know, I mean we use it on the majority of our lease is just to get it out. You know we have a few that we’re lucky to pipeline out and blessed to have the pipeline, but everything else is trucked out on a daily basis and we love it. We can’t complain. Tracy, I cannot thank you enough for your husband traveling this way and sharing with us so much that’s going on within the trucking industry. And being a great rep, great rep out of West Texas. I always love it, as I told you before, when we have on individuals from West Texas, I kind of feel like why my producer that we always have West Texas people in in South. And, um, so I cannot thank you enough for coming in into town. Uh, again, I know y’all been doing some traveling lately, so just thank you so much, um and to all the listeners out there, again if y’ all have any questions or if you’re looking, uh, that you need some, some gear moved, I don’t hesitate to reach out to me, be more than happy to get you in contact with this great team over there and, uh thank you as always and we’ll see you again on another episode of the Crude Truth.
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