There’s nothing like a natural disaster to alter the balance in industry. When it comes to heavy equipment, the clean up following a natural disaster can really test the industry. Who has the greatest need – the road crew that is busy trying to finish a highway before winter sets in, or those who have suffered a lot of damage caused by the disaster? Irene is having a similar effect with heavy equipment operators, and often their equipment as well, putting their hands up to help with the clean-up.

What we do know is that the ranks of experienced heavy equipment operators is already dropping and events such as Irene can create vacuums of skilled operators in other areas. The industry is constantly on the lookout for new operators, particularly those with skills across a range of machinery. If you have a commercial drivers license, your value to employers is further enhanced.

Many will claim a lack of employment opportunities for heavy equipment operators – the truth is far from it. Heavy equipment operators are always in demand and there are times when that demand is heavier in different parts of the country. There will probably not be a shortage of heavy equipment operators down the east coast right now, but there will be elsewhere as operators are drawn to the east coast.

One of the interesting aspects of a heavy equipment career is that it is well suited to those who like to move around a little. The demand fluctuates around the country depending on the time of the year, any natural events such as fire, storm and earthquake, and state and federal government road and bridge building programs. If you have the wander bug and would like a career that may well support it, then consider a career as a heavy equipment operator – it could take you around the world.

Mention the word heavy equipment operator and most people think of a big barreled hairy chest male, probably wearing a hard hat and a singlet. Soft skills – there’s nothing soft about a heavy equipment operator. Right? These days, that image is far from the truth – in fact, there are many women operating heavy equipment, but soft skills have nothing to do with being soft. Soft skills are those areas relating to how you interact with others.

In the workplace, soft skills include how you frame job applications and resumes, how you conduct yourself during interviews, how you work as part of a team and your interaction in that team, and can even include leadership skills. Do heavy equipment operators need these skills? If you’re new to the industry then they certainly won’t hurt. An old-but-still-relevant report from the University of Minnesota puts it quite clearly when it comes to work in general:

While jobs in today’s economy require that employees be able to solve problems, use technology, and be proficient in reading, writing, math, and speaking skills, it is the soft skills that seem to make the difference in whether or not an employer hires and keeps someone on the job (Bremer & Madzar, 1995; Rentner, 2001)

Research over the years has demonstrated that soft skills can improve job seeking success rates by anything up to 85%, which is understandable given the emphasis placed on training people how to apply for job vacancies to their best advantage. When it comes heavy equipment training, the core training is on operating heavy equipment and heavy equipment safety, however, if a training organization also offers soft skills training, don’t snub that training – it could make the difference between a successful heavy equipment career, and being on the wrong end of job application reject letters.

We’ve got quite a few heavy equipment job listings for you this week. We hope you’ll find something you can dig your teeth into.

• A reputable foliage company is looking for drivers. A presentation will be held at ATS in Sun Prairie, WI. For more details, call 800-383-7364.
• A presentation will also be given in Sun Prairie, WI for job offers by a national transportation company. Call 800-383-7364 for details.
• Dump truck drivers needed in Hartford, WI.
• Employers are looking for local drivers in Kansas.
• A company in Hammond, IN are hiring heavy equipment and crane operators.
• Want to learn manual and computerized grading. If you live in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, you now have a great heavy equipment opportunity.
• A company in Waukesha, WI is looking for heavy equipment operators.
• If you are a boom truck operator with a CDL-A license, you have an opportunity to deliver and set trusses in Mill Hall, PA. You can be home every day.
• If you are an excavator operator who knows how to operate drill attachments or want to learn, you can apply in Dallas, TX.
• A dairy farm in Kewaskum, WI is looking for CDL-A drivers to make deliveries in Southeastern Wisconsin.
• Contact ATS for a driving opportunity in Sun Prairie, WI. Call 800-383-7364.
• Another CDL opportunity is available through ATS in Sun Prairie, WI. Call 800-383-7364.
• A petroleum services company in Williston, ND is seeking CDL-A drivers to deliver equipment to oil fields. Hourly pay with lots of work.
• A railroad services company is hiring book truck operators in Madison, WI.
• There are also overseas opportunities in Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK, Russia, China, New Zealand, and Scotland. These include a broad range of opportunities.
• A national home improvement chain is seeking delivery drivers in three locations: Delavan, WI; Franklin, WI; and Browndeer, WI. Be home every night with benefits.

Find more heavy equipment and truck driving jobs through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools.

