With winter rapdily approaching there are many towns and cities that will be looking to use snow plows of some shape to keep their streets clear of snow. To operate a snow plow you will need training in the use of heavy equipment.

Whilst snow plow work may be season, the skills gained in learning to use heavy equipment can also be in used in construction, mining and civil works, so they can always be put to use. Once winter returns you can again hit the streets to keep them clean.

There are many different types of snow plow used. They range from bulldozers on wheels to graders down to tractors that drag a plow behind them If the snow is particularly thick then the drag option may not be viable.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not difficult if you have the right trainers and the right training program. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with effective and industry relevant training in a wide range of heavy equipment. Get the right training and perhaps you can spend your wintery days helping to keep the streets clear of snow.

We live in an age where most businesses try to maximize the returns on their investments. With heavy equipment, sometimes the best return on your investment is use the one machine – one operator philosophy. This philosophy includes a rider towards the operator – it the machine isn’t working, neither are you!

This philosophy places the onus of the machines well being fairly and squarely on the operator. Look after the heavy equipment, keep it maintained, don’t push it beyond it’s limits and ensure it has all the right fluids and the machine will run well between major servicing. If you don’t look after it, keep it clean, if you are rough and reckless in it’s operation, and fail to ensure it has all the right lubricants, it is going to be constantly in the repair shop. While it is, your at home not earning.

Is it fair. In the long run, yes. Most of the time you are working away from any supervision. There is no one there to watch you and you know it. If you are rough with the machine and it breaks down, it is your fault. It will cost your employer to not only get the heavy equipment repaired, they may have to source a replacement machine (and operator) to get the job done.

Treat the heavy equipment properly and it wont break down. That will keep you employed and get the job done. This is where good training comes in. Training that not only shows you how to operate the machinery, but also what to look for when you inspect the equipment and what danger signs to look for when operating the equipment.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools we recognize the need for comprehensive training that does more than just teach you which levers to pull and buttons to push. We train you in preventative maintenance, safety and of course how to operate the heavy equipment.

To become a heavy equipment operator does not necessarily require formal training through a training school. You can often be trained on the job and many years ago almost all operators were. These days however, there are a number of other factors that need to be considered.

The first and most important is the safety legislation that cover heavy equipment. If you are not trained to recognize safety situations and an accident occurs, you or your employer (or both) could be held responsible and sued, perhaps even facing criminal charges.

Some heavy equipment, for example trucks, require licenses to operate them. Not having a license again could lead to big fines or even criminal charges.

Operating heavy equipment is no longer a simple matter of moving knobs and levers. You are expected to know which attachements to use and how to fit them, how to do basic maintenance, and how to operate the new electronic devices such as GPS that comes with modern equipment.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can deliver the most up-to-date training available so you are ready to jump into the operators seat and start you career knowing you are fully trained and capable of doing the job.

There are many individuals to whom a career as a heavy equipment operator sounds appealing. The big problem for many, or the fear, is that after training they wont find a job to use the skills learned. For these individuals, a job placement service may be just what they need to get started.

The job placement service developed at ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools has an excellent success rate with both employers and former students happy with the results. The school’s placement database contains thousands of employers who hire graduates on completion of training. In some cases, graduates are find employment before even completing their training.

Once you start your training the job placement service starts working with you helping you to locate potential employers. With thousands of employers in the database, finding the right one for you is not going to be all that difficult. In fact, you may have trouble selecting which employer you want to work for.

If you are employed through the job placement service they will continue to follow up to ensure that both you and the employer are satisfied and that the position is working well for you both. If employment is holding you back from undertaking training then speak to a representative from ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools to see what assistance is available to get your career started.

Most people look at an excavator as a trench digger, or perhaps as a piece of heavy equipment capable of digging holes. Excavators are actually very versatile pieces of equipment that can do a lot depending on the attachments that are available.

Excavators have been used in a wide variety of situations from demolition work through to brush cutting when operators use hydraulic attachments. Some of the task involving excavators include:

1. Digging of trenches, holes, foundations
2. Demolition
3. General grading/landscaping
4. Heavy lift, e.g. lifting and placing of pipes
5. River dredging
6. Mining, especially, but not only open-pit mining
7. Brush cutting with hydraulic attachments

Learning to operate an excavator is not difficult, however learning how to do the more specific tasks such as river dredging may require more intensive on the job training. However, if you don’t have the basic skills then learning some of the more advanced task could be very difficult.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools has a full range of heavy equipment training including excavators. Pay them a visit and see if becoming an excavator operator is a career for you.

Some people are just born to be drivers. I know I was. I could spend all day driving, whether it is around town or out on the open highway. Come holiday time, my family knows we are going on a trip. We hit the road and just drive; of course I stop occasionally so the family can see the sights. In reality, I should have been a truck driver, my wife says a long distance one at that.

