Working in town versus out of town?

[Luke The Drifter]

So I'm curious to see how many guys here work in town or are on shift work out of town. And which do you prefer? Me personally, I work a 2 week on, 2 week off shift and its fairly good for the most part but I'm questioning how long I want to do it. Granted I'm young at 23, I don't want to be doing it forever and if I have a family down the road I don't plan on being in my kids life half the time. It pays extremely well but at the same time there is something to be said about sleeping in your own bed every night versus a hotel or condo. I've always worked in town mon-fri, 50hr week type of gig but I wanted to get a jumpstart on saving for a house down payment and alas I've been on shift work the past year.

Thoughts?

 

[maxwell]

Did that kind of work for a year. Couldn't stand it. Hated not being able to be somewhere when I needed to be. Like family get togethers, sled trips etc etc. switched to working in town making better money now and love it. Home every night. But to be honest with 2 weeks off I think you would be able to have way more quality time with your future family. Than a guy like me would because most days I work till late 8 or 9 pm and your just so tired and there's never any time to do anything except maybe a Sunday after all the house work chores etc are done. Tough call but you can do a lot in 2 weeks off.

 

[Lowlife82]

I agree u may get more quality time with the two weeks off depending on the job that isn't shift work.

 

[Luke The Drifter]

Did that kind of work for a year. Couldn't stand it. Hated not being able to be somewhere when I needed to be. Like family get togethers, sled trips etc etc. switched to working in town making better money now and love it. Home every night. But to be honest with 2 weeks off I think you would be able to have way more quality time with your future family. Than a guy like me would because most days I work till late 8 or 9 pm and your just so tired and there's never any time to do anything except maybe a Sunday after all the house work chores etc are done. Tough call but you can do a lot in 2 weeks off.

True you can do a lot in two weeks off but at the same time, I find myself playing catchup a lot and spreading myself thin with various projects, places to go etc. I already had to decline on two sled trips this year simply because they're when I'm working. If I came back to work in the city, I'd be taking a pay cut which would be hard to swallow. It sucks when you know your family is having thanksgiving dinner together and you're sitting in a hotel restaurant eating some mediocre at best type of food.

 

[GYMBRAT]

Ive never really had a job that kept me home, other than a couple that I did just to pass the summer away and be at home. I liked the family time BUT could not STAND the pay difference. Been in the Oilfield sine the age of 15 and im 40 now, its in my blood.

I get extremely bored if im home too long. Yes theres things to do at home BUT it still dont cut it. Plus the wifey and I get along better if im not home every single night LOL

Ive been gone for stints of 120 days straight back in the good days where one could stay till he was absolutely sick of it then come home, with a BIG cheque!

 

[tmo1620]

Not worth the lil extra coin to go on shift out of town all the time IMO. I work shift work days and nights 5 on 5 off but after every 12 hrs I go to sleep in my own bed. Dont have a family but got a wife and my relationship with her is better than all my buddies with wives who work out of town thats for sure. Being single and not owning a house I can see making it a bit better as the lil extra coin never hurts but for me to be gone all the time from my home for an extra $10,000 a year plus a bigger bonus, not worth it

 

[moyiesledhead]

I work 3 days on 3 days off and home every night. Has advantges and disadvantages I guess. I miss wayyyy too many weekends, especially in the winter, but I can get out camping during the week in the summer when things are less busy. Best schedule I ever had was Tuesday to Friday 10 hour days. Probably going back to that in the new year. Not gonna take on the 2 week rotation thing at my age in life, but if I was your age I'd definately give it a try. 2 weeks off every 2 weeks sounds pretty good to me!

 

[GYMBRAT]

To each their own, all families have different dynamics.

 

[pete gads]

I work 2 10hrs days,then 2 14hrs nights then 2 off then same 4 days again then 6 days off. Its great, any other time i want off just find some to work for me

 

[Badass69]

8 and 6 shift, drive to work on the first day and travel home on the last on a trip that is less than 3 hours..... With my job I really don't care if I am home on my days on and almost prefer not. I am on call 24 hours a day on shift and the 3 am callouts would probably just p/o my girlfriend anyhow. I own a small company that is about to expand to some employees so I can't complain...... and I choose my clients. I work with an awesome group of people, couldn't ask for better honestly. Everyone I work with lives locally to the area and the facilities..... but there is no appeal to the countryside beyond being closer to my job......

The locals on my side ( maintenance) work 4 on 4 off 4 on 2 off. Some ops are 8 and 6 like me ( locals) and then the plant guys are like 2 days, 2nights, 6 off. Then they have a couple flex days throughout the month they have to make up. They seem to like it.

I thought about moving closer to the job ( which is what they tried to get me to do when gunning for me to be an employee) but I prefer this as I can always just expand now. Maybe once the NWU project goes I will shoot for a commissioning and then maintenance contract with them letting me be home..... But I really don't care.

I don't work stupid long shifts and I like having more than 2 days off at a time. Not to mention I probably would have a tougher time charging as much as I do now.. and I like money. Things are different when you work for yourself and won't be working until you are 70/Dead like 90% of the people on this board are and will be.......

