If you have been considering a career in heavy equipment, particularly as a grader operator, then I suggest you do something about it now. I don’t mean to be pushy, but, spring is only a day away and spring heralds the start of the busy earth moving season. By the time summer starts, most heavy construction jobs will be in full swing; employers will have completed their hiring; and heavy equipment operators will be hard at work trying to complete contracts on time so they can sneak more in before winter returns.

Becoming a grader operator is not as difficult as it seems. Sure, they are complex beasts and the role they fill is one where precision is a necessity. However, with onboard computer technology, this is often fairly easy to achieve. Training in the field of heavy equipment can be completed in as little as three weeks and have you ready to enter the workplace.

Training programs such as those at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools include all the skills necessary to gain and keep well paid employment. Our heavy equipment training is accredited nationally, which means your skills will be recognized nationwide. It also means that employers know you have been trained to a certain level of skill. In fact, once they see the ATS logo on your documentation they know you have received quality training.

Now is the time to act – if you enroll now you should have your training completed and be ready for work by the end of March, just in time for the mid-spring heavy equipment operator recruitment drives.

A recent report has highlighted the stimulus spending effects on the construction industry in general. The news is good with heavy equipment careers set to boom over the next 12 months. In fact, if you have had any thoughts of entering the industry, now is the time to act or you run the risk of missing out.

The report estimates that stimulus spending has saved or created 280,000 direct construction jobs. If around 8% of all construction jobs are heavy equipment related, that equates to around 25,000 heavy equipment related jobs – with more to come. The report also pointed to transport projects as being the one construction area to really grow over the past 12 months. Transport projects (road and bridge construction) have a heavy reliance on heavy equipment.

With the current employment situation favoring construction, now is the best to enter the industry. Heavy equipment operator numbers have steadily decreased in recent years as our population has aged. For the industry, it is has not just seen a loss of operators, it has seen a loss of operators that have had decades of experience, something that cannot be replaced overnight.

Is a heavy equipment career right for you? The only person who can answer that is you. However, there is one tool that you can make use of that may just help you decide. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has a totally free online training program. You can register for this training program and undertake the lessons, all from the comfort of your own home on your own computer. Once you have completed the training program, you can then decide whether or not a heavy equipment career is right for you. The jobs are there – we just need the right operators to fill those jobs. Are you potentially one of them?

It’s a play on words I know, but a commercial drivers license does offer a degree of employment security no matter what the climate; political, economic, or atmospheric. Even in tough times, such as the one we have just been through, truck drivers were still in demand. It’s a basic need – we have to eat and our food arrives in the supermarkets on trucks. In fact, from farm gate to supermarkets, trucks are the one common factor.

Truck drivers can work in a variety of occupations. There are the long distance interstate drivers. They almost live in their cabs being away from home for days at a time. If long distance is not for you, there are the short haul drivers who drive, generally speaking, intrastate. They generally spend no more than one night away from home depending on which states they operate in and what types of loads they carry.

The most popular form of truck driver is the local driver. They work within a town or city and spend almost every night in their own beds. These are the truck drivers you see on our local roads every day. They deliver food items, building supplies and short haul products if the town is a major sea or rail hub.

Training for a commercial drivers license is not as arduous as many think. A truck driver training program takes around three weeks. This should include as much time as possible behind the wheel gaining driving skills. Once you have gained the skills required, it is simply a matter of undertaking a testing session through your state licensing authority. If you pass these tests, your commercial drivers license is issued and you are ready to seek work as a truck driver. No matter what the climate is – you’ll almost always find employment opportunities.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have 10 training locations spread around the nation. Each training school offers heavy equipment training in a variety of equipment. Each training school is different and the range of equipment available at each one may vary.