How safe are you in the workplace? Do you know what safety equipment is required in the workplace? For heavy equipment operators, working safely has several aspects and while protecting people and property in the vicinity of your work area is important, looking after your health safety is also important. Heavy equipment safety training includes being trained in the requirements and use of personal safety equipment. Some of this training can be completed in a training school while other aspects require on-the-job training, especially where equipment may be specific to that industry – mining is a good example of where industry-specific equipment could be required.

On construction sites, your personal safety equipment could include:

• Footwear such as steel capped work boots
• Hard hats
• Safety clothing, including special brightly colored fluorescent clothing when required
• Safety gloves, especially when working on the heavy equipment; for example, changing tools on backhoes
• Noise prevention and hearing protection
• And eye protection

Most construction sites forbid entry to anyone who is not wearing a hard hat and steel-toed work boots. Even safety inspectors need to meet these requirements before making an inspection. Workplace safety is an important issue and one that our legislators have worked on repeatedly over the years. Employers and employees can face severe fines if they do not meet minimum safety requirements, and, as they say, ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defense.

When undertaking heavy equipment training, be sure to check to see if heavy equipment safety is an important component. This doesn’t just relate to safety modules. It also relates to the reinforcement of safety issues while in the seat learning to operate equipment. Complete the right training and employers will be happy to hire you – if you don’t complete the right training, employers won’t give your application a second look.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not as difficult as it may seem. It takes around three weeks of quality organized training to have someone trained and ready for work. From there, you are on the road to a lifetime of learning – but then, that’s true of most professions. People often look at loaders and think, “they must be easy to operate.” The truth is, they are reasonably easy to learn, but it does take a skilled operator to get the best out of a loader.

The concept of a loader is fairly simple. Four wheels, often articulated in the middle, with a bucket at the front to carry dirt. Lower the bucket, drive forward, raise the bucket, turn around, and dump the lot into the back of a truck. It sounds so easy, yet the work itself is a lot more involved. Filling the bucket requires concentration and a sense of touch through the controls – if there are rocks, it’s time to back off.

Even raising the bucket and emptying the contents into a dump truck requires concentration, a good sense of where everyone and everything is (safety is imperative when operating heavy equipment), and a good judge of distance to ensure you are emptying into the dump truck and that you don’t collide with it as well. These may sound like simple skills, and over time they are, but they still need to be taught and they still need to be practiced.

Learning to operate a loader is not difficult. A comprehensive three week heavy equipment training program can have you in the seat ready to start work. You need to concentrate on building those skills, developing safe work habits, and getting jobs completed on time. If you can manage that, you’ll have a long and successful career as a loader operator.

Undertaking a training program to commence a new career is always a costly process. Some training programs are more costly that others, especially if you take into account the real costs of training. You could decide you wanted to become a doctor, but we all know that takes years of dedicated study and your income potential during that time is minimal – yet you still have to live. Even shorter training programs lasting only six to twelve months come with hidden costs. Your limited ability to earn during this time while still maintaining your normal life can be difficult. Is heavy equipment training the same?

The reality is a definite no! Unlike many other training programs, learning to operate heavy equipment can be achieved in as little as three weeks. On completion, you are ready for entry level employment in the industry as a heavy equipment operator – effectively, you are getting a return on your training investment very quickly. If you compare the wages of heavy equipment operators to many other careers, you will find that not only are you getting a quick return on your investment, your investment in heavy equipment training will be repaid quite quickly.

Since heavy equipment training is such a short program, you are not committing to a long period of learning with little in the way of income. You are also not struggling to find casual evening work to maintain you for six or twelve months (or more depending on the training). Heavy equipment training is short, sharp, and focused on developing skills in all the areas necessary to become a successful operator.

If you undertake your training through ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, we can help you arrange finance for your training, deliver high quality and well respected training, and provide a wide range of assistance to help you find that first job. If you assess the real costs of heavy equipment training, you’ll find they are far lower than many other training programs – and the reward is a great career once you have completed that training.

Short week this week for job listings, but that doesn’t mean the jobs we do have – or the job (singular) – isn’t important. Every job is important in the heavy equipment business.

This week, we’ve got a job from a respectable employer. It’s a trucking company with a national reputation and they offer great pay with benefits. Over the road.

If you like adventure, being away from home, seeing the country, and getting paid well for your efforts, then look up the ATS Heavy Equipment School and check out our heavy equipment job listings. We have a list of the best heavy equipment and truck driving jobs from the best employers in the industry.

