Well here it is January 4, 2015. The tree is down, the decorations are boxed up, the christmas cookies are gone, the 5 pounds are around here somewhere and the new church time has begun.
Scott and I have been hoarding all of our money, all bonuses, all earnings etc so we decided not to spend money on each other for Christmas. Luckily I had purchased all gifts prior to October and was able to save all our money. I gave Scott a coupon book. Not as cool as Cooper coupons (Big Bang Theory) but pretty great nonetheless. Scott was able to sneak a 3 month membership to our local rec center so that I can have a warm place to walk during the bitter Basin winter! He is very thoughtful of me!
We were able to get out of Vernal on Christmas Eve about 3 pm. We made it to Delta before the snow storm.We played Doodle Dice and Pit. It was a great time! We were able to stay until Dec 26th. I cried and cried when I left. It was a tough separation this time.
We get home to Vernal and get stuff done and ready for the work week and Scott told me he would take me back to Delta over New Years. How sweet! I was able to to Thurs, Fri and Sat. We were the only ones there. No grandkids to share my parents with just the 4 of us. It was wonderful. We relaxed, went shopping, fixed a flat tire on my mom vehicle and enjoyed adult conversation. It was wonderful. I left without tears and feeling much better about our separation.
Now to the part of Scott's job update and reason for us hoarding money. DRC is the company Scott works for. It has been tough watching him work for this company. They do not appreciate him at all. Scott went out to Salt Lake area and tried to view several semi trucks. He has decided to work for himself. He went to the bank and was able to get a loan. He and his mechanic friend went looking for trucks they found off KSL. Everything went wrong. He was unable to talk to owners, Owners failed to arrive to show the truck etc. Scott was very frustrated. I tried to help him understand that is how Heavenly Father works. Scott is not as experienced in spiritual things and needs a little reminding. He tried to relax but was anxious to quit DRC. Later that week he found a truck here in Vernal. It came with $400 worth of hoses, 2 extra tires with rims, and some other parts for the truck. He came out with $800 plus of perks with the truck. Plus the truck while old has been taken care of and has not mechanical problems. It will definitely work for our first year of working for ourselves.
The man who sold us the truck was able to give Scott a name of a man looking to hire owner-operators--Cole. Cole has been working a deal for a month. He keeps getting pushed off for one reason or another and then the 2 week holiday period hit and all decision makers were out of office until Jan 5. Cole said he has ways of encouraging them to accept the deal. Once they do, Scott will have work for himself! Before Christmas we went to an accountant and started a company. We almost have everything in order for when Scott starts working he can do it under his new company name. Scott came up with Samas Trucking. (Scott and Mary Ann Stewart). I really like the name. It is perfect for us. I am pretty excited, nervous, anxious, worried, hopeful, proud, and happy that we are starting our own company and Scott is getting the opportunity to prove how good he really is.
I cannot believe how much we have been blessed! Heavenly Father has been helping us every single day!
I need to give a brief history of DRC. It was started about 5 years ago. Scott has worked there for 2.5 years. He is the second longest employee. Bret is the most senior. In 2012 DRC was hit with IRS fines for not filing quarterly taxes. 2013 they paid them all off and made a good profit. 2014 DRC had a DOT audit and fines. We never heard how much the fines were but I can imagine it was extensive due to the amount of failures there were. DRC purchased several trucks. they overpaid for these trucks. They were not worth the amount paid and needed $20,000 plus each to get them ready to use. DRC also purchased a piece of land for a future shop but the road is not developed or ready for semi traffic so it is not being used. The Christmas party this year had bags of candy for employees instead of the previous years raffle of great big ticket items. Rumor is that DRC had to borrow money to cover last payroll. That being said---
Bill Barrett is a large company who owns and runs a lot of oil wells. DRC has 40 plus wells they get water from in the Bill Barret field. It is a large part of the company. Most of the drivers work in Barrett, most of the income comes from Barrett etc. Bret a 25 year old kid who was in the right place at the right time is the manager of the Barrett field for DRC. Bret took Scott's job. I personally do not like Bret. He is LDS and is everything I hate about LDS businessmen. He likes the drivers who are LDS and favors them and gives the actual drivers that work hard and follow DOT laws and do not break the equipment the bad or hard wells. Bret is not a good manager in my book. He isnt fair at all! Bret said last week that DRC should shut down all the fields except Barrett. So the fields Scott works in. Bret thinks Barrett field is the money maker. Bret is having a hard time making money in Finley filed. Scott worked Finley field for 1.5 years and made money for the company. Bret is not running it right. But what can you do? Bret does not understand that Finley is paid by the barrel (31 gallons in 1 barrel). So having the largest tank in Finley so each load is 170 barrels instead of 120 barrels makes sense--but Bret took the 170 and put it in Barrett for the easy loads. So no wonder Finley is not making money anymore. UGH!
