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 looking for the one piece of machinery that is the backbone of any construction site, it would have to be the humble dump truck. Yet, as children, it is probably one of the first construction toys we have. Most kids grow up with access to either a pile of sand or a piece of dirt to play in. With it comes the little (and later, not so little) dump truck. It all looked easy – fill the dumper with sand, move it to where it you wanted the sand, and dump it.

Over time the novelty of dumping sand or dirt wore off. It is more fun digging with either a little spade or a bulldozer, excavator or loader. The fascination for digging machines over the dump truck often extends into adult life. There are certainly more people working on heavy equipment that as dump truck drivers. Like all under appreciated equipment, they really are the backbone of a construction site.

If you look at what sort of work they do, it goes far beyond just carting and dumping sand. There is a wide range of building materials that dump trucks help to transport – and that is before or during construction. They are also called upon to dump the material not needed on the construction site. This could range from large boulders to dirt that has been dug up and is not required. Dump trucks also play their role in the post construction cleanup being used to cart away excess building materials.

There is now a national call to increase the number of skilled operators when it comes to construction machinery. This includes operators such as dump truck operators. If operating one of construction’s most important pieces of machinery appeals to you then do a little research to find out whether or not you could undergo truck driver training to help you get a start in a rewarding career.

Earn a Class A Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and the highways are virtually yours – you just need the wheels to get you moving. Spring is on the way and as the nation starts to pick up from the recent economic slump, career opportunities in heavy earthmoving equipment, crane operations and truck driving are going to blossom.

Truck driving will be one area where you may see a considerable jump in demand. The demand for domestic consumables will increase and they will mean more trucks on the roads – if they can get the drivers. The problem is, we are spending billions on projects that will also place a high demand on truck drivers.

Building materials is one area where demand will skyrocket. However, more road and bridge construction means more heavy equipment on the road – and that requires the services of truck drivers – lots of them too. The answer in the short term is to ensure that heavy equipment operators have also got their Class A CDL – they can then transport their own equipment.

Having said that, heavy equipment flatbed trailers are not cheap and many businesses don’t have the resources to have a trailer sitting on the side of a project waiting for the job to be finished. In a lot of cases, the truck and trailer is forced to offload the equipment and then go back for the next load.

The long term answer is to train new truck drivers who are fit and ready to take on the demanding yet exciting job of a truck driver. If you have ever considered a career as a truck driver and the idea appealed to you – check out what truck driver training options are available for you. When industry calls for more truck drivers with their Class A commercial drivers license, will you be ready?

I noticed a house that suffered severe fire damage several months ago being demolished by a pair of backhoes the other day. They certainly made short work of the job. Within two days the house was gone, totally gone.

What strikes me as amazing sometimes is just how versatile a backhoe can be. Sure, over the years the number of attachments available for a backhoe has grown considerably. To actually see them at work, and the speed with which an experienced operator can switch attachments is equally impressive.

Obviously the two old timers operating their machines had a lot of experience between them. They knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and more importantly, where to start. That would most likely have got me to begin with. Working as a team, they slowly took that house apart and as they went, it was all loaded onto trucks and carted away.

Experience and knowledge is something that is developed over time. I called these two old timers simply because they were. They looked to be pushing 55, perhaps 60, but in reality, age is irrelevant. I have also seen operators in their mid twenties with the skills to match these two. It isn’t how long you have been operating a backhoe that matters, it’s what you learn each and every day that matters.

This learning starts of course with backhoe training from a quality training company. Once you have that solid base of knowledge behind you, you are ready to work in the real world. You can then build your experience and skills on a daily basis. Who knows, one day it might be you I see pulling down an old building – I must say, it did look like fun.

Every piece of heavy equipment has a role in building our country. You can thank the humble excavator for helping to connect our nation. If you can imagine the millions of miles of water pipes, sewage pipes and communications pipes that have been laid from coast to coast – that is a lot of pipe line.

