Can you read sign language? I hope you can learn, or at least learn the sign language that is taught when you attend crane operator training. There are times when a crane operator will need to work in an environment in which they are blind to some aspect of the job. They may be blind to the lift point or blind to the drop point.

To complete the job successfully, the crane operator will need to rely on the eyes of others. They will provide the operator with signals to indicate when to raise the load, lower load, swing the load to a new position and many other movements. We call these hand signals. Many years ago we had workers riding the loads using whistles to indicate the next move. Many sites now use two way radios instead.

You will still need to learn the basic hand signals in use. These signals are fairly easy to learn and use. What is important is that only one person communicates with the crane operator at any one time. This means nominating someone to guide the operator. They too will obviously need to know the hand signals. Examples of hand signals include:

Hoist or Raise: Raise the forearm vertically and extend the right arm straight out with forefinger pointing up – move hand in small circles.

Lower: Forefinger pointing down and extend right arm downward then move hand in small horizontal circle.

Stop: Extend right arm down with wrist bent, palm down and open.

They are just three examples and depending on the situation, may need to be used differently. What is important is that the crane operator and the person being the ‘eyes’ have an agreed signaling system in place. This ensures safety and helps to prevent accidents. Crane operator training covers the most frequently used hand signals.

If you have read earlier posts you will know that I take a real interest in any heavy equipment that I see when traveling around. Today I was fascinated watching a backhoe move large concrete slabs into place. The whole process is a regular part of the job and only took an hour or so to complete – but it was still fascinating.

A backhoe is not a huge machine yet, for its size it can pack a punch. If I have a criticism of what I saw today it would be that the operator did more than the machine was really capable off. The concrete slab obviously weighed more than the recommended lifting capacity of the backhoe – the back wheels kept lifting of the ground as it tried to carry the slab. No problems – they simply loaded the bucket with rocks to act as a counterweight. Not a safe practice but a novel approach to the problem.

Carrying the slab was not a safe practice, however, the real interest to me came once the slab was close to being in place. Using the bucket, the operator was able to carefully nudge that concrete slab into place. It was like watching a child nudge a block against other blocks – a little nudge on the left, a nudge on the right, a final nudge at the back to slot it home. When I say nudges, they were very gentle nudges.

They put three of these large slabs into place – why they didn’t pour them in place I don’t know but I guess they had their reasons. That operator had probably had a few years experience yet a good backhoe operator training program would have produced similar results. Operating a backhoe is not as difficult as some people imagine – especially if you’re trained by a seasoned professional.

If you have your commercial drivers license (CDL) then you may want to consider adding a crane operators certification to your range skills. This will certainly improve your job prospects and can offer a diversity of employment options. Employers today are looking for potential employees that are are multi-skilled and can work in various areas.

You may wonder the association between crane operators and truck drivers. There is one. For starters, mobile crane operators require a truck driver’s license anyway. However, moving away from mobile cranes, if you can operate an overhead crane then you can potentially help to load or unload your own truck. Having skills to operate a fork lift places you in a similar situation.

Adding a crane operator’s certificate only takes three weeks – yet it adds a life time of opportunities to your resume. I won’t try and fool you. There are not employers jumping out of the woodwork looking for multi-skilled truck drivers. Having said that, it’s not until an employer sees your resume and understands that you can drive a truck, operate a crane (as a certified operator) and perhaps drive a fork lift that your true worth will show through.

Employers don’t always see the associations until it is there in black and white in front of them – suddenly a host of possibilities opens up. Your first step is to find a training provider that is accredited to deliver crane operator training and who is also accredited to undertake the follow up assessment and certification. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have both of these accreditations – in three weeks you can add a crane operator certification to your truck driving skills.

Like the idea of driving trucks? If you answered yes then now is the time to get your commercial drivers license. The economy has well and truly turned the corner and shoppers’ confidence is returning in big numbers. This means more goods are being transported which leads to more trucks on the road which in turn leads to a greater demand for drivers.

Add to the mix the rapidly approaching Christmas period and you have a shopkeeper’s dream. For shopkeepers to stock their shelves and keep them stocked, we need a large fleet of commercial trucks traveling from factory to warehouse and from warehouse to shopfront. Over the past eighteen months shopkeepers dropped their stock inventories – now they are fast tracking the restocking.

The American economy rides on the back of our transport industry. Road freight may only be one component of that transport industry – it is a big component. Drivers operate long hours and on interstate runs, may be away from home for several days at a time. The upside is the freedom that driving a truck brings together with a reasonably good pay check.

Truck driving is not as easy as it seems. Sure, you sit behind the wheel for long hours. However, navigating through towns, around road construction sites and in heavy traffic takes a lot of skill. Even more skill is required as these drivers reverse those rigs into fairly small loading bays.

These skills and more are learned through commercial drivers license training. This training not only provides the skills, it prepares you to pass and receive your CDL ready to start work as a truck driver.

Crane’s are potentially one of the most dangerous machines on a building site so many states have introduced crane operator certification. By certifying operators, the theory is that crane-related accidents will fall, thus reducing workplace injuries and deaths. That, in a nutshell, is why you need crane operator training.

That was the short version. The long version is a little more involved. Yes, safety is a primary concern. However, to get to a level where all crