Tower cranes can be huge and, in most cases, cannot be moved under their own power. In fact, almost all tower cranes are nothing more than giant Meccano sets with each crane put together on site. Anything up to a dozen flatbed trailers are used to bring in all the parts, all carefully laid out and ready for assembling. Who does the grunt work? Mobile Cranes.

It has to be one of the most interesting jobs on a work site. Slowly lifting each piece of a giant Meccano set into place while riggers and engineers slowly build that tower crane. Of course, when the job is done, it will require another mobile crane to come in and slowly take the tower crane apart again. With some large construction sites taking up to 12 months (and longer) to complete, operators and workers rely on that tower crane to be perfectly put together.

That is only one role of a mobile crane, and a challenging one at that. Wherever there are heavy objects that require lifting, you’re likely to find a mobile crane. Mobile cranes range in size from fairly small vehicles to large vehicles that equal or exceed the length of many semi-trailer rigs. Because of their size, mobile crane operators are also required to hold a commercial drivers license (CDL).

Mobile crane operator training can be undertaken over three weeks. This will provide operators with the skills and knowledge for entry-level work as mobile crane operators. In today’s workforce, crane operators are also required to undertake a certification process that demonstrates their knowledge of cranes, particularly when it comes to safety knowledge and the safe operation of a crane. If building tower cranes from giant pieces of Meccano appeals to you, consider undertaking crane operator training – the pay’s good and the work is always challenging.

Is there a clear definition of heavy equipment in today’s workplace? According to Wikipedia, heavy equipment is defined as:

…. heavy-duty vehicles, specially designed for executing construction tasks, most frequently, ones involving earthwork operations. They are also known as, construction equipment, construction plant, earth movers, engineering vehicles, or simply equipment. They usually comprise five equipment systems: implement, traction, structure, power train, control and information.

Now that’s quite a definition, especially the latter part which names the equipment systems. What should be noted is that the word ‘heavy’ is not mentioned in reference to weight. In fact, weight is not the issue in today’s workforce as can be seen by the use of skid steer loaders and mini excavators. While relatively lightweight, they are still classified as heavy equipment. Generally speaking, the follow vehicles are typical of what could be described as heavy equipment:

• Backhoes
• Wheel Loaders
• Scrapers
• Excavators
• Bulldozers
• Road Graders
• Rock Trucks
• Skid Steers
• All-Terrain Forklifts

These range in size from small vehicles up to massive vehicles (if you can still call them a vehicle) the size of small buildings, often used in the open cut mining industry. You should see the size of the dump trucks that are used alongside them – a single wheel stands almost twice as tall as most people and requires a special forklift when a tire change is required.

Size is irrelevant when it comes to determining heavy equipment. What is interesting is that training for a mini excavator is virtually the same as training for a standard excavator and for one of the giants used in the mining industry. Training is the key to using this equipment. If you are interested in heavy equipment as a career, then start by gaining your skills through a reputable heavy equipment training organization. That way you will be sure of having all the base skills required to launch a successful career as a heavy equipment operator.

If you are wondering whether or not truck driving had a future – wonder no more. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, truck driving is at number thirteen in their list of the careers with the largest growth expectations. The BLS statistics put growth at 13%, which effectively equals 233,000 new truck driving jobs. Before you get too excited, these are ten year figures so the actual annual growth rate is around 23,300.

Now, consider one other fact – over 5% of the truck driving workforce is either moving on or retiring each year, so those number of new drivers each year suddenly explodes. With a workforce of 1.8 million drivers, the number of drivers required to replace those leaving the industry is approximately 90,000 – per year. Now you can get excited because that represents 100,000 new truck drivers needed each year until 2018.

Realistically, you could say that each state needs around 2,000 new truck drivers each year. That’s still a lot of drivers that need to be trained, licensed, and given experience. The one thing that ATS is renown for is providing the trucking industry with drivers that are well trained and ready for employment. We have a database with thousands of employers, many of whom are looking for new drivers on a regular basis.

If you have ever had a dream to drive trucks, either locally, intrastate, or interstate, then now could be a good time to start your truck driver training. Truck driver jobs generally peak in early summer and with training only requiring three weeks of your time, you could be trained, licensed, and ready to roll, just when employers are reaching out to take on new drivers.

There are only three things between you and a heavy equipment career. Desire, training, and a job. When it comes to desire, that’s between you and your inner self. When it comes to training, ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can have you trained and ready for work in three weeks. That just leaves finding that first job. We’ve even got you covered with that.