If your like me then perhaps a career as a truck driver may just be an option you should look into. The work itself is not too grueling, the conditions fairly good and the pay quite reasonable as well. All you need is your Class-A Commercial Driver License to begin with.

To gain a Class-A Commercial Driver License you need to satisfy the licensing body that you are competent behind the wheel and that you know all the road rules and safety laws related to truck driving.

The ATS Heavy Equipment Training School’s truck driving program can deliver all that. With 40 years experience in training truck drivers, they certainly have history behind them. They have also got over 10,000 trucking companies nationwide in its job placement database. With that history they must be doing everything right.

ATS uses both in-class training, when it comes to road rules and safety requirements; and in-vehicle training to provide you with all the knowledge and experience required to gain your Class-A Commercial Drivers License.

Heavy equipment operators are always in demand, even when they reach a point when they don’t want to be behind the controls any more. Having the skills, knowledge and experience of operating heavy equipment means you are invaluable to many employers.

One of the more obvious areas that a skilled heavy equipment operator could work in is the training industry. You have the skills – in other words you can operate the equipment; you have the knowledge – this means you know your dirt, your surfaces, the work places and the people; and of course you have the experience – you have combined the skills and knowledge and been an effective operator.

These can all be passed on to the next generation of operators. The best people to learn from are the ones that have done it, got their hands dirty, and done the work.

Other post heavy equipment operator careers could include positions as inspectors such as safety inspectors. These often require further training, however your experience behind the controls is invaluable, especially when it comes to safety.

A career as a heavy equipment operator has many possible outcomes. You don’t have to look at it as being a ‘dead end’ job. However, without the right training you will not have a career in the first place. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you will all the skills and knowledge you require to get you started in a career. And yes, we use highly skilled and knowledgeable trainers to deliver your training.

There are a lot places where you wouldn’t expect to find a bulldozer. Bulldozers come a variety of shapes and sizes and range from giants that work in the mining industry to babies that work in factories.

These little bulldozers are also put to work in the holds of ships and are often used to scrape up the remnants of whatever material has been carried in the holds. This can range from coal, stone or gravel through to wheat and other grains. This is one job where you wouldn’t want to be claustrophobic.

It’s not just shipping. There are many factories that use bulldozers to push the raw material around. Sugar refineries use a bulldozer to push raw sugar into small hills. They are also used around wood chip and sand and gravel enterprises.

Bulldozers are a part of many commercial enterprises today. Whilst the big boys may live and work on construction sites, mines or road building; their little cousins are equally hard at work. They may move less material compared to their larger relative, but they work twice as fast to make up for it.

Despite the size, the training required to handle a small bulldozer is not that different to what is required to operate a full size bulldozer. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools deliver training that will have you well equipped to handle any size bulldozer.

If you have seen an excavator or excavators at work then you will know they are quite powerful and can excavate trenches fairly quickly. What you may not be aware of is the range of attachments that can be added to the equipment. These attachments provide for a wide range of tasks that an excavator can perform. Attachments include:

• Jackhammers: Jackhammers are used to break up material such as hard earth, rock or concrete;
• Shovels: Hydraulic mining excavators often use shovels;
• Grapples: Grapples are similar to claws and are used to grasp objects such as trees or tree stumps;
• Augers: Augers are similar to a drill bit, and are used to drill through materials to help break them up.

Operating these attachments is not difficult and often taught on the job. Using the attachments is often the easy part. The difficult part can often be the process of attaching and removing the attachment.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools provide training for all heavy equipment including excavators.

Where bulldozers rely on brute strength to push dirt around, motor graders rely in finesse to finely ‘grade’ as surface. Motor graders truly are the fine artists in the heavy equipment family.

Bulldozers are short stout muscle men. Motor graders are long and narrow. Bulldozers are often sitting on tracks which make them slow and cumbersome. Motor graders are on wheels which make them fast and nimble. The bulldozer has a blade at the front, the motor grader a blade hanging from the middle of the vehicle. I could go on with these comparisons, after all, they are both heavy equipment that has been designed to push dirt around.

The biggest difference is that bulldozers push huge quantities of dirt over short distances. Motor graders make long passes gently taking the top surface and trimming and smoothing it until it has the right angle or the right slope.

Road making is a prime example of a graders work. All roads have a slight angle to them, carefully designed to influence the run off of water. On corners, these angles (or camber as it is known) is designed to keep the car on the right line going around the corner, particularly when going through mountainous or hilly areas.

Believe it or not, the bulldozer can do some of the work that a motor graders does. However it takes far longer and is not precise like a true grader. A grader would have difficulty doing the work of a bulldozer.

If you’re somewhat of an artist and would like to work in the heavy equipment field, then check out ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools to see if we have the right training program for you.