Heavy equipment covers a very broad range of equipment. Small skid steer loaders are considered heavy equipment and the range goes up to include some of the super machinery used in mining. It is impossible to offer training in every type of machinery, however, by providing a cross section of equipment in training, students gain skills in the most common types in use. This equipment may include:

• Backhoes
• Wheel loaders
• Scrapers
• Excavators
• Bulldozers
• Road graders
• Rock trucks
• Skid Steers and
• All-Terrain Forklifts

Many of the skills are interchangeable to a certain extent. What most people don’t realize is that heavy equipment operation involves many different skills. For example, hand-eye coordination is important in most jobs. However, for some heavy equipment your hands may be going in different directions. A good example is an excavator where one hand is perhaps pushing the boom out, the other hand is opening the bucket to release the contents while the feet are controlling the swing of the entire unit. This coordination is a skill that is transferable to other machinery, even if the controls are unfamiliar at first.

If you are looking at a career in heavy equipment then ATS could be a smart choice when it comes to heavy equipment training. The wide range of equipment means you will gain a good grounding of skills. Add to this the in-class training in areas such as safety, soils and site layouts and you have the complete training package.

Crane operator training is very different today than what it was twenty or thirty years ago. Today, the requirement in many states is not just training, but certification that you have met the minimum standards when it comes to knowledge and skills. There are other states where this requirement is not currently in place, however, training to work in those states and not receiving certification is a big mistake.

To begin with, any crane operator training that you undertake should be done to national standards. Training bodies that are accredited by organizations such as the NCCCO train to standards that industry itself has identified as being the minimum. If you think about this it is only logical to take the next step. Certification provides proof that you now meet those minimum standards. If you’re trained to a national level, why not become certified to prove it?

What are those minimum standards? In simple terms, it is an assessment of operational skills, safety knowledge and non-operational skills such as basic maintenance and fault identification. The reality is, you can learn these skills and gain this knowledge in as little as three weeks.

ATS Crane Operator Schools are not only accredited to deliver nationally recognized crane operator training, they are also accredited to undertake assessments under the national certification system. You can receive your crane operator training, undertake the assessments, and become a certified crane operator, all under the one roof. Crane operator training and certification go hand-in-hand so it makes sense to complete it all at the same time.

For most people, the image of a bulldozer is that of a machine that pushes dirt around all day. In simple terms, they are right. However, in the hands of a skilled operator, bulldozers are land sculptors. Rather than just pushing dirt around, they carve areas ready for whatever the intended use is.

If you take a housing development, the land is cleared. This is the bulldozer at its beasty best. It uses brute strength to carve away the top of the area to be developed. However, once the initial work has been completed, the bulldozer then starts to carve out areas. Roads may be carved a little deeper than the surrounding home sites. Playgrounds or shopping precincts may be carved a little deeper still or at least cleared to a large flat surface. In the hands of a skilled operator, this work can be completed with precision in fairly quick time.

The operative words there are ‘skilled operator’. The bulldozer is going nowhere unless it has an operator. The more skilled the operator, the better the machine performs. Becoming a skilled operator takes two steps – training and practice. Training, of course, provides the skill and knowledge base that practice (or experience) builds on. Like any building, lay a faulty foundation and the chances are that building will collapse. Develop a poor skills base and no amount of practice will help – not if you are practicing poor work habits.

Quality training starts with a quality training organization like ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools. ATS deliver quality bulldozer training through their nationally accredited heavy equipment training program, a program that can have you work ready in as little as three weeks. If you fancy the challenge of operating a beast to carve out the landscape then consider bulldozer operator training.

Heavy equipment safety has become one of the most important components in an accredited heavy equipment training program. There is good reason for it as well. Over the years, heavy equipment accidents have resulted in deaths, serious injuries and millions of dollars in damages to properties. In most states, all employees need to be following a work place safety plan and businesses can be fined large amounts for breaches in safety procedures.

Unfortunately, heavy equipment safety is very much an attitude issue. In the past, heavy equipment operators were seen as rough, tough, heavy drinking loudmouths that worked with a break or who have a break-through type attitude. We still see this stereotype as heavy equipment operators, but that mentality is no longer the dominant force in this industry.

It may seem strange, but heavy equipment safety needs to become a subconscious act, not a conscious act. Sure, you need to be thinking safety, but your subconscious is what is always watching what is taking place around you. Some people call it a sixth sense. The term doesn’t matter – heavy equipment safety just needs to become second nature.