The moment you start your heavy equipment training at ATS, we’re working with you to try and find that first job. Our aim is not to just pump out work-ready heavy equipment graduates. Our aim is to help people to build a new career as heavy equipment operators. That career doesn’t start with your training. It starts with your first job.

At ATS, we have staff members dedicated to helping our graduates find work. Our career services personnel work with students, first by identifying what their work preferences are, particularly when it comes to region and type of employment. We also assist students to build a resume that best represents them to employees. Finally, we sift through our database of employees, and we have thousands of potential employees in our database, in order to match graduates with potential employees based on their preferences.

This is a complete service that works hand in hand with graduates in order to give them a head start into a career. We’re not satisfied until you have become established in a job that matches your training. We have over sixty years of training experience and a reputation that is second to none when it comes to heavy equipment training. If you’re interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, take a look at what we have to offer. All you need now is to find that desire.

It’s hard to imagine two completely different pieces of heavy equipment coming together to make one. Yet, for a backhoe, the combination works extremely well. Backhoes combing the nimble work of a loader with the grunt that excavator provides when digging trenches. As a piece of machinery, the backhoe looks to be an ugly awkward beast. I once made the comment that a backhoe looked like a deformed scorpion – it ‘s a reasonable description. Fortunately, they come with the sting.

Naturally, when you combine two different machines into one, that generally requires two sets of skills. For the backhoe, an operator needs to be competent at working as a loader, steadily filling trucks, or perhaps carting materials around in its scoop. The operator also needs to be competent at working as an excavator operator. This means knowing the digging limits of your machine. It also means knowing how to change and use the wide variety of optional tools associated with a backhoe.

Although a backhoe requires two sets of skills to be an effective operator, these skills are not difficult to learn, especially if you attend a well respected heavy equipment training provider. Backhoes, excavators, and loaders are amongst the skills available through a comprehensive training program, and these skills will help to establish you in a career as a backhoe operator. Backhoe careers are reasonably well paid and demand is slowly on the rise. Do you have what it takes to master two pieces of heavy equipment?

We often talk about working as a truck driver, and to do so, obtaining a commercial drivers license, also known as CDL. But what exactly is a CDL? As the name suggests, it is a drivers license that is required by those who wish to driver commercial vehicles. I know that sounds a little lame – however, it’s the definition of a commercial vehicle that should be of interest.

A commercial drivers license is generally available in three classes – A, B, and C. The Class A Commercial Drivers License allows the holder to drive any size truck. A commercial drivers license is obtained by passing a written test related to road rules, highway safety, and the different parts of a truck, and by passing a series of driving maneuvers in a vehicle similar in size to the one you intend operating. The Class B CDL has size restrictions while a Class C is for vehicles that are not covered by the A or B classes. In some cases, CDL holders are required to obtain special endorsements. These endorsements require a driver to pass further written tests, however, if successful, will allow them to operate vehicles related to that endorsement. Endorsements cover passenger buses, hazardous materials, and for double or triple semi-trailers.

Now that you know what a CDL is, and what vehicles are covered, the question related to why you should obtain one is almost self explanatory. If you want to work as a truck driver, for example, then you will need to obtain a CDL. If you want to drive interstate double semi-trailers, then you will need the endorsement related to double semis (T endorsement). Unless you have experience driving large trucks, know the road rules as they apply to trucks, and can describe the various parts of a truck, you are going to require truck driver training prior to attempting the required tests. Truck driver training – now that’s an area we can definitely help you with.

The new OSHA Crane Mandate makes it compulsory for employers to ensure that all riggers meet the minimum standards set down for this position. This means that all riggers must be either qualified or certified as riggers – employing riggers that don’t meet these standards could lead to significant fines. ATS Crane Operator Schools are now conducting training programs that can help employers bring their riggers up to these new standards.

For employers looking to qualify their employees, ATS offers training that:

• Meets OSHA qualification standard for rigging,
• Includes written and practical training and testing,
• Can be completed in 8 to 12 hours depending on number of candidates, and
• Qualifies employees – compliance cards are issued by Associated Training Services upon successful completion.

If you are looking to provide your employees with a certification training program then we offer training that:

• Exceeds OSHA qualification standard for rigging,
• Includes written and practical training and testing,
• Is completed in 32 to 36 hours (4 days) depending on number of candidates,
• Certifies employees – certification issued by National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), and
• Provides NCCCO Rigging Level One Certifications.

