Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation wants to connect qualified residents with commercial driver’s licenses to employment through Port Arthur LNG.

The liquefied natural gas company and Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals Inc. recently announced a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Port Arthur LNG liquefaction project. It is estimated the workforce will peak at 5,000 construction jobs, including “several hundred additional Texas jobs in support of the project,” according to a news release.

Anyone who lives in Port Arthur and has a CDL and/or owns a commercial truck is invited to apply, Port Arthur EDC Deputy Director George Davis said.

“What we’re trying to do, we’re hearing there’s an estimate of 140 truck jobs, basically, that’s about to become available in the second quarter,” Davis said. “Our thing, of course as the EDC, is we want to put Port Arthur residents to work. … We’re just trying to stack the deck with Port Arthur residents.”

The work will involve hauling dirt and unsuitable material to the city’s sanitary landfill, according to a letter sent to licensed truck drivers. The first phase of the work is scheduled for approximately eight months beginning in the second quarter of this year, or April 1-June 30.

The EDC also announced Trucker District LLC is a third party interested in helping with the work and looking for qualified local truck drivers and carriers.

Driver/carrier requirements

Requirements for drivers and carriers include: at least two years’ experience driving a tractor trailer or dump truck within the last five years; at least one year of experience in local plant facilities and/or construction sites; no more than two preventable motor vehicle accidents in the last three years (a copy of the police reports for all accidents must be presented with the application); each driver must be 23 or older; submittal of a complete DOT-approved physical and drug screen prior to starting work on the site; and a valid CDL and knowledge of all facets of tractor operation, including connecting of tractors to trailers and disconnecting and securing of the vehicle and freight.

Carrier insurance

Carriers are required to have general liability insurance including: $1 million combined single limit of body injury and property damage each occurrence; $1 million personal injury limit each occurrence; $2 million products completed operation aggregate limit; $2 million general annual aggregate limit; and $1 million commercial automobile liability insurance.

How to apply

Qualifications/required documents may be sent to Port Arthur EDC CEO Floyd Batiste, 501 Procter Street, Suite 100, Port Arthur, TX 77640, or via email to fbatiste@paedc.org. Applicants are asked to send documents necessary for processing with insurance in accordance with the following information:

• Company name;
• MC and DOT number;
• Each truck to submit including (a) year, make and model of the truck; (b) license plate information and truck description; (c) a copy of each truck vehicle license; (d) vehicle identification number, or VIN, for each truck; (e) last inspection date for each truck with the inspection report attached; (f) the name of the drivers who will work with the corresponding truck, and (g) a copy of the CDL of each driver working.

Port Arthur LNG

Port Arthur LNG’s liquefaction project will help to provide overseas markets with cleaner fuel alternatives, Sempra CEO Jeffrey W. Martin said last week.

The development project will initially include two liquefaction trains, two LNG storage tanks, a marine berth, associated loading facilities and related infrastructure necessary to provide liquefaction services, with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG. The project is contingent upon obtaining additional customer commitments and a final investment decision expected in the third quarter of this year, among other factors.