Trailer Service Needed | Video

Alex Hagan | 10/29/2012

Western North Dakota doesn`t have smooth paved roads everywhere. Rigs and wells are all located on bumpy gravel roads that can damage tankers and trailers. When those 18 wheelers break down, they need to be fixed and that means good business for one repair shop in Dickinson.

Traffic is booming, like everything else, in western North Dakota. Oil tankers dominate both paved and gravel roads and that can lead to lots of break downs. J and J`s in Dickinson has been the answer for many oil companies who need a quick fix.

"Everything is always going to break down out there in the oil field and on the roads so you want some place where you can get parts and this is a good place," said Glen Lohman with Dusty Roads Transport.

Parts on crude oil tankers wear out pretty fast in oil country. Drivers routinely change out valves and springs.

"The roads are really bad out there in the oil field and the suspension parts on these trailers doesn`t take long to wear them out," said J and J`s general manager Clarence Frank.

This shop has become the life-line for many energy companies....

"So many companies out there that rely on us for service that we deal with daily," Frank said.

J and J`s only has eight mechanics and five stalls to work in. Oil companies are bringing in broken down trailers that need to be fixed as soon as possible.

"There`s a lot of pressure to get stuff done. People want it yesterday, so we do our best we can to get it in and out," said service manager Randy Eyzewski.

Time is money in the oil industry and at J and J`s they have repair orders that are backed up more than one month.

"There`s times where we could have six or eight jobs coming daily, but we have to take them one by one," Frank said.

But employees say they are trying to stay ahead repair orders and make sure they have more than enough inventory.

"We try to keep everything stocked up heavy so we always have the product on hand," Frank said.

Companies have been coming to J and J`s since the last boom in the 80`s and would not go anywhere else for parts and repairs.

"You want to be able to get a hold of somebody and at best figure out the time frame of how long it is that you will be down and when will you be up and going again," Lohman said.

The oil industry doesn`t ever take a day off and J and J`s is doing everything they can to make sure companies don`t break down.

The majority of J and J`s business comes from oil companies such as MBI Energy services and Haliburton. Employees say sales have tripled since the boom started.

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