One popular misconception when it comes to heavy equipment is that excavators simply dig trenches. In fact, you could almost say the opposite was the case. Excavators do dig trenches, however there are other machines such as back hoes that can also do the job.

Excavators have a wide range of tasks that they can perform and they are not just restricted to the construction industry. Excavators often play a huge role in the transport of large trees. The excavator may be involved in digging out the root ball, helping to lift the tree onto a truck and, at the other end, digging the hole to take the root ball, then helping to lift the tree into that hole, The complete all around performance.

They can also be employed as part of a demolition team. Their role is varies ranging from helping to knock down walls to helping with the clean up and loading large sections of rubble onto trucks.

Excavators may also be involved with general grading and landscaping; heavy lift, particularly the lifting and placing of pipes; they have also been used in river dredging, open-pit mining and, using special hydraulic attachments, brush cutting.

The role of an excavator operator is a varied one. You can work in just about any environment from the concrete jungle of the city to the wide open spaces of the desert and everything in between. You could be digging holes today, planting trees tomorrow and involved with the precise laying of pipes the following day.

Fancy yourself as an excavator operator? The first thing you need is training, the second, a secure job. We can deliver the first and if you successfully complete your training, we may be able to help with the second. Contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools for more details.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools provides training to a wide range of clients. These include individuals looking at a career in heavy equipment, crane operations or truck driving. We also provide training to agencies looking to place their clients into training programs and employment.

A third major group includes businesses requiring specialized training that meets both workplace and regulatory requirements. This has become particularly important to businesses that utilize cranes in states where crane operator certification has become a requirement. Unlike many training organizations, we can bring the training to you.

Whichever group you belong to, individual, agency or business, we have a range of brochures that outline the services available to your specific needs. We have also developed a DVD highlighting our training facilities and equipment.

Most of the information is available on our website however nothing beats printed material especially when discussing options with third parties. If you require more details on any aspect of our heavy equipment, crane, or truck driver training programs the we are just a phone call away.

Training decisions are important to the success of any individual or business so we are happy to provide as much information as possible to help you make the right decisions. A career in heavy equipment can be very rewarding one – and for many, a fairly lucrative one. Visit ATS to request your free brochure and DVD, there is no obligation and of course – it’s free.

One of the benefits of selecting heavy equipment operations as a career is that age is not a factor. It seems that gender isn’t either.

As children start college, or indeed head off to start a career of their own, their moms find themselves stuck at home with little to do. One of the options that many select is to get back into the workforce and with age and gender no longer barriers, heavy equipment is becoming one of those career options. And why not?

If you think about it, modern heavy equipment has become so much easier to operate. Equipment in use twenty or thirty years ago were heavy and cumbersome. The steering on some units required superior strength to control. These days, power steering is the norm with electronics and hydraulics working together. Controls are almost too light.

Some of our older operators complain that controls now are too light, they can no longer ‘feel’ the earth through the controls. New operators that haven’t experienced the older heavy equipment don’t seem to have that problem.

The biggest hurdle for women entering the heavy equipment operations work force are the employers. However, they are now coming to the party and employing people of either gender, based on their merits. Women have been behind the wheels of trucks and tractors for decades so the progression to the heavy equipment is only natural. In fact, there have been women bulldozer and loader operators around for many years.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has an open policy. We don’t discriminate and treat all individuals on an equal basis. If you’re a mom looking at career options and you love the great outdoors – consider a career as heavy equipment operator.

The impression that many of us have of heavy equipment is that of the big yellow beast belching out plumes of black oily smoke and roaring like any elephant. The modern machines are a far cry from this – in fact you could almost call them environmentally friendly. Compared to the past – they definitely are.

One of the biggest changes in modern heavy equipment has been the introduction of electronic engines. This has increased the horsepower whilst reducing emissions and emissions have been the biggest pollutants in our society.

Other changes include, for heavy equipment like loaders, the introduction of fully automatic transmissions. These also help to reduce fuel use but have the added benefit of being long wearing. In fact, extended component life due to lower gear speeds means there are less breakdowns and fewer component replacements required.

Whilst only minor steps in the overall system, every saving, whether it is fuel or components means less manufacturing and reduced pollutants.

If sitting behind the controls of one these modern environmentally friendlier beasts appeals to you then perhaps you should consider a career as a heavy equipment operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can get you that start in a career as a heavy equipment operator. Will deliver accredited training on a broad range of heavy equipment and our job placement program has access to hundreds of employers all looking to take the best that we can deliver.

Heavy equipment like bulldozers, excavators and even graders are incredible machines when it comes to power. Take the bulldozer as an example. For their size, they can move an incredible amount of earth. To sit in the operators seat and feel that power in your hands and through your legs – there is nothing like it.

