GPS is no longer ‘new’ technology – it’s been around for a long time with construction making use of the technology in heavy equipment like motor graders to increase productivity. The benefit to construction is through efficiencies, the motor grader can accurately perform its role first time – there is no longer the hit or miss that often occurs with non-GPS systems.

One of the problems the construction industry has faced in recent years is the changeover from old non-GPS equipped machinery to GPS equipped machinery. Motor grader operators that were trained more than five years ago have little knowledge of GPS and it is used on their new machinery. This has lead construction companies to either not use the technology, or to face the cost of training their operators in the technology.

Today’s heavy equipment students often have the option of adding GPS training to their course thus adding to their skills base. As these students enter the workforce the use of GPS has increased. We are approaching a point where motor grader operators without GPS skills will be passed over when it comes to recruitment.

It all comes back to economics. If a motor grader operator can have a job finished in 75% of the time using GPS then it makes sense to incorporate that technology. Employing individuals who don’t have those skills is only adding costs to a project that most businesses can no longer afford.

For any student contemplating a career as a motor grader operator, consider your options for including GPS training either in your training program, or as soon as possible after completing your training. Opportunities for motor grader operators with GPS skills will increase considerably over the next few years – be prepared and reap the rewards.

Heavy equipment can be divided into two distinct fields; machinery that can multi-task and machinery that is designed to do a specific task. Bulldozers, backhoes and loaders can all multi-task. Graders fit into the role of dedicated machinery and so too does a scraper.

Scrapers are cumbersome-looking machines but their ability to their dedicated job is by no means cumbersome. They only have the one task – to scrape the surface of the earth in preparation for a building project. The majority of these projects are road work related.

The scraper slices across the top of the earth like a knife across butter. Once the scraper has completed the task of leveling out the surface, a grader is then applied to do the fine tuning of the construction bed. Without the scraper, a construction crew would need to rely on a bulldozer or similar to scrape away the surface.

Most heavy equipment machinery like bulldozers do more than just scrape the earth. They can tear big gashes in the work area, gashes that need more work to repair before the site is considered ready to work on.

As you can see from the photo, scrapers are reasonably large and certainly look cumbersome. Learning to operate a scraper is not that difficult and is often included as part of a heavy equipment training program. If you are able to undertake scraper operator training then I suggest you do. With the millions of miles of roads and highways being built as part of the economic stimulus package, gaining a qualification that includes scrapers makes a lot of sense.

As heavy equipment technology develops, the types of equipment available to operate grows. In the beginning there was the humble dozer, and that was just a tractor with a blade attached. Over time we have developed graders, backhoes, excavators, I could go on. If you like at road and rail construction, some of the equipment used is simply mind boggling.

One good example is the huge machines used to cut holes through mountains. We drive through these road tunnels and think nothing of them. The machine used virtually eats its way through the rock, no matter how tough it is.

Other heavy equipment that looks quite different are some of the specialist fork lifts like the all terrain fork lifts and the store picker fork lifts. As the name suggests, store picker fork lifts move up and down the aisles of warehouses picking items that are required. Picture a standard forklift. Now raise the upright arms 10 to 15 feet and extend the forks by a few feet. To counter balance the forks at f feet or more, the rear end of the fork lift can be huge. To navigate the warehouse aisles, it needs to be narrow. So you end up with a huge grass hopper like creature. A large heavy rear with these two arms sticking out way above your head.

All terrain forklifts on the other hand at least look a little more normal. The heavy equipment technology that ensures their safe use comes in the form of suspension, four wheel drive and a heavy counterweight to ensure the load doesn’t rock dangerously going over rough terrain.

Undertaking all-terrain fork lift training is a must if you want to successfully operate one. This training is sometimes offered as part of a heavy equipment training program. If you get the opportunity to have fork lift training included as part of your heavy equipment training, grab it. They are skills that always in demand across a wide range of industries and as heavy equipment technology expands, the ability to acquire skills across a range of equipment may become harder.

You can see mobile cranes traveling the highways all the time and some of them really do look like toys – just bigger than ones we had as children. A casual inspection would leave one with the feeling that anyone could operate a mobile crane.

If you think about, what is there to learn? The crane is mobile and sits on the back of a truck so a truck license would be necessary. Otherwise, there must be a lever to raise and lower the hook; another lever to extend or retract the boom; and pedals to turn the crane. Too easy surely? Lower the hook, attach the load; raise the load; swing around to where you want the load placed and lower it back to ground.

