Tom,

I ran across your blog a while back (referenced from Jerry and Carol's site), and I will be following you and your experiences.  Sorry to hear about your beloved German Shepherd.

In fact, another couple that frequent the forums here some are gate-guarding down in Texas right now.  They are trying to get used to mud.  They are Doris and Dave Arnold (I think) and they are giving me an insight as to what is being done.

I don't think we would have any problems with gate-guarding, even with the 24/7 circumstances.  Hey, if you aren't in town, you aren't spending money.  If you aren't towing a lot of miles, you aren't spending money.  I would see a winter's job of gate guarding as an opportunity to save up a fair bit of cash for traveling in the summer.

Keep up the good work with describing what you do.  However, I am hoping that you deleted earlier comments because they were no longer relevant.  Some of us use such comments to hone us for asking questions about what interests us.

Terry

We are kind of looking forward to gate keeping. We need the money and want to sock some away for travel and safekeeping plus we are FINALLY used to living together 24/7 so that won't be a problem. Also, being in TX during the winter beats being there all summer (I cannot do that anymore). The snakes are sluggish, the scorpions too, and the tarantulas I hope are not in residence in the winter.

Texas Tom..thanks for all the info. Passing it on to other's we've recently met that think this may be their kind of work.

Not that anyone would want to be in N. Dakota in the winter time, there are lots of opportunities up there as well...should be great for summer work.

N. Texas and Louisiana are other options besides S. Texas although the abundance of the work is in S. Texas.

Good luck wherever you go.

 

Wow, $8 a month...I got a raise!!  LOL. I corrected that post.

Actually, it comes out $8250.00 a month. Don't think many teenagers make that...well, not all.

 

-- Edited by Texas TomT on Saturday 17th of December 2011 09:38:04 PM

I don't know but it's a great idea.

 

Glad to hear that you got a good gig. We also are very happy with ours and the attention we get from GGS...good people, good company to work with. I say 'with' since we are contractors  and not employees.

Where are you located? or did you tell me before. We are south of Catarina about 12 miles on US-83 and then 6.5 miles SW of there. Our exact location is 28.15708°N and 99.67923° W. if you are into GPS coords.

 

Terry, if you visited our blog site and read the FAQ then you got the 'lay of the land' type questions answered.

So, for your first question, the base pay for most all gg companies is $125/day. Then they pay an additional $50/day per extra drilling rig that is on location. So, 4 rigs is 125+50+50+50=275/day times 30 days =$8250 gross pay. They do not take out any taxes if you are a contractor. They also provide you with water, electricity (generator and diesel), and some some of septic system or external holding tanks.

The second question is employee versus contractor. Being a contractor has more benefits for sure being that you can write off expenses related to the job. Example: If we drive from wherever to a job site we can write off the mileage (easiest method) or you can deduct actual expenses like gas, oil, insurance, etc., all determined by what amount was personal and what is business. That's too much of a hassle, so mileage is better to use. Rig insurance I pay on an annual basis so if I am on a jobsite for 6 months then I write off that much of the annual premium. Any and all maintenance on the rig is deductible for the period you are working as well. If you have to purchase anything remotely related to the job function, then it is also tax deductible. The company we are with provides Workmans Comp. insurance in case you were injured in a work related accident. They do not provide anything else since you are not an employee.

Since you essentially get full hookups and the only normal expense is food for yourselves, the majority of what you make is yours. Yes, you will have to pay 1/2 of social security premiums on IRS form SE and you will pay income tax (federal), but it will be lower because of the expenses you are able to deduct. How long you work and how much you make is up to you especially if you are still under 66 years of age and have social security limitations (IF you are drawing SS benefits).

Don't hesitate to ask further questions or we can jump on our phones and chat about it. I work noon to midnight and the only best bet for me to talk is like between 9-12pm.

 

Okay, I know the area where you are now. In fact Donna had to drive to Tilden the other day so she was on FM-468 from US85. The wildlife in the valley here is definitely interesting as you know. We have a large family of Javelina's close by as well as a new litter of Coyotes in the thatch about 30 yards from us.

You will get 1099-Misc forms for the income on your working. That is just taxable income and it's easy to enter on IRS forms, especially if you use Turbo Tax on the PC. I us the TT every year and file electronically and get direct deposit for refunds. If I should owe them, I just have to print out a small form and include it with my check to them.

I think we will be here until end of March and then hopefully take some time off to go the RV-Dreams rally in Kerrville and then to our 1st granddaughters HS graduation. Then we are going north somewhere for the summer.

