Posts Tagged ‘Training’

Mention the word free and people stop and look - then wonder what the catch is. It’s a part of human nature. Here’s something novel, however: a free heavy equipment training class that has no catch.

That’s right, no obligation to buy, no buy-first-then-receive-something-free deal - this is totally free.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools understands that starting a new career can be a daunting prospect. You can pay for your training then find that either you’re not really suited to this kind of work or that operating equipment is not what you thought it would be. With that in mind, before even making a final decision about a new career you can attend a lesson and find out all there is to know about heavy equipment.

Most training facilities have open days. However, they are designed to showcase what they do. We want to take that one step further and highlight what you can do. This includes completing a module from our training program. In fact, some of the benefits of attending our free training classes include:

• Viewing the campus and classrooms
• Meeting our instructors, some of our current students and our admissions counselors
• Experiencing real training first hand
• Getting on the machines and seeing them up close and personal
• Earning a $500 scholarship

Your free training includes:

• An actual ATS training module (Introduction to Heavy Equipment)
• Detailed information on the components, uses, and basic operation of many different machines
• Equipment demonstration and opportunity to get on machinery
• Access to machinery such as Backhoes, Loaders, Skid Steers, Dump Trucks, Bulldozers, Excavators, Motor Graders, Cranes and more.

If you are interested in attending a free heavy equipment training class and assessing its value, we have free heavy equipment classes running at the following locations:

• Sun Prairie, WI
• Columbus, OH
• Brentwood, NH
• Lecanto, FL

We are also offering free CDL classes at the following locations:

• Sun Prairie, WI
• Green Bay, WI
• Milwaukee, WI
• Columbus, OH
• Wills Point, TX

For more information about our free heavy equipment classes, visit our website and apply online, or call our customer service staff at: (800) 383-7364. Numbers and start dates are limited so check the website for more details. It’s not often you get a chance to have free access to training prior to making a career decision. If you have the slightest interest in heavy equipment and heavy equipment careers, grab the opportunity while you can.

Do you need a history of heavy equipment operations to become a qualified crane operator? As a matter of fact - no. You can come from any walk of life and undertake a crane operator training course. To a certain extent, students that undertake training with no prior experience in heavy equipment can be easier to train. To begin with, there are no bad habits to erase. Of course, prior knowledge of the equipment can make life easier for the student since they are not being confronted with completely new terminology.

In short, however, as stated, anyone from any walk of life can undertake training to become a crane operator. Your success really is going to be measured by the commitment you give to the training course along with the skills and commitment that a crane operator trainer gives to you. Women have successfully made the transition from home duties to crane operations, middle aged former office workers have made the transition as have college students that found academic life not to their liking.

ATS Crane Operator Schools works on the principle of training students to work readiness. This means incorporating both in the cab, around the equipment and in the class room activities. The main emphasis of course is hands on in-the-cab operations - the more supervised practice you can acquire, the more skilled you will become. Having a rounded training program that includes operations, basic maintenance and safety components readies a student for the work place.

If you have never been near heavy equipment before, don’t let that stop you from becoming a crane operator. The most important skill or attribute that you can bring to any training program is an open mind and readiness to learn. If you have that then you’re ready to take on crane operator training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools are one of America’s oldest heavy equipment training schools, having had forty years of experience. Although we are one of the oldest, it doesn’t mean our heavy equipment is and our range is not limited to a bulldozer or two. Depending on which school you attend you could have access to:

• backhoes
• wheel loaders
• scrapers
• excavators
• bulldozers
• road graders
• rock trucks
• Skid Steers
• All-Terrain Forklifts

Our training programs run for three weeks and are designed to provide the fundamental operating skills required to work using this equipment. By offering a broad range of equipment, students leave our schools in a position to apply for available work opportunities. Along with operational skills, students are also trained in:

• grade reading
• laser levels
• soils
• safety
• site layouts
• heavy equipment maintenance

Knowledge of these areas is essential in today’s heavy equipment operator if they are to enjoy a successful career in the industry. Heavy equipment operations is a career that is built on experience. As we have mentioned in the past, that experience needs a good solid foundation and that is where ATS excels - we help you lay those foundations. Over time, with hands on experience in the work place, you will find your reputation growing as a skilled operator and, with it, the demand for your services.