I am not trying to be flippant either. In a nutshell, that is the basics of operating a crane. Of course, if the load is a little heavy then you may just tip the crane on its side. If you don’t quite raise the load high enough you might take the top of the truck, or someone’s head.

The reality is that mobile cranes are not difficult to operate. The skills that do need to be developed are not those related to pushing levers or pedals. What is important is knowing how to set up the crane for safe use. How to handle loads safely and how to counter or work around environmental factors. Anyone can raise and lower a hook but I challenge anyone to lift a load and place it perfectly at its destination, first time, every time.

Mobile cranes may look like toys and may seem easy to operate. A highly skilled operator can work in confined areas perfectly judging distances irrespective of any environmental factors (wind for example), and place a load exactly where it is required.

Watch a crane operator lowering a large steel girder into place – the girder is a deadly weapon in itself – yet the operator can perfectly place the girder so that ground crews can fix it into place. That requires a lot of skill and that skill is based on the mobile crane operator training they received at the start of their career. Mobile cranes – they are not toys, they are precision tools that help build our nation.

A tractor is something that is used on a farm so why do they call a truck a tractor? There is a lot of terminology surrounding trucking that many finding either confusing or which simply draw blank stares. Here are some of the terms used around trucks (and tractors) that you have heard but not understood.

Tractor – the tractor is also known as a road tractor, prime mover (UK, Australia and New Zealand), or traction unit gets its name from the job it does. The tractor is the power house that does the pulling. One or more trailers (or semi trailers) can be attached to the tractor. They can also be referred to as articulated trucks. This simply refers to the fact that the tractor moves and the trailer follows – the same principle applies to a car towing a boat trailer – the boat follows the car.

Rigid Truck – the rigid unit is, as the name suggests, rigid. In other words, the tractor and the trailer are one solid unit – there is no articulation between the tractor and the trailer.

6×4, 6×2, 4×2 – these numbers refer to the wheel configuration of the tractor. The first number indicates the number of wheels (divide by two for axles) whilst the second number refers to the number of wheels powered. The most common tractors are the 6×4. The have three axles two of which are powered. This is commonly seen with the tractor having two wheels (one axle) forward of the drivers cab (used for steering) and four wheels (two axles) behind the drivers cab. The articulation point is located above the rear wheels.

Triple, Turnpike double, Rocky Mountain double or Road Train – this is a reference to a tractor with more than one trailer attached. For example, the triple will have three trailers attached.

There are many more terms in used trucking, far too many to include in a post. However, commence a career as long distance tractor driver and you will very quickly pick up the language used amongst drivers. Naturally, getting the right truck driver training from the beginning is all you need for a successful career as a long distance tractor driver.

We unfortunately live in a society where, despite standards and accreditation procedures, there are some heavy equipment training schools that just don’t make the grade. Gaining a qualification is not exactly cheap – in fact, if you come across a training program that is cheap – be careful, it may be cheap in more ways than one. So what should you look for in a heavy equipment training school?

I said there are standards and accreditation processes. It is obvious that these should be your first check. Are they accredited and do they meet the minimum standards required. However, you should do your own quality assessment and this can be done quickly using some of these guides:

Heavy equipment

There are two things to look at when it comes to the machinery itself. Is the heavy equipment reasonably modern and well maintained, or does it look like it’s been around every construction yard in the country? You don’t necessarily want every machine to be modern. You do need some experience on some of the older machines since the workplace is going to be full of machines of various ages and conditions.

The second think to look at when it comes to heavy equipment is the range. Do they have a broad range of machinery types, or are you going to be stuck behind a bobcat with a variety of attachments? Variety is the spice of training – by that I mean a variety of machinery, not attachments.

Training Area

Is the training area dedicated – or just part of the car park. Is it large and does it contain a variety of materials such as sand, gravel and rock. If you are going to train on a bulldozer, you want real earth to shift – not a pile of sand in the middle of the car park.

The Classroom

As much as we hate being in a classroom, every job has its theoretical components and that requires a specialist classroom – not the company’s lunch room. Equipment such as video players and overhead projectors will give you an indication of their professionalism.