Take care.

Yeah, I have been using TT for years and will use it this year.  I haven't made any estimated payments so will owe the whole kit and kaboodle at once.  Won't make that mistake next year!

We will also be here until the end of March and then head to Arizona for our first summer gig.  We'll be stopping somewhere in Texas for a few days to get everything cleaned up and cleaned out.

We WANT to go to the rally, but won't know if we will be able to until we get our festival schedule for the summer.  Hopefully we'll be able to.  We've been trying to make one for 2 years but our schedule has never meshed.

IMHO, Gate Guard Services (Corpus) is the best of the 3 GG companies we have worked for (LOMA and Timekeepers were the other 2). We have been on this same location since 9/15 and we are planning on staying until the end of March or maybe into April. By then we will have accumulated sufficient cash to take care of us thru next Sept. or Oct. We want to get out of Texas for the summer.

I thought that 4 rigs was a lot of work but right now we have a fracking job going on a 3-well pad and then next is a 4-well pad. WOW, you talk about a lot traffic, all day and all night. I am glad that we are down to only one rig at the moment so that helps some.

Good luck to you all.

p.s. I wanted to mention, that because of hunting season a lot of ranches don't allow drilling operations. So, about mid-January there should be a lot of openings for gate guards. Make sure you get on their waiting list if January is a good time for you.

 

-- Edited by Texas TomT on Wednesday 21st of December 2011 08:52:00 PM

Thanks for the responses and information. We're thinking we'd like to work for 2 months next year mid-October to mid-December. Would that be a bad time because of hunting? Also, have you been able to get cell and internet reception at the sites you've been assigned to? Thanks!

For Cell Service, we use NET 10. For $50 per month, you can get internet, texting and all the phone service you would ever need (50,000 minutes). They now have Android phones, so going to go get one of those. The thing with NET 10 is that there has only been two places in the United States that we have not been able to get cell service (make that three). One was Trail Ridge road in Colorado and the other Brainard Lake, CO, plus down a hill somewhere in North Carolina. It works off of ALL cell towers so you don't have it working with only one or the other. We get good service at "home" in TX and our friends with Verizon have to walk down the road. So..we are counting on it working in W. Texas. Also...thinking about dish service for internet and TV.

Tom...do ya'll have large generators (ours is pretty small) that are provided and how do you run them (morning, charge up batteries, before bed?). Since we just finished staying for three months at a National Forest Campground, roughing it a bit while working this past summer, we have it somewhat down pat, but wondered if the generators were larger.

Another thing: In Timekeepers ad they say they provide non-potable water. Now why do they do that and not fresh. Was that your experience when you did work with them? Perhaps that is an error in their ad.

Anyway...sounds like lots of interest. Should we tell GGS you sent us, lol?

Jeannie and Rick

Thanks so much for your info! That answered what we needed to know. We are going with GGS if they'll have us. Will hope all in Houston is well and we can get working ASAP. Then on to FL for a month and either to CO or some other cooler place (we have a job lined up but just found out some news today that may make us change gears).

Anyway, thanks so much!

Workinrvers wrote:

---

...The water is delivered (in our case) by a large tanker truck into a large black tank sitting on the same trailer as the generator. The water is "potable" but after seeing them drag the hose ends through the mud and then hoist it up to the tank to fill ..... well you get the idea, we don't drink the water.

-- Edited by Workinrvers on Thursday 22nd of December 2011 07:54:51 PM

---

 Our water is also delivered by tanker which is Potable water. Despite the fact that the end his hose might have a little dirt on it has not discouraged us a bit. The driver always wipes the hose end before inserting it into the big black tank (but don't know where that rag has been, LOL). I have a large canister filter outside at the water input to the coach and change it out every month or so. We having been drinking the water for months now with no problems. And, I have a second water filtering unit at the kitchen sink if we want double filtered drinking water.

 I also keep my 100-gallon coach tank full at all times because a 12-volt pump (demand style) can crap out at will.

Other than that, he said it better than me probably.

 

Absolutely, since that's what we do. Wife just got HER 1099 with all the income earned---nothing for me. Just tell the company that you work for that you want to be listed as the Main contractor and all income attributed to you.

 

Don't rely on email or message to get this done. Keep trying to get someone to answer the phone there and ask for the Payroll person and then ask for confirmation via email.

Good luck.

 

Hi, Tom!