 

[plio7]

For me it's about not being able to enjoy what I have. When i worked out of town for weeks at a time I hated having a place I never got to enjoy, dog I didn't get to walk, tv I didn't get to watch, to name a very few. I work hard for what I have and I want to enjoy all the little things like my tv, my bed, my couch, ect. It works for some and maybe over time I could get used to it, I have a lot of friends who swear its the way to go but I prefer to come home every night or at least every weekend.

 

[RXN]

Spent the first 8 years of my career working out of town, Camps, motels. Restaurant food. Was great when I was single, Sucked when we were gone for more then 21 days straight, grass was too tall, or driveway was really buried under snow. but most jobs we left Sunday night and came home Friday night. wasn't too bad. was all I knew.

Then I got married, and working out of town was losing it's appeal. When work slowed, (in the period of 5 months we had 14 days scattered in that time for work) so I needed Cash, was driving the wife nuts being home. So hired on at a nearby plant, best move I ever made. Home every night. (wife took so time to get used to me, was rocky at first) but instead of rushing on weekends to get everything done I can pick away at things all week.

I do miss the guys from the out of town work. found them a lot easier to get along with then guys that are home every night.

 

[chickenman]

I work 2 10hrs days,then 2 14hrs nights then 2 off then same 4 days again then 6 days off. Its great, any other time i want off just find some to work for me

could be the best schedule ever!!!

 

[Highfly]

My Dad was a O/O long haul truck driver back in the day and made a decent coin doing it. We never saw him much but on the flip side we were the first of all my friends to have a VCR, Microwave, we had the coolest bikes, the list goes on. I remember one time when he was home for a track and field meet I was in. I cleaned house in the running events I was in (wonder if I still have the 100 meter record)... anyways I could pick my dads voice out of a huge cheering crowd like he was the only one there. Was a very special time for me. Once we were all grown up he said to me "If I could do things all over again I would spend more time with you kids" That hit home hard with me. I spent 10 years as a service technician, my territory was Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company made some drastic changes and I found myself holding down pretty much all of Western Canada. Those words he said were ringing in my head over and over. I finally decided to venture out on my own and went independent. I CHOOSE where I work now.

So just giving you a little different perspective.

 

[ABOMB177]

I work 7 in 7 out but bus in every day and home in bed every night. Love it and wouldnt change a thing. Make the good cash and get to be home to see girlfriend every night. That being said you do miss out on lots but thats what shift work is. You learn to deal with it and do more with the guys you work with since they have same days off. Shift work for me is where its at. Its so much better to do things during the weak rather than wait in lines and fight the countless day walkers on weekends

 

[brutematt750]

I work 4-10s mon to Thursday 3 day weekends. Probably the best shift ever. The only down side is when we work ot for shutdowns. We work 6-10s which is probably the worst shift ever. Haha. But that only last for 4-6 weeks at a time. A couple times a year. Home every night. Did the plant work in fort Mac for a few years when I was 19-20. Can't imagine being on the road now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk while working extremely hard

 

[tmo1620]

My 5 on 5 off is a pretty decent shift to work as well, but what really makes it awesome is the 7 weeks paid vacation a year on top of my usual half the time off. I can make time to do anything and everything. Went camping a dozen times this summer, went to two hunting camps this fall, 16 days in the carribbean and Miami in february and a week in vegas in march as well as 3 sled trips to the mountains. Also put 1500 km on the quad this summer.......... enjoy every minute of it

 

[thegeneral]

I work 4-5-5 12hr shifts, 450 km from home. Its sometimes hard having a young son, but on the flip side when I am home I spend as much time as possible with him and my wife. they usually do 4 or 5 sled trips per season with me too. Sometimes I think its just not worth the money

the best advise I could give you is, save as much as you can and NEVER allow yourself to become a slave to the money, It will only get harder to walk away from, the older and more in debt you become.


Money doesn't make the world go around, but it sure as hell makes it spin a little more freely lol

 

[GYMBRAT]

My 5 on 5 off is a pretty decent shift to work as well, but what really makes it awesome is the 7 weeks paid vacation a year on top of my usual half the time off. I can make time to do anything and everything. Went camping a dozen times this summer, went to two hunting camps this fall, 16 days in the carribbean and Miami in february and a week in vegas in march as well as 3 sled trips to the mountains. Also put 1500 km on the quad this summer.......... enjoy every minute of it

WOW :/ lol

 

[white6]

I'm also on the 7 on 7 off, work 12hr day shifts 85km from home. But I take a bus to and from work every day. Having the long stretches of time off is awesome for projects, appointments, trips, the skies the limit. IMO the ideal shift is still the 4-5-5 because you get better usage out of your vacation time but this works good too.

As per home every night? For me, my life, my relationship, thats what I love and that's what I need. Individuals and relationships work differently but I love getting to come home to my house, go to the gym, see my family friends or boyfriend every night.

IMO your young like I am, if the work and the money is there take it, make a few year plan. Save it up, don't 'live it up' and spend all your cash. Get used to living on wages comparable to what you would make in the city and save the difference if not more. Then its not a drastic lifestyle change when the pay changes. For future relationshps and families, from what I've seen of friends/family situations, and knowing my own childhood, the memories and being there for them is what matters. You can make the money work, if you plan, budget, be smart.