Safety is the primary aim of this new standard and it has been introduced because of the number of accidents that have occurred in recent years. The aim is to reduce the number of accidents, in particular the number of deaths and serious injury that occurs in construction each year.

To assist employers to quickly update their employees’ skills, ATS can arrange to deliver rigger training and testing at your workplace if required. This can make training much easier for your employees as they are on familiar soil and around equipment they see and use on a daily basis. This new mandate is not an option – it’s compulsory. If you require help to ensure your employees comply, contact us now – we’re ready to help.

If you’re a former heavy equipment operator who has been out of the business for several years, you would be surprised at how many technological changes there have been. GPS and laser technology is used in some equipment whilst many others have converted to computerized controls, especially in equipment like graders where fine degrees of accuracy are required in blade placements. In many cases, an operator from ten years ago could still operate this equipment – for others, refreshing your skills certainly wouldn’t go astray.

Where former operators may struggle is in the current safety knowledge requirements. Twenty years ago, operating heavy equipment was virtually seat-of-the-pants stuff. If you knew of short cuts, you took them, irrespective of the dangers. Safety regulations are such that seat-of-the-pants operating styles are no longer tolerated on any work site – in fact, employers and employees could be fined heavily if caught in the act.

Heavy equipment technology has certain brought this machinery into the 21st Century. Operators are now highly skilled in this modern technology, and because of that, they are much safer operators. The field of heavy equipment is now well paid in comparison to many other careers, and could be a viable choice for anyone who has worked in this field before. A short three week heavy equipment training program can help you to renew your operational skills, introduce you to some of the latest technology, and provide you with the knowledge you need under workplace safety legislation.

If you were once a highly skilled and in demand heavy equipment operator, there is no reason why you can’t be again. Heavy equipment technology has advanced, but at the end of the day, heavy equipment is still doing that same old task – digging, pushing, and carrying dirt.

Heavy equipment have long had a reputation for being gas-guzzling machinery that belched huge quantities of noxious black smoke into the air. That reputation is a little unfair in this day and age, especially when you consider emission controls that have been placed on all vehicles over the years. Manufacturers have gone further, making new heavy equipment more fuel efficient and capable of running on blended renewable fuels. The very latest equipment runs totally on renewable energies.

However, I said that heavy equipment is going green in more ways than one – and it is. Reducing carbon emissions is one half of the equation. The other half is rebuilding our landscape so that it can grow native vegetation – the lungs that help to clear our air of carbon and other pollutants. Heavy equipment, particularly equipment that is itself environmentally friendly, is being used more and more to help rebuild that landscape.

Add to this President Obama’s Green Job’s Initiative, an initiative designed to fund green projects in the construction industry, and you have a future career that’s going green. This green initiative will go beyond just heavy equipment – we are already starting to see environmentally friendly trucks being used in some green projects – this is opening the way for new truck drivers to enter the trade (which makes it a good time to investigate truck driver training).

Cranes, in particular mobile cranes, are also being used, both in green construction projections, and as part of clean-up crews – especially when old wrecked cars are found in environmentally sensitive locations. Cranes can lift heavy material out of these areas rather than dragging them through and creating more damage. Undertaking crane operator training, or the broader-based heavy equipment operator training provides graduates with the skills necessary to become a part of the greening of our country. So who wants a well-paid environmentally friendly job?

Certified crane operators are well paid when compared to many other heavy equipment operator positions. In fact, if you were to compare the hours of training required to become certified to many other positions (of any skill), certified crane operators come out well on top. Training to become a crane operator can take as little as three weeks – now, compare that to some occupations that take a minimum of six, twelve, or more months.

Mobile crane operators can also look forward to a position that involves a lot of variety. Mobile cranes don’t often stay long in the one place doing the one job repetitively. It’s not unusual for a mobile crane operator to do two or three different jobs in two or three different sites, all on the one day. If there is a down side to being a mobile crane operator, it is the fact that you could be called out in the middle of the night for an emergency. Don’t worry, it doesn’t happen that often, and it only applies to operators who have made themselves available for that task.

ATS Crane Operator Schools are one of the nation’s oldest crane operator training schools. Our three-week training program includes both in-class and in-the-seat training. This training is comprehensive and will cover all the areas required for a graduate to successfully complete their certification assessment following training. Certification is becoming a requirement in most states so employers are not longer willing to employ operators without this certification.

If you are looking for a well-paid job, a job where you can be trained and in the workforce quickly, then consider becoming a certified crane operator.