The demand for heavy equipment operators is constant. As a skilled operator you will find your services always in demand - and as a bonus, the pay checks that most experienced operators take home is well above many other career options. If you need more information on heavy equipment training, feel free to contact us at any time.

If you’re looking at a heavy equipment career you have a number of options available to you. These include the area you may wish to specialize in and how you can enter that area of choice. Despite, or perhaps because of, the recent economic downturn, heavy equipment operators are in demand and some employers feel that this spring and summer will see shortages of suitably skilled people in many heavy equipment areas. How do you get your start then?

You have a number of options and they all start with training. If you’re not professionally trained to operate heavy equipment these days, most employers won’t look at you. There are plenty of training options available. We suggest you select only those training organizations that are accredited to deliver nationally recognized training. This means any credentials you receive should be recognized nationwide.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are one option. You can start by undertaking our free online training program, or you can contact us for information about course details. We can even post out information on training programs available. We have training centers in almost a dozen locations - there is sure to be one reasonably close to you.

If you wish to specialize in one particular piece of equipment, you can. Our training covers a range of machinery depending, the range will depend on which of our training facilities you attend. It is often a wiser move to wait until you have completed your training before deciding on which piece of heavy equipment you want to specialize in. In our experience, students soon develop a natural affinity with one or more pieces of equipment and that is then where they tend to specialize. Heavy equipment careers - they are in demand and the demand is growing. Contact us for more information on heavy equipment training choices.

If I was to pick one season that was best for commencing a heavy equipment career it would probably be winter. Demand for heavy equipment operators is at its peak during spring and summer. In the Fall, demand starts to drop off a little as projects begin to wrap up for the winter months. Winter, of course, can be reasonably quiet when it comes to demand. But then, you are not looking for employment yet - you are looking for training.

Therefore, the best time to start a career as a heavy equipment operator is during the winter months. During this period you can undertake your training and, if possible, follow it up gaining hands on experience. It may be just pushing snow around a heavy equipment yard - but it is still experience. Once winter has come and gone and construction companies are starting to gear up again, you will be training and experienced and ready to start the ‘real’ work.

Timing is important. If you start the process now, you could probably have everything in place to start training around mid-January. If you undertook your training through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, you would complete your heavy equipment training in early to mid-February (depending on when you commenced). A couple of weeks of experience with a willing employer and come March, when employers start to look for operators, you’re there ready and waiting.

Changing careers always takes a lot of thought and a lot of forward planning. In winter, things are generally quiet so this is the perfect time to go through that planning process. Get your timing right and you will be ready for that heavy equipment career just as employers start looking for operators.

It may sound strange, but soil type knowledge is one of the most important skills an excavator operator can acquire. Soils are not the same - that’s fairly obvious, but what I mean by that statement is that soils react very differently when being excavated. Knowing how they are going to act is an essential skill for an excavator operator.

Digging a trench in sandy soil is very different to digging in clay-based soils. Most clay-based soils tend to stick so it is fairly easy to dig trenches with walls. Sandy soils don’t stick so the walls will tend to fall back into the trench. This often means the trench needs to be wider thus creating more work.

You have the many soil types in between, each reacting slightly different to each other. And that’s not the end of the story. Soil can be made in layers and can include rock, which, in itself, is another set of knowledge. You can learn a lot about soil when you first undertake excavator training. However, it is experience that fine tunes that initial knowledge.

The next time you look at any heavy equipment operator, look beyond the basic skill of working levers and pedals. There is a set of skills based on understanding soils, rock types and often a variety of attachments for their equipment to deal with differing soils. Add to that the knowledge of safety and heavy equipment maintenance and you have highly skilled operators.

Excavators are only one type of heavy equipment, but they have become essential tools to our construction industry. As tools, they require highly skilled operators that have received their excavator training through a professional and accredited training provider.