Training Support

Is there a dedicated administration area? This is important. You want your training records stored for future reference. If there is no dedicated admin area, or admin staff, what is going to happen to your records once the heavy equipment training program has been completed? Will they be thrown in a pile in the corner, filed in the shredder, or carefully stored for future access?

These are minimum standards that you can check, often by just eyeballing the training center from the carpark. If you are satisfied with what you see, and the organization is accredited to deliver and assess heavy equipment training, you can consider enrolling and chances are, you will come out the other side a professional heavy equipment operator ready to hit the workforce. Oh yes – do they have a professional job placement service as well?

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!

If you have read any of our previous posts you will know that a bulldozer is a piece of heavy equipment that is designed to use muscle to scrape the surface and push dirt around. You could say they were the bully boys of a construction site. Nothing gets in their way, and I mean nothing.

However, that strength can also be used for other things. Some bulldozers can have their blade removed and a large scoop attached. To load dirt onto a truck, these bulldozers need hydraulic arms that can lift the scoop high enough to empty the contents into the truck.

Standard bulldozers have arms with limited movement. They can be moved within a narrow height band – some as high as the drivers cab, tilt the blade and angle the blade to the left or right. Raising the arms above their head is a different story – at least, for most bulldozers.

Having a scoop attached can certainly add to the versatility of a bulldozer. They can clear the area ready for construction, then, with a change from blade to scoop, load the pile of debris onto a truck. Of course, the operator would need heavy equipment training that covers both a bulldozer and a front end loader. That would combine the skills of both machines into the one job.

That’s all fine. But what would you call a bulldozer that can have a scoop attached? As you can see from the picture, they do exist and, taking the name bulldozer and front end loader into account, they are simply called dozer-loaders. There is another piece of trivia brought to you courtesy of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools.

If you’re really serious about starting a career as a heavy equipment operator – don’t go it alone, use a job placement service. They know the industry, they know the good employers (and the bad), and they know who is or who will be employing new operators. They also have that one little bit of knowledge that you will find impossible to find, who employs rookies and who turns them away.

You can waste a lot of time visiting construction companies trying to get your foot in the door. Many of them simply won’t employ new operators, preferring instead to hire those with experience. It may seem a little unfair, and it probably is since those experienced operators were once rookies themselves. However, that is where a job placement service can be a big help.

There are a lot of job placement services around; it is simply a matter of finding the right one for you. You also have to be sure they have specialist knowledge of the heavy equipment industry. Of course, if you’re lucky, the organization you do your training with may have their own job placement service.

You are in luck because you are one step away from finding that heavy equipment training organization that also offers a job placement service. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have one of the best reputations in the nation for delivering quality training and for providing the industry with well trained operators.

Because of that reputation, employers will often come to ATS seeking their best students. In fact, ATS has an extensive database of employers that graduates can access. Their heavy equipment job placement service doesn’t stop there, it includes a specialized web site and trained staff ready to help graduates find their first job. ATS won’t help you get your foot in the door. We want to get your feet on the pedals and actually working – after all, that is what a job placement service is all about.

If there is one general trend in our society at present it is to go ‘green’ and heavy equipment careers look set to be one of the biggest beneficiaries. When I say going green, I am of course referring to environmental issues. One of President Obama’s aims is to create 5 million new green construction jobs over the next ten years. That equates to half a million jobs each year.

Green machines have been developed in the past. Fork trucks often run on LPG rather than liquid fuels like diesel. Diesel itself is slightly better for the environment than petrol, even the unleaded version. But that is the heavy equipment itself.

What President Obama is looking at is the building of zero emission power stations, roads that shorten journeys and prevent gridlock – a huge cause of pollution and green house gases. Other projects are likely to include dam building and hydroelectricity, wind farms and the demolition of old buildings – replacing them with green earth projects.

This will create a demand for operators of heavy equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, graders and cranes. There will also be an increase in the demand for truck drivers, not only for transporting heavy equipment around the country, but also for the transportation of building materials.

As we move forward with controls on green house gas emissions, demand for skilled operators will increase. Operators who have received heavy equipment training through professional training bodies will be the ones most sought after. Their heavy equipment careers will blossom whilst those from a generation ago that trained “on-the-job” may find that refresher and safety training courses are required.

Heavy equipment careers look set to travel in one direction only – upwards. The demand is already growing with some states now trying to influence school leavers into exploring a heavy equipment career. There has never been a better time than now to investigate a career as a heavy equipment operator.