Oxbow 鈥� Asked how things are going, Trevor Spearing, of Extreme Excavating summed it up in one word: 鈥淪ucks.鈥�
He then followed up with, 鈥淪low, slow, slow.鈥�
The Oxbow-based hydrovac company had built its fleet up to 12 trucks for a while. They鈥檙e now down to eight. 鈥淚t would be four if we could get some money for them,鈥� Spearing said.聽
They traded in three old units for one new one, downsizing but updating the fleet at the same time.聽
Being a hydrovac company, it鈥檚 very important to keep your fleet in a heated building. But now there are fewer trucks in it.
In 2015, he said they were alright. 鈥淲e were alright until late November. It wasn鈥檛 busy. We had been busy until the end of April. But In June and July, no one does anything here in the patch anymore.鈥�
That鈥檚 been a longstanding issues, with many oil companies shutting down operations in the early summer because of wet ground conditions that had persisted ever since the flood year of 2011. But 2015 was no flood year, and in fact it was one of the best years in recent memory for doing dirt work and drilling. The problem is, no one was spending much money due to the oil shock.
So the company started to downsize. Spearing explained, 鈥淢ost of the East Coast folks went home. One Newfie has stuck it out. We had six to eight, from Ontario to Newfoundland. One Nova Scotian moved his family here, so I consider him local now.鈥�
He鈥檚 also still working.
Lots of people in the business went home, he said. 聽聽
As for 2015, he said on Jan. 21, 鈥淪o far, it doesn鈥檛 sound very good, not from the people I鈥檝e spoken with. There will still be die-hard stuff like integrity digs.
鈥淲ith the price of oil, I don鈥檛 think you鈥檒l be doing a lot of flowlining for anybody else.鈥�
There鈥檚 been a 鈥渂ig-time drop-off,鈥� he noted, adding that most of what he鈥檚 seen has been from prior commitments.聽
That sort of work 鈥� pipelines 鈥� is the bread and butter of hydrovac companies, since all underground lines must be 鈥渄aylighted,鈥� before any excavation can begin. Fifty to 60 per cent of their work is pipeline related.聽
鈥淲e needed a price correction in the oilpatch to get rid of the riff raff, but not a year-and-a-half. Who knows how long it鈥檚 going to last?鈥� he questioned, adding this has been going on since 2014.聽
Even their utlity work has dropped off. 鈥淪askPower is probably as caught up as they鈥檝e ever been,鈥� he noted.聽
Spearing has seen slowdowns before. He grew up in the business, finally taking over trucking company Spearing Service Ltd. before eventually selling it.聽
As for this slowdown, he said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 the worse I鈥檝e seen for a shutdown or slowdown. I鈥檝e never seen it as slow or as cutthroat as it is. Oil companies are asking for 35 to 40 per cent discounts. If I was making a 40 per cent profit, I wouldn鈥檛 be here!鈥�
For those younger people who may have overspent and racked up a lot of debt, Spearing said, 鈥淚 feel sorry for some young people maxed out to the nines, thinking it鈥檚 never going to stop.鈥�
It will be hard to find a workforce to come back when things do turn around, he added.聽
鈥淚t took nine years to get to this point, and (we) let a lot of it go.聽
鈥淚n April 2015, I had 30 employees. I鈥檓 down to eight right now,鈥� Spearing said.聽
