Freedom Oilfield Services, Inc. – More than just an oilfield company.
For 22 years, Joey Austin, Art Holt and Brian Radke worked side by side in the oilfield industry of Wyoming. They learned the work and experienced the boom and bust cycle of the industry. They realized that after over 2 decades of working together, they had developed the knowledge and skill they needed to start their own venture. In 2002, they founded Freedom Oilfield Services, Inc.
Although the current industry is in a downturn, Freedom continues to thrive with locations in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Killdeer, North Dakota, and a diverse array of services. Two key factors have been the management team Freedom’s owners have put around themselves and a focus on employee relations. Another key is the willingness to adapt to a changing industry and customers’ needs by adding equipment and services.
Freedom started as a one-truck operation, initially focusing on water hauling. At first, they serviced only the area around their home base of Rock Springs, Wyoming. In 2009, the company expanded operations into Pennsylvania. But it didn’t take long before Freedom abandoned its East Coast shop, taking away valuable lessons to help break into North Dakota in 2010.
Now, between the two locations, Freedom has 27 employees and provides a variety of services in addition to water hauling, such as heating, hot oiling, equipment hauling, and commercial and residential propane delivery. The company has expanded its fleet to add belly dumps and a side dump to assist with hauling for construction projects. Today, the owners maintain a bird’s eye view of the business while the management team runs the day-to-day operations.
Like any oilfield services company, Freedom has been affected by the industry downturn and COVID-19 pandemic. The company had to restructure, but Freedom’s gradual-growth approach has taken advantage of the highs while not becoming overly depleted by the lows. As Freedom gains customers and those customers need different services, the company adds equipment and employees to meet those needs. Any debt is paid off quickly and expenses are kept in check without sacrificing the high-quality customer service Freedom strives for with its customers. The water haulers work seven days a week, year-round, transporting both production water, fresh water and potable water in Wyoming and surrounding area oilfields. Propane delivery has expanded to service residential and commercial customers in Rock Springs, Green River, Farson, Superior and Boulder, as well as infield deliveries. Construction hauling allows for seasonal work through the summer. This ability to expand into other avenues, such as construction and propane delivery, in addition to the water hauling, has allowed Freedom to remain healthy, particularly with the current downturn and pandemic.
Freedom considers its employees to be the cornerstone of the business and strives to maintain stable schedules for employees and focuses on maintaining compensation levels even during downturns in the industry. Freedom provides a competitive compensation package that includes company-sponsored health insurance, life insurance and paid time off. The company also constantly looks for other perks that can be offered to employees. For example, there is a PPE reimbursement program that allows employees to choose their own safety gear rather than just being provided PPE by the company. In recent years, Freedom has also matched employees’ contributions to 401(K) plans by up to 100 percent. Freedom puts an emphasis on maintaining open lines of communication throughout the company from employees all the way to the ownership. This helps ensure that employee needs are being met.
Freedom’s philosophy is to hire employees with good attitudes that they’ll pass on to customers. Maintaining a good reputation with customers has been important for Freedom having a consistent workload despite typical industry fluctuations. Their first customers from 2002 are still with them today. This speaks to the excellent service provided by Freedom’s drivers.
Moving forward, the big question in the energy sector is: will there be another boom? That’s the tough question for the industry, and one without an answer. But with decades of experience in oil, gas and trucking, and a proven ability to pivot to meet customers’ needs and diversify services for other industries, Freedom is positioned for success. Freedom’s great management team and excellent team of drivers will keep this company going strong and they are excited to celebrate 20 years in business in 2022!
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