We do it in our cars as we drive around. We are not constantly thinking about safety, we just do it. The same is true when it comes to heavy equipment safety. This all starts with your attitude and the type of training you receive. Your heavy equipment training should be accredited and should include heavy equipment safety training components (if it’s accredited it will – it’s part of the accreditation process).

Here at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools we have a well earned reputation for providing industry with well trained graduates who are ready for employment. This means they have been trained to national standards including heavy equipment safety. If you are looking to become a heavy equipment operator – train with the best to ensure that your skills and knowledge are what employers are looking for.

Backhoe contractors are amongst the busiest workers in the earth moving industry. In fact, backhoes are often in such demand that heavy equipment hire yards have waiting lists for available machinery. One of the qualities that makes a backhoe a popular choice is its versatility.

For operators, a day’s work for their backhoe could range from digging a trench to removing debris from a demolition site. Along they way they may be required to use any number of attachments for jobs such as breaking up concrete. Because backhoes are so versatile, they require skilled operators, operators that know how to use their machines and know how to use the various attachments.

Becoming a backhoe contractor is not as difficult as you may think. Training is the first step and when selecting a training company, you really should look at those that are accredited to deliver nationally recognized training. That is a sign of a well respected heavy equipment training company.

Following your training you should find employment for a business that uses backhoes in a variety of situations. This is where you can develop your skills and become a truly professional operator. It is also an ideal environment for networking and building a reputation for being a skilled operator.

The final step is the hardest – and most expensive. Once you have developed a network of businesses that regularly use backhoe contractors, and a reputation for being one of the best, you will need to acquire a backhoe of your own. They are expensive and many new contractors look to buy older used models. Just remember that with a used backhoe, or any piece of heavy equipment, you could be buying someone else’s problem machine. Give the backhoe a good workout before outlaying any cash.

Backhoe contractors earn a good living, they are their own boss and can set their own work hours and work days. It can be a hard road getting there but you will never achieve it unless you take those first steps. Those steps start with quality heavy equipment training.

Yes, you read correctly. Dancing excavators. I write this post, not so much to highlight the fact that excavators can dance, but to highlight the precision of the excavator operators. In one video, whilst the excavators don’t appear to be that big, when you have an excavator bucket and broom traveling at speed, it will do some damage when it comes into contact with something.

Precision comes from experience. However, that experience is based on the initial training that an excavator operator receives. If the initial training is poor, then the on-the-job training skill development becomes so much harder. In fact, many new operators walk away from the profession because they cannot cope, and they reason they cannot cope is because they have had such poor training to begin with.

A well trained operator will be confident (without being cocky) when taking control of his/her equipment. The more time they spend using that piece of equipment, the more confident they become – in fact, an operator soon learns to trust instinct as much as anything else. That is a skill that does take time to develop.

Good quality training starts with the selection of a training organization. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has a long history of providing quality excavator training that is relevant to today’s workplace. We pride ourselves on providing our students with a solid platform of skills and knowledge that enable them to quickly gain on-the-job work skills. In effect, our quality training helps an operator fast track their career.

If you are looking to develop the skills similar to those shown in the video, contact us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools and we can discuss what options are available in becoming a heavy equipment operator.

Heavy equipment training is obviously designed to provide you with the skills so you can gain employment as an operator. There are many training schools that offer this training, however, few of them stand behind their training by offering a job placement service. Most of them provide you with the skills, often through very good training, but leave you on your own to find that first job.

There are several heavy equipment training schools that offer job placement services to their graduates. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is one such company. We stand firmly behind our training and work with graduates to help them find suitable employment. It’s an important service because new heavy equipment operators can find it difficult to get that ‘first’ start after completing training.

New graduates have one distinct disadvantage in the employment market – lack of experience and a lack of referees. ATS can help a graduate cross that hurdle due to our hard earned reputation for supplying industry with well trained and job ready graduates. We have had over 40 years experience in the field of training and through that time we have developed a strong reputation for quality training procedures.

Our job placement has a good record of helping those who really do want to find employment. We can provide graduates with leads to possible employers and help them with their applications. If you are interested in the field of heavy equipment then before settling on a training option, check on whether or not they provide a job placement service. Of course, since you’re here now, you may as well check out our heavy equipment training programs.