Two months ago in this space, I talked about questions — stupid questions, to be specific. Go ahead, ask your stupid questions, I told people. And, employers, give your crews the latitude to ask even basic questions.

This month, I want to talk about answers. National Driller has partnered with frequent contributor and global drill trainer Brock Yordy to develop a new video series. Ask Brock is a question and answer format. You have questions. Brock has answers — at least on drilling-related topics. 

As we started putting together questions from social media and elsewhere to get started, a few themes emerged:

• Safety
• Drilling challenges
• Growing/diversifying a drilling business
• Working as a team

Several questions fell into each of these broad categories, giving us a guide for which areas to tackle first. Check out our first episodes of Ask Brock at www.thedriller.com/askbrock. By the time you read this, there should be a handful of episodes.

Wait. Who’s this Brock Guy?

Good question. Brock Yordy’s day job is as business development manager for Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Midwest GeoDrill. Beyond that, he has trained drillers all over the world in a variety of drilling techniques. In 2009, he was involved with the designing the drill plan for the first phase of the massive Ball State Geothermal Project. In 2010, he developed the water well training programs for the U.S. military. He’s been around drilling for years, having grown up in his dad’s west Michigan drilling company. And, he’s contributed articles and images to National Driller for years.

So, if you have a drilling question, he’s a pretty good guy to ask. 

Coming Attractions

We’ve already talked about winterizing equipment (in late April, no less). We’ve tackled staying true to family business roots while also embracing new methods and technology. We’ve gotten advice on how to keep our hands (and other parts) injury-free.

So, what’s in store? Coming episodes feature mud pump purchasing advice and tailgate meeting best practices. We’ll cover drilling in clays and shales, and in floodplains. We’ll talk about developing wells and developing lasting employees. We’ll hear about building a good drilling team. We’ll discuss a little bit of everything involved in being a successful driller and contractor.

That’s kind of the point of all this. Questions are out there. Big ones. Little Ones. Smart ones. Even, as I said in April, stupid ones. But they all need to be asked. After all, asking is the first step to learning something new.

How Do I Ask Brock?

This is all fine and good, you’re thinking, but what good is it to me if I can’t ask my question? Valid question, we say. We’ll make this easy. Send an email to brock@globaldrilltraining.com. If you want to get fancy, put “Ask Brock” in the subject line. Make it a short question, maybe a sentence or two. Let us know if we can use your name (or how you’d like us to refer to you). That’s it.

We don’t have the time to put every question on video. I wish we could. But we’ll pick through what we get for ones that are common, particularly interesting or otherwise stand out. Those lucky ones get featured on an upcoming episode. Sound like a deal?

What have you got to lose? Go ahead, Ask Brock.

Stay safe out there, drillers.