I’ve been contemplating getting a job driving in the Bakken oilfield, and I was contemplating buying a house in rural North Dakota as an alternative to staying in a man-camp that is provided by some companies (but not all of them). There are some very affordably priced homes about 20 miles out of towns like Williston, Stanley, etc. But I have to wonder how difficult if not impossible the daily commute would become during winter? And winter tends to be the busier season for oilfield work, so having to miss work due to not being able to traverse the roads would be no good (although most oilfields do shut down if wind chill and conditions are terrible enough). If I get a good AWD or 4WD vehicle and equip it with winter tires,should I still be able to commute? Or should I just buy a more expensive house in town or rent an apartment (which is what I’d probably do for the first year regardless)?
Daily commute during winter in rural ND?
- Thread starter DMD3.
- Start date
wanttaja
Final Approach
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 5,667
- Location
- "War-Torn" Portland
- Display Name
- Ron Wanttaja
- Home Airfield
- Twin Oaks Airpark
Grew up there. Didn't find the weather all that much of a problem. For the most part, the roads stay pretty clear, especially the major ones that are actually slightly above the surrounding terrain and thus the wind tends to blow them clear. If your job actually is to *drive*, the commute won't be that much of an impact.
Drive a 4x4, make sure you have survival gear aboard (snowmobile suit, warm boots, charger for phone, etc.). If you're going to rent a house or apartment in a town, you'll have a better feel for how the weather affects your life.
Understand that western ND is actually a rather arid place...only gets ~15 or so inches of precipitation a year, less than half of what Chicago gets. A lot of that 15 inches actually comes as rain during the warmer months, but, of course, an inch of precipitation is about ten inches of snow.
*Cold*, mind you. "Forty-three below keeps out the riff-raff", as we used to say. Never had an issue staying warm in a car, though you'll want to have a block heater installed.
Say "Hi" to my nephew, he's an electrician in the oil fields....
Ron Wanttaja
Drive a 4x4, make sure you have survival gear aboard (snowmobile suit, warm boots, charger for phone, etc.). If you're going to rent a house or apartment in a town, you'll have a better feel for how the weather affects your life.
Understand that western ND is actually a rather arid place...only gets ~15 or so inches of precipitation a year, less than half of what Chicago gets. A lot of that 15 inches actually comes as rain during the warmer months, but, of course, an inch of precipitation is about ten inches of snow.
*Cold*, mind you. "Forty-three below keeps out the riff-raff", as we used to say. Never had an issue staying warm in a car, though you'll want to have a block heater installed.
Say "Hi" to my nephew, he's an electrician in the oil fields....
Ron Wanttaja
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
- Messages
- 2,595
- Display Name
- Jon
- Home Airfield
- KCMA
BOOM - problem solved
sourdough44
En-Route
It’s doable. Tires are more of a factor than 4x4. I’m talking the likes of Blizzacks & similar. If not 4x4, AWD or FWD is usually fine, with good tires.
wanttaja
Final Approach
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 5,667
- Location
- "War-Torn" Portland
- Display Name
- Ron Wanttaja
- Home Airfield
- Twin Oaks Airpark
Well, you *do* realize the OP is the "other driver". He's coming from Georgia.....
Ron Wanttaja
BOOM - problem solved
That’s the reason for wanting to go to the oilfield; so I can afford this.
Though this makes me wonder if I could actually find space to land & takeoff near the jobsite.
Albany Tom
Final Approach
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2021
- Messages
- 5,703
- Display Name
- Albany Tom
I don't know what oilfield roads are like in ND or really anywhere these days. Used to have friends that worked in those areas years ago. Then, you kinda had to have a pickup truck just for the ground clearance and not tearing up the underside if you were in ruts of dirt roads and mud. It didn't have to be fancy or lifted or special, just something that could take some abuse. No idea if that's still true now or there at all. Good tires are the key, as others have said, for the snow. Doesn't have to be a name brand, you just want that little mountain logo thing, and for mud probably an all terrain. If you go pickup, 2WD can work, but a 2WD pickup can be a learning experience in the snow as the weight distribution is lousy and the torque is usually high. So if you go that route put some weight in the back and practice a bit. And all of that said, a Subaru or similar with good tires can probably go anywhere a normal pickup can.
