Estevan鈥� When it came time to pick a company name, the Wigley鈥檚 turned to something they knew well. 鈥淲eatherby rifles is how that came to be,鈥� said Dean Wigley, who owns and operates the company with his wife Christie.
Christie was a hair dresser for many years before she switched gears and began cleaning shacks for the shack rental company Dean had worked for. They had employees cleaning shacks at the time, and needed to set up a company name. It was bird season, and Dean looked over to his shotgun and said, 鈥淲hy not Weatherby? It works.鈥�
Weatherby Oilfield Services Ltd. is a one-truck outfit, but, as Dean said, 鈥淚 take on lease operators as I need them.鈥�
As of early July they had four leased operators on board. All the trucks are winch trucks, and all are tandem drive.
Dean said much of their work is moving shacks, 400 barrel tanks, centrifuges, shale bins and floc tanks. Shack hauling is the bulk of the work. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 wat we strive for, I guess,鈥� he said.
Dean has been working in the oilfield for 18 years, and Weatherby has been around for four. Those 18 years included hauling pipe and then moving, servicing and managing shacks for two rental companies and another larger trucking company.
鈥淭he evolution was to buy one (a truck), so we did. When you鈥檝e got the house, the truck and the dog financed, you hope the phone rings,鈥� Dean said.
Well, sort of.
Christie added, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 even have a dog!鈥�
They bought their own truck in January. 鈥淚 was contract driving before that,鈥� Dean said.聽聽
鈥淚 do almost everything but drive the truck,鈥� Christie said. That includes safety, payroll, admin and handling COR audits. The company is SECOR certified, and is listed with Complyworks.
Christie also works with H&R Block.
鈥淚 run pilot truck when they need it,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of where we want to be right now, but we are definitely thinking of adding another truck. Is it going to be busy enough to justify expanding?鈥� Dean said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty dependent on drilling.鈥�
Christie noted they were no longer seeing 250 billable hours a month, but it still pays.
鈥淲e definitely had to do a rate adjustment,鈥� Dean added. It helps that diesel prices came down.
Dean was born and raised in Edmonton and came to Estevan at the age of 19. Christie was born and raised in Estevan. The couple have been married 17 years, and have two sons.聽
