Frac sand

Frac sand: Frac sand is the high-purity sand pumped into oil and gas wells during hydraulic fracturing to hold the cracks in the rock open. It moves from mines and transload yards to well sites in pneumatic dry bulk trailers, belly dumps and container systems, often in high volumes during busy drilling periods.

How frac sand moves

Sand travels by rail from mines to transload yards near the oilfields, then by truck to the well pads, or directly by truck from mines close to the fields. Pneumatic trailers unload with air into silos on site; belly dumps and end dumps drop it into conveyors; container systems swap boxes at the pad. A frac job uses large amounts of sand over days, so trucks run in steady loops between the yard and the pad.

Weight and size

Sand is heavy, so frac sand trucks reach the weight limit long before the trailer is full. On the Interstate, 80,000 lb gross and the bridge formula govern. Source Many oilfield states allow heavier loads on state roads under their own rules or permits, so the legal payload depends on the route. Lease roads to well pads are often unpaved and slow.

In practice EXAMPLE

A pneumatic hauler runs sand from a transload yard to a pad 60 miles away, four loads a day, unloading each into a silo with the trailer's blower. The load scales at the yard before each run. A busy completion crew keeps the trucks moving around the clock until the job ends, then the work shifts to the next pad or slows down. Check dimensions for oversized equipment with the oversize load checker, and see grain trucks for a similar dry bulk trade.

Busy seasons and slow ones

Frac sand hauling rises and falls with drilling and completion activity, which follows oil and gas prices. When completions are busy, trucks can run around the clock and good drivers are in demand; when activity slows, work can drop quickly. Carriers in this trade watch rig counts and completion schedules, keep fixed costs flexible, and look for other dry bulk work, such as cement, flour or plastic pellets, that uses the same pneumatic trailers.