If you can fly, you can drive in the snow.
If you can fly, you can drive in the snow.
Dana
Final Approach
FIFY
Albany Tom
Final Approach
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2021
- Messages
- 5,703
- Display Name
- Albany Tom
100% right!!
I've lived in the north central US for almost my entire life, which included a period of time in North Dakota and northern Minnesota. The "20 mile commute to town" is not abnormal, with some commuting much farther than that on a daily basis in the more remote areas. No company I ever have worked for would shut down due to weather, so don't plan on a snow day. People don't drive anything special; 4x4 trucks and AWD cars with all seasons are pretty commonplace there.
FWIW, living outside of town and commuting daily is entirely doable and can be attractive, but it comes at a price. If the goal is to live cheaply you might be better off staying closer to town.
FWIW, living outside of town and commuting daily is entirely doable and can be attractive, but it comes at a price. If the goal is to live cheaply you might be better off staying closer to town.
The homes are priced far lower outside of town, some of them around $50-60k. And judging by the photos, they’re not rundown fixer-uppers that are unfit to be lived in.
Housing price is one thing. What it actually costs to live out there is another. I have not found the north central US to be any cheaper to live than elsewhere when you figure the total costs out. The values of rural homes are often driven by how close it is to town and how far it is from a paved road. That’s why you’re seeing lower cost properties the farther out you get. Fewer people want to be there, sometimes for reasons that may not be obvious until you’ve spent some time there. But people do it, mainly because that’s how they want to live rather than because it is a cheap way to have a house.
Albany Tom
Final Approach
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2021
- Messages
- 5,703
- Display Name
- Albany Tom
When I was house shopping I put together a simple spreadsheet, and did a distance/cost estimate. Based on how far away it was going to work and how many miles I'd have to drive each day, and what that might cost in 20 years. Just like there, here the farther you go out from the work areas the lower the housing costs are. Anyway, the other thing I did was to not just use a compass on a map to get the distance. Unless you're commuting by helicopter, the distance that matters is the road distance. So no kidding, I got paper maps and drew out lines down to the minor roads of what 20, 30, 40 miles looked like. It worked well for me, and I'm happy with where I landed.
Unless other factors make it expensive such as utility bills (staying warm in winter can’t be easy) or grocery bills,etc., it wouldn’t bother me. I already do a 45 minute one-way commute and don’t mind living out in the countryside.
One thing to consider…commute “time” not just miles. I live in the middle of nowhere, and I commute 7 miles at 60 mph. I might see another car on the way once every couple months. My sister lives in Des Moines and commutes three miles in heavy traffic each way. Care to wager which one of us has a shorter commute time? Also in a rural area you have options to reduce expenses that usually are not available in an urban setting if you are the type of person to utilize them. A large garden can provide fresh vegetables and with some canning, a good potato, carrot, turnip, beets etc patch and a cool basement can offset a lot of the grocery bill over the year. Raise a few chickens for the freezer and keep a couple laying hens. Buying a piglet and feeding it scraps, culls from the garden, even grass clippings. It can turn $40 into 200 pounds of pork each summer (don’t name it or get attached to it, it’s a waste to bacon, pork chops, and roast appliance, you need to keep that in your head from the get go). Get a couple bee hives, if you plan on stay there plant some fruit trees and berry bushes. Get outside the HOA world and back into the land of freedom and with proper planning and a bit of work you can create a little “garden of Eden” homestead pretty easily over a few years time.
Edit: my current work prevents me from having poultry or swine for biosecurity purposes, it has legitimately made me consider finding a new line of work. I miss raising livestock and I want my sons to grow up raising livestock as a critical part of their learning/development into adulthood.
Edit: my current work prevents me from having poultry or swine for biosecurity purposes, it has legitimately made me consider finding a new line of work. I miss raising livestock and I want my sons to grow up raising livestock as a critical part of their learning/development into adulthood.
Last edited:
Agreed. If you’re cruising at 60 mph with hardly any red lights or stop signs, it can make for a fairly short commute. Although if the road is littered with snow drifts or is iced, that could definitely make it take longer.