There is a certain fascination with working as a crane operator. Everyone wants to reach the lofty heights of a highrise crane operator, and I do mean lofty heights. Some of those cranes “walk” their way up the building as it grows below them. The problem is, while it may seem to be an exciting career, there’s a certain monotony to the job. You spend the whole day lifting the same objects, often to the same place – there’s not a lot of variation of challenges in these positions. At least, until it’s time to move your crane.

One of the advantages that mobile crane operators have is variety. Because their crane is mobile, it can be sent around the region at a moments notice, and the range of jobs performed is endless. Think of a task where a heavy object requires a lift, and a mobile crane will most likely be called in (unless it’s a high rise building of course).

Mobile crane operators require several skills. They need to be truck drivers, since their crane is effectively mounted on a truck – this also requires a commercial drivers license. Mobile crane operators may also require rigging skills in order to set up their crane ready for use. Of course, they also require crane operating skills in order to do the actual task. Add to that record keeping skills that their employer requires to bill clients, and time management skills in order to complete tasks on time, and you have a highly skilled operator.

Training to become a mobile crane operator is not taxing and can be completed in as little as three weeks. Mobile crane operators are always in demand and they can attract good wages, especially those with plenty of experience. If you want a job that isn’t boring, is well paid, and can often offer challenging situations, consider a career as a mobile crane operator.

Heavy equipment operators are often in high demand, especially when major construction projects are scheduled. Taking that first step to becoming a heavy equipment operator is always tough. You need to justify the time and expense required to undertake heavy equipment operator training, and then there’s always the concern as to whether or not you will find a suitable job after graduating from that training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have tried to make that decision a little easier by offering as much help as possible. The one attribute that you need to bring is desire – if you want to be a heavy equipment operator, then there are many different ways of achieving that goal. Without desire, the urge to push on is not there and the temptation to quit at the first obstacle all too easy to take. If you have that desire to work with heavy equipment, then talk to us. We can help you achieve that goal in many different ways. Some areas where we offer direct assistance include:

• Free Heavy Equipment Training – Take a day to attend a free training session. This will help you decide if a heavy equipment career is really right for you.
• Financial Assistance – We can help you locate suitable funding sources. We are also eligible providers of training under several government programs including those designed for service personnel.
• Housing Assistance – We can help you with accommodation for the duration of your training. This saves on travel time and costs and places you close to the training school for easy access.
• Career Services – We have skilled career services personnel who can help you source suitable employers, create application letters and resumes, and provide advice on how to perform well at interviews.
• Free Jobs Site – ATS has a dedicated jobs site where employers can list job vacancies. You can include your resume on site to make it easier for employers to find you as well.
• Heavy Equipment Training – Once you have made that final decision, we can provide you with all the training required to prepare you for employment as a heavy equipment operator. This includes both classroom based training and in-the-seat operator training.

If you have the desire to become a heavy equipment operator, then we have all the tools and resources and training required to help you achieve that goal. All it takes is one toll free phone call to (800) 383-7364 and you’ve taken that first step.

One practice that has been around for a long time is that of relay truck driving. It’s a practice that can be traced back to the stage coach days where stage coach drivers would handle a team for 8-10 hours. Stage coach companies had way points dotted across the country and when a stage coach arrived, the team and the drivers where swapped over allowing the stage coach to continue on its way. The same process is used today, however, we don’t change the horses, just the drivers.

Relay truck driving jobs are ideal for those who don’t mind spending every second night away from home. The job requires a truck driver to take over a load and to drive for 8-10 hours before handing over to another driver. After a break from driving, the truck driver would then take over on the next truck heading towards their home town.

Some relay truck drivers take a permanent night shift while others do a permanent day shift. These jobs typically pay around the $20 per hour rate and you may be required to work six days per week. In most cases, you would work a regular route driving similar trucks with similar loads each day. This is a popular approach by some trucking companies as it keeps their rigs on the road for the maximum number of hours possible each day. In the trucking business, the vehicle is only earning money when its on the go – the moment it stops moving, it’s no longer earning an income.

Relay truck driving is just one of many different types of truck driving jobs. This type of truck driving generally involves large vehicles so a commercial drivers license is essential. Most trucking companies now prefer drivers that have been through a professional truck driver training program along the way to gaining their commercial drivers license. If relay truck driving, or any form of truck driving, appeals to you, contact us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator School – we can provide the truck driver training and assistance in finding that first truck driving job.