The role of trucking in supporting New Mexico’s oil and gas industry

Oct. 7, 2025, 5:33 p.m.
Here’s a detailed look at the role trucking plays in supporting New Mexico’s oil & gas industry — the functions it serves, the challenges it faces, and some emerging trends. If you like, I can also outline policy or technological innovations that might improve efficiency in this area.
The role of trucking in supporting New Mexico’s oil and gas industry

The Role of Trucking in NM’s Oil & Gas Sector

Trucking is a backbone of nearly all phases of oil & gas development. In New Mexico (especially in the Permian and Delaware Basins), trucking supports upstream, midstream, and even downstream activities through a variety of essential services. Key roles include:

  1. Transport of Fluids (Water, Brine, Produced Water, etc.)

    • Fresh water, saline water, flowback water, and produced water all need to be moved to/from drilling, completion, production, and disposal sites. When pipelines aren’t available or practical, trucks are used.  

    • Water is a major input for hydraulic fracturing, and controlling water supply and removal is logistic-intensive.

  2. Proppant / Sand Hauling

    • Proppant (e.g. sand) is needed in large quantities for fracking operations. Trucks haul sand from mines, storage, or rail terminals to blending sites or directly to well pads. 

    • For example, the “Dune Express” conveyor system (running partly into New Mexico) was built in part to reduce the reliance on trucks for sand deliveries.  

  3. Transport of Heavy Equipment, Materials, and Infrastructure Supplies

    • Each well requires drill rigs, pipes, casing, steel components, chemicals, pumps, etc. Access roads, well pads, containment facilities, and storage tanks need to be built. Many of these elements depend on trucking.  

    • In remote or rugged terrain, trucking is often the only way to move large components and supplies.

  4. Disposal, Reclamation, and Support Services

    • Trucking handles transport of waste products (drilling cuttings, waste fluids), materials for reclamation, and sometimes equipment for environmental mitigation.  

    • Specialized trucking services (like kill trucks, winch trucks, vacuum trucks) are necessary.  

  5. Workforce / Operational Support

    • Trucks deliver fuel, chemicals, operator personnel, tools and smaller supplies to remote well sites. They also haul infrastructure for mobile operations (e.g., temporary housing, communications, power trailers).  

  6. Economic and Employment Contribution

    • Trucking constitutes a substantial portion of the local supply chain employment in NM oil & gas. Companies like Triple S Trucking, Lobo Trucking, etc., are major employers.  

    • Investment in driver training is growing (e.g., expansion of CDL programs in Hobbs to increase qualified drivers) in response to demand.  

Key Challenges

Although essential, trucking in the NM oil & gas sector faces a number of difficulties. Some of the main ones:

  • Road wear & infrastructure strain
    Heavy trucks moving fluids, sand, pipes, etc., put stress on rural roads. Maintaining and upgrading these roads is expensive.

  • Cost of fuel, labor, equipment
    Fuel, maintenance, insurance, environmental compliance, and the need for specialized equipment (e.g., tanks, vacuum trucks) add to costs.

  • Skilled labor shortages
    There is a high demand for trained drivers and specialized operators. Delays or bottlenecks can occur when capacity is limited. The CDL-training program expansions are a response to this.  

  • Environmental risks and regulations
    Spills/leaks during transport, emissions from heavy diesel vehicles, regulatory requirements for hazardous materials, and stricter rules (for example for produced water transport) add both complexity and cost.  

  • Logistics complexity
    Coordinating timings of sand, water, rigs, and other supplies so that operations are not delayed is nontrivial. Unpredictable access (due to weather, road conditions) makes things harder.

  • Sustainability & emissions pressures
    As public concern and regulatory pressure increase, there is more focus on cleaner technologies (e.g. electric vehicles, lower-emission trucks) which may require infrastructure changes.  

Recent or Emerging Trends

A few developments are shifting how trucking is used, or potentially reducing its role in some contexts:

  • Use of pipelines (permanent or temporary) for some water / produced water transport where feasible, to reduce trucking when distances are large. 

  • Conveyor systems like the Dune Express to move proppant (sand) more efficiently over certain distances, reducing truck traffic.  

  • Pilot programs for electric vehicles (EVs) in the truck fleet, especially for lighter work, or for site / field-office support.  

  • Autonomous / driverless trucking trials in the Permian Basin (including parts in New Mexico) for safer, more efficient delivery of materials like frac sand.  

  • Regulatory work and programs to improve safety, environmental performance, and workforce training. For example, rules for clean fuels, clean trucks, tracking of produced water transport, etc.  

Impacts

Some of the implications of trucking (both positive and negative) for New Mexico include:

  • Economic benefits: trucking supports jobs, local businesses, and is part of the tax base and state revenues via enabling oil & gas activity.  

  • Community health & environment: emissions, dust, noise, and road damage can affect local communities. Moves toward cleaner truck engines, EVs, and less reliance on trucks where pipelines/conveyors can substitute are relevant here.

  • Regulatory & infrastructure demands: state and local governments must invest in road maintenance, oversight, driver training, environmental oversight, safety rules.