I am sure some would argue – truck drivers, pilots, ships captains and others and they are probably right. However, with heavy equipment, the results, the power, and the earth being pushed around is now – you can see and feel it as it happens.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is a life long task. Just when you feel you know your machine inside out, you come across a job that is different, on different terrain, or requires such precise movements. Once again you are learning what your equipment can do and what you can do.

Of course, this ongoing learning process needs a good foundation to start with. The foundations of a good heavy equipment operator can only be built through training from accredited and professional heavy equipment training schools.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are not only accredited, they are also recognized for delivering quality training and preparing students for the workplace. If you want to feel the power of heavy equipment then contact us ATS either through our website or on 1.800.678.8120.

Heavy equipment safety is of the utmost importance in 21st century with businesses, contractors and operators facing heavy fines if they operate heavy equipment in an unsafe manner. This means that modern training procedures focus on getting tasks done using safe work practices.

Obviously a student is taught how to operate heavy equipment. How to move forward, how to reverse, and even how to dig a hole for example. In the past, you could learn all of this in a couple of days in the back paddock with another operator showing you what to do. Not today.

Today, before reversing, you need to check everywhere to ensure no accidents occur. Of course, over time this becomes second nature – a habit, and that is why you need qualified trainers from day one – to stop you developing bad habits.

Safety is important. No one wants to be responsible for the injury or death of another worker. Accidents generally happen due to lack of care – a lack of care that has become a habit. If you can develop strong work ethics that include operating heavy equipment safely you will find that the demand for your services will grow. Yes, heavy equipment operators gain reputations for being good, or bad, fast, or slow, and responsible or irresponsible. What sort of reputation do you want?

Undertake your heavy equipment training through on of ATS’s Heavy Equipment Operator Schools and you will be trained to develop the responsible work habits that today’s industry demands.

There are times when a heavy equipment operator cannot work during daylight hours, they are forced to work at night due to a variety of reasons. One of the prime reasons is simply access.

Virginia is a prime example. The state is only 430 miles long by 200 miles wide, the 35th in size, and yet it has the third largest highway system in the country. You would think with all that highway that traffic would not be a problem – but it is. It is a big problem for road construction crews. The highways are so busy that any highway work cannot be done during the day – it can only be done overnight when the traffic has thinned out a little and is more controllable.

Is working overnight a big problem? Many construction workers prefer it, particularly in summer when the nights are cooler and working conditions a lot easier – of course, winter is then a different story. Heavy equipment operators at least have the comfort of their cabs.

Overnight road building is not restricted to one or two pieces of equipment. The whole range is in use from bulldozer through to excavators, loaders, graders and dump trucks. This is particularly true on roads where the old seal is being pulled up, the ground reworked ready for resealing. Other jobs include highway straightening where large bends are bypassed, on/off ramp construction and bridge repairs or rebuilding.

Working as a heavy equipment operator is a challenging and yet rewarding career. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools deliver accredited training on a wide variety of heavy equipment and provide the heavy equipment industry with well trained and work ready graduates. If you are ready to be one of those work ready graduates then contact us through our website for information on your heavy equipment training options.

The history of the bulldozer is rather simplistic and like most inventions, came from a need. They say that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ and that is true of the bulldozer.

In early days, the bulldozer was no more than a farm tractor which had a bulldozer style blade attached to the front. This blade had no independent movement. It could not be raised or lowered or tilted although later versions could be adjusted if the operator got out and made the adjustments manually.

The necessity that created the bulldozer was quite wide. Trees needed to be knocked down, tree stumps removed, rocks pushed aside and bumps in the terrain smoothed over. The old farm tractor bulldozer was fairly adept at handling these tasks.

Of course, eventually someone decided that money could be made from building a specific bulldozer, a unit that could have the blade controlled from within the cab, and a machine that had far more grunt that a simple farm tractor.

Today’s bulldozer look nothing like those first machines. When you climb into the cab of a modern bulldozer you could be met with an array of technology ranging from GPS to digital read outs on hydraulic pressure, blade positions and even internal temperature.

Whether you are operating a bulldozer that is fifty years old or a modern marvel, the concepts are still fairly similar. You still need to set a height and an angle of the blade, you still need to know how to attack a job, more importantly, you still need to be trained to get the most out of the machine.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have been around for a long time, almost as long the bulldozer itself – well perhaps not quite that long. However we have grown with the technology and we are recognized by industry as a training organization that deliver quality training on range of heavy equipment including bulldozers. If you can see yourself behind the controls of a massive dozer, then give us a call to see what training options are available for you.