Dec 31 the DRC mechanic was called into the office to talk with the secretary about notice she received from Barrett field. Barrett told DRC that DRC must have a DOT safety rating of C or better in order to work in the Barrett field. DRC currently had a DOT safety rating of a D. They have to raise it by February 1st or else DRC is kicked out of Barrett field. I am laughing so hard. Bret has been telling his drivers NOT to run with DOT logs because the fine is cheaper for not having one that having one not filled out right. He also does not make his drivers do truck inspections to ensure their truck is safe to drive-like flat tires, hoses secured, lights working etc. So when drivers get pulled over they do not have documentation and get tickets which go against the DOT safety rating. the speeding tickets do not but the safety ones do. Make sense? So here is Bret the little savior of DRC and here is why not following the rules is bad. Bret is always getting mad at Scott when Scott was in charge of his drivers because Scott would not make his drivers work over hours, and he made them wash the truck and keep the truck clean because cops see dirty semi trucks and think if it is dirty it must be lacking in other safety areas. So Scott keeps records, truck inspections, DOT logs, Dispatch logs etc and was not fined at all during the DOT audit. But Bret was. Now DRC might loose Barrett field due to not keeping these rules. I am loving the karma, justice, just desserts--whatever. It is awesome! I am not sure what is going to happen. I do not know how DRC can raise their DOT grade in one month. If it is like tickets it takes time to get off your drivers license I imagine it is the same for companies. It will be some miracle if DRC is able to stay in business for more than a year. I am not sure if Bret has learned to follow the law yet or not.
I am so thankful that DRC demoted Scott for no reason (Owner told Scott it was growing pains). The demotion gave Scott the push he needed to get his own truck. We were able to get a good truck for a good price with all the equipment needed for the oil field. We were able to get in on a deal that should be done in a few weeks. We are able to jump the sinking DRC ship. Without the demotion we would not have been saving money, or starting a new company, We would be with the Barrett guys all looking for work and wondering what the future holds. With gas prices dropping it is making the oil field unstable and many are worried about the future. I am not worried. Scott is going to be successful. Many people know him and know how he works. They know Bret and do not like him. I am not stressing out that my husband's job might be gone. I am happy. I am calm, I am so blessed! The injustice of the demotion has been vindicated--in my little world!
On a side note Bret bought a $30,000 boat this year and a $300,000 plus house this year. He is father of 2 young girls. The house is 7 bdr, 5 bath. He decided to get the big house because last year DRC did so well that he might as well get what he wants. I am laughing so hard. Bret does not have good reputation in the oil field. If he looses his job at DRC he might be in too deep. Where Scott and I bought a small house, no boat, no truck, and if Scott looses his job we will be fine for quite a few months. I am so glad we did not buy a larger house--Scott was pre approved for way more house than we got. We are so blessed! I cannot begin to think how worried I could be. But I am not. I am happy.
Here is to 2015! Here is Samas Trucking. Here is to following the law, paying taxes and doing what we think is right. I hope your 2015 is great also!