We are wanting to get into gate guarding but have no idea where to start.  We live in Indiana and will not be available for work until 8/8/12.  Would you mind "walking" us through the steps to get started or pointing us to someone who will be able to help us?

Thank you!

Waynevic,

We just came off our first "season" of gate guarding. We are going to be work camping at the KOA in Terre Haute starting April 1st if you want some first hand experience and are nearby we would be more than happy to share our experiences with you guys (or any others for that matter).

 

Phil and Rudee

Thanks Tom& Donna ...

Your blog with the FAQ answered MOST of our ????

We are currently NOT looking, but had considered this in the past, just didn't have enough answers to confidently pursue it. For us, gate guarding would be a good option and we'll keep it in our back pocket.

Thanks for taking time to put the Q&A together and to keep it up ... apparently it was badly needed. Good job.

Wayne and Vicki,

I'm sure Tom can answer your question better than me and will chime in soon but I can pass on our experience.
There were 2 pads at the ranch we worked. We made the $125 per day until the rig moved to the 2nd pad and the fracking crew replaced them on the 1st pad. Then we made $175.00 per day until the company shut the 1st pad down after the fracking and flowback company finished their work. All told we had about 4 weeks of "extra" pay and then it reverted back to the $125 per day. Of course we were quite a but busier with both pads active as well.

This was just our experience and others may vary but I have not heard of a problem getting the additional pay with more than one site active at your gate.

Phil

LP is on you but we used very, very little. Our water heater has an electric option so we heated the water that way. We only ran the furnace 1 or 2 times otherwise we used electric space heaters. Fridge was on electric and wife used the convection oven most of the time so the only LP we used was for the stove top cooking.

The sites vary so much there is no guarantee what kind of site will be available when you arrive. There are some other companies that pay a little better. Loma, for instance, pays $150 per day.

If the budget is that tight I would caution you about this work. Yes, there is work there but there are times you may have to sit for a week (maybe more) for a gate to open up. Plus most oil companies give the gate guard companies very little notice when shutting down a gate. One day you will be working and the next you are packing up and leaving. You need to figure some down time into your calculations and plan accordingly.

GGS will let you park at their yard free with full hook ups while waiting on a gate. I don't believe any of the other companies offer this service so you will be paying for a site in an RV park while you wait.

Didn't want to put a damper on things but wanted to pass along all the info I could.

We spent very little $$ while on the gate since there was no site rent and you don't do a lot of running around (less fuel, less eating out etc.) and we saved a lot of our pay this way. Of course we had our normal monthly bills for insurance, prescriptions etc.

Hopefully others with more experience than my one season will chime in soon.

Phil

Phil,

Sorry about being slow to respond. We have had a very busy week.

We are continuing to do "our research" and really do want to know all the ups, downs, ins, outs, etc. Thank you for your input.

We look forward to possibly meeting you and Rudee when you are in Terre Haute and really "pick your brain". Maybe we can take you to lunch or something.

Wayne & Vickie

I apologize to any/all that are waiting for a response from me. We have been traveling around visiting family since we left the Valley and not much time for the PC.

GGS paid us $125/day when there was NO rig on site or the same with ONE rig on the site. Then they paid us an additional $50/day for each additional drilling rig on the ranch. At one time, we had 4, yes FOUR rigs drilling on the ranch and we made $125+50+50+50=$275/day for over a month. That was a very good pay month (about $8250). Little by little the rigs left until there were none and pay was back to $125. When we left there were 2 rigs so that was $175/day.

You just DO NOT know what will happen on any gate guarding gig so always plan on the lowest and if you can live with that then all else is gravy. You just cannot be guaranteed, by GGS or anyone else, what will happen on a ranch. It mostly depends on the Oil company and their plans for that lease. While we had 4 rigs and better than 400 vehicles in and then out again a DAY other gate guarders had ONE vehicle a day. You never know.

We are going back to the same ranch that we left at the end of February. We were gate guards then but this time the ranch owner has hired me/us to be his ranch manager for a few weeks while he travels out of the country on business (I know more about the operations with the oil company than he does). We will live in his home while he is away and be paid $200/day with everything provided. You never know what kind of an opportunity will arise IF you do your job real well and meet the right people. Always be nice to everyone...Everyone.

Good luck to you all.

 

Phil and Rudee,

We are just wondering if you guys are still interested in meeting. If so, we can meet Tuesday, Thursday or Friday of next week. Breakfast, or lunch, at Cracker Barrel??? Our treat! Just let us know if you are still interested and what would be convenient for you guys.

Wayne & Vickie