Over the years crane operator training has consisted of anything from by-the-seat-of-your-pants training to in depth classroom training. What had been missing was some form of recognition of the skills of the operators. How you do your training is not as important as being able to demonstrate that you can safely use that equipment.

By-the-seat-of-your-pants training has always been interesting and sometimes fun to watch. However, it can also be extremely dangerous. Let’s face it, you are letting a complete novice get behind a powerful piece of equipment and teach themselves by trial and error. If they get it wrong, they get it wrong big time. What is an even bigger problem is that this type of training leads to poor work habits. Safety and machine maintenance lose their importance in the big picture.

In depth classroom based training is probably the exact opposite. You finish up with individuals who can tell you everything there is to know about operating a crane. The problem is, they have no actual experience at operating a crane.

Somewhere in between these two extremes (and trust me, they do exist) is a training program that provides both the in depth in classroom theory and the hands on controlled use of a crane. This combination, when implemented properly, can produce operators that are skilled at operating a crane whilst also having the theoretical knowledge about how a crane works, the safety skills required as well as experience using a crane.

You can add to this a standardized assessment instrument that can measure whether or not the student is actually competent in all areas of crane operations. Students that meet the minimum requirements to become a crane operator are issued with papers that make them Certified Crane Operators.

Certification not only recognizes the skills of the operator, they help to set a standard that all employers can relate to. Many states are now insisting that all crane operators are certified before commencing work on any project. If you are a crane operator that hasn’t been certified, perhaps now is the time to do something about it before you are left behind.

If you are an employer and you are not quite getting the best out of your workforce, you may want to consider engaging a custom training organization. There are few businesses that have the resources or skills required to intensively train their workforce although many try with less than satisfactory results.

Professional training organizations that have custom training programs available have a host of real advantages. One of the biggest often comes as a surprise to employers yet a careful study will reveal how true it is. Custom training is generally speaking far cheaper than trying to do it yourself.

Think about the costs associated with training just one member of your workforce. Someone has to do the training which means taking them out of the production cycle and placing them into a low producing position is one hefty cost. Other costs include developing a training program that can deliver the required skills immediately.

If you are not employing skilled training staff then there is a good chance that the training delivered could be ineffective - or worse. It could lead to the development of poor work habits. Cost is a huge factor and is a part of many of the other reasons that employers undertake custom training. These reasons include:

• qualifications and skills of training staff
• flexibility of delivery
• on/off site delivery of training
• assessment and awarding of certificates
• tailoring of training to meet specific goals

You may feel that as an employer you can handle some or all of these areas. The last point is a good example. You know what goals you want to achieve and how the equipment should be used to achieve those goals. That, however, does not mean you have the skills to develop a training program to achieve those goals, at least not without help. Custom training - is it right for you? Almost always - yes!

The construction industry is not everyone’s preferred area of work, however, the work itself is steady and readily available for heavy equipment operators. The work is varied; one day you may be clearing rubble from a housing development, the next you may be working in the city demolishing an old warehouse. The working conditions may not suit you either, particularly working outdoors in all weathers.

If you decide you do want to be a heavy equipment operator then you can rest in the knowledge that people employed in this area still enjoy regular, rewarding pay even while the job changes; there is simply more demand than there are qualified employees, and thus there always exist job opportunities.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training School can help prepare you for a job in the construction industry. Our short, comprehensive, training programs are accredited and recognized nationwide. The training covers a wide variety of heavy equipment, including modern bulldozers and excavators, all under the watchful eyes of qualified instructors.

If you are reading this post then the chances you are interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator. If that is right, you are almost there.

A career has a heavy equipment operator is not that difficult to achieve. One of your first steps should be to undertake our free online training program. Everything is done online and once completed you will be able to print out your certificate. If your happy with your results then it is a simple process to inquire about a hands on training program.

Training programs are conducted through a combination of in class and hands on the equipment style lessons. All training is broken down into easy to digest components which helps to make the learning experience less stressful.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can help make your ambitions come true. Your half there now - take the next step and realize your dreams.