Sure, the whole lot could have been laid by hand. But imagine the cost, the time, and how many people would be required to do that job – if you could get anyone to do it in this day and age that is. What takes ten men a day to do – an excavator can do in half the time using one man. More importantly, where you have ten men swearing and cursing and hating every minute of their job, excavator operators not only love their work, they are proud of it.

Check the photo and tell me how many people it would take to dig that hole, lower that huge pipe into the hole, then back fill it all – by hand! The excavator makes light work of the job no matter how hard the ground is.

Working as an excavator operator could see you digging trenches for those large pipes, or digging smaller trenches for communications lines. If you can think of a need for a trench, then I can find an excavator to do the job. It doesn’t matter how wide or how deep the trench is, the skills required are the same and can be gained by undertaking a heavy equipment training program that includes excavator training.

Many individuals balk at the cost of heavy equipment training without realizing there are avenues available to seek financial aid. More importantly, rather than seeing the cost of training as a financial impost, it should be seen as an investment on a career that is rewarding in terms of dollars and work satisfaction.

Most people borrow to buy cars and to buy houses. Some even borrow to buy shares through the stock markets. Borrowing to buy a car is an expense. You will never receive that money back, rather, year after year, that car will diminish in value. Houses on the other hand are investments. Under normal circumstances, the value of the house will slowly appreciate so when it comes time to sell, you should receive more back than what you paid for it.

Borrowing to finance a career is no different. Most professionals like doctors and lawyers all borrow to get through college. Many trades people have to borrow to pay their way through their training. Becoming a heavy equipment operator is no different. Borrowing to pay for your training is no different and the cost of borrowing can be recouped fairly quickly once you commence employment.

If you do need financial aid to get through your heavy equipment training, contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools to see what options are available for you. You can also complete an online application for financial assistance for heavy equipment training.

Don’t let the financial side of life interfere with your dream to become a heavy equipment operator. There is financial aid available for many individuals, particularly those that consider the cost an investment in their own future.

Generally speaking, heavy equipment training is well regarded with most training organizations taking the time to undertake accreditation. There are, however, some people who offer to deliver training without any training credentials at all. Gaining certification under those circumstances will almost result in an expensive yet worthless piece of paper.

If the training organization is accredited then you know that your certification is going to be recognized by potential employers nationwide. This is important, particularly in areas such as crane operator training where state legislation has made certification compulsory before you can work in that field.

So what is accreditation? This is a process where training organizations meet a set of minimum criteria. These standards include the material taught, the qualifications of the trainers, the type of equipment used in training, and a standardized set of assessments. In the latter, that is important since this means that all training organizations are assessing students for common skills.

If the organization meets the minimum standards set (and they are high standards) then that training organization can deliver training, undertake assessments, and issue national certification documents.

One accreditation body is The National Center for Construction Education and Research or NCCER. They have been accrediting training organizations since 1995 when it was established by 11 of the world’s largest and most progressive construction companies and several national construction associations.

Before you undertake any form of heavy equipment training, check the training provider to ensure they are accredited and that the certification they provide is recognized across the nation. This will ensure that on completion of your training, you will have a valuable document in your hands instead of a very expensive piece of scrap paper.

When looking at heavy equipment careers you may wonder which industries offer the best opportunities. Heavy equipment by definition is any heavy machinery, not just earth moving machinery. A crane could be considered heavy equipment as could a rock crusher and tree lopper so the breadth of industries is quite large. Below is a list of the more popular industries that provide career opportunities for heavy equipment operators.

Heavy equipment career in construction

The most popular career path for heavy equipment operators is through the field of construction. This in itself has a wide range of opportunities. You have the traditional road construction crews that spend their working lives building roads, tunnels and bridges. This sector is one of the largest employers of heavy equipment operators.

The second biggest sector is that of commercial construction. This is the building of office blocks, factories, shopping centers and housing projects to name just a few. Heavy equipment is used on some construction sites from start to finish and provides one of the most varied careers when it comes to heavy equipment operations.

Heavy equipment careers in mining

Mining is the second largest industry to offer heavy equipment careers and includes both above and under ground mining projects. Mining heavy equipment ranges from small excavators and front end loaders to massive, and I do mean massive, excavators. Since mining projects are generally in isolated areas and involve degrees of danger, these careers can be amongst the most lucrative.

Heavy equipment careers in agriculture

Heavy equipment in the form of bulldozers had their origins in agriculture with the first bulldozers being nothing more than a farm tractor with a blade attached to the front. The use of heavy equipment in agriculture waned for a while but it is being used far more frequently now. There are teams of operators that now work exclusively in the agricultural sector building dams and clearing scrub land.

Forestry is another sector that is starting to rely on heavy equipment. This is one sector where new technology is constantly being introduced to help control the growth of trees, perform pruning on a large scale, and of course to fell the trees in a controlled way.

Those are the three largest industries to use heavy equipment. Other industries that could offer heavy equipment careers include the military and waterfront. Smaller niches include snow plowing, landscape gardening, pipe laying and small constructions like in-ground swimming pools.

There are heavy equipment careers in almost all industry sectors in the country. It is really a case of thinking about what sort of work you would really like doing. Is it building roads, or building houses; perhaps working in the mines, or working on large landscape gardening projects. Find a sector that appeals to you, undertake the heavy equipment training required, and your career in heavy equipment awaits.

There is one skill that bulldozer operators need to acquire fairly quickly and that is the ability to read the earth. How hard is it; what sort of material is made up from; how long will it take to do the job; how much can I move at any one time? These questions may sound easy, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Everything that any heavy equipment has to move or dig into can be categorized. This categorization is done according type, eg, sand, gravel, clay, rock or loam to name a few. It can also be categorized by size. For example, sand can be screened through a series of mesh screens, each one getting progressively finer. The sand is referred to by mesh size, for example, a 4 mesh or 8 mesh.

Why is this important? When using a bulldozer, or any other type of heavy equipment for that matter, you need to know your material sizes. If the job calls for a particular grade of gravel, you need to be able to recognize that grade and complete the job. There will be times when you need to apply successive layers of material, each at different grades.

A bulldozer training program can teach you the fundamentals of reading the earth and reading the different grades of material used in construction. However, you will only develop the refined skills required to work effectively by working with the material – on the job.

It doesn’t take long. You already know the difference between sand and rock or gravel and clay. It is really just getting used to how your bulldozer actually reacts as you start to cut into each of those surfaces, or how each material reacts when you start spreading it over a given area. Get the fundamentals right during your initial training and you will be on the right track from day one.

Heavy equipment safety has become an important issue in the workplace. Operators who have been in the industry for decades still do a walk around to inspect their equipment before starting a day’s work. The operator who just jumps in without doing a check could be putting the machine, themselves and their work colleagues at risk.

A lot of operators have a check list they go through (generally a mental list) and it goes something like this. Check:

• tires for wear, cracks and correct inflation, or,
• tracks for any damage and for rocks caught in the mechanism, and
• fluid levels such as water, fuel, engine oil, hydraulic oil, transmission oil,
• windows for cracks and cleanliness,
• blades, buckets or scoops for cracks, broken teeth and correct linkages,
• inside cab for damage, cleanliness and the fire extinguisher.

If everything passes the walk around inspection, the operator then climbs into the cab and starts the engine. That is not the finish of the inspection. Once the machine has warmed up there is generally another walk around this time using their ears as well as their eyes. They are checking for:

• air leaks in the system,
• oil or water leaks,
• exhaust problems, and back in the cab,
• gauges for correct pressures.

It may sound time consuming yet to an experienced operator, the whole inspection is over within ten minutes. Failing to perform the inspection could result in the equipment being out of service for a substantially longer period than just ten minutes. That ten minutes is really an investment in protection – we just call it a heavy equipment safety and maintenance check.

A quality heavy equipment training program will take you through the steps needed to perform a daily heavy equipment safety and maintenance check. Some things require checking all the time. There are other components that you may only need to check daily or every couple of days. Get the right training and you will know what to do and when to do it – more importantly, you will know what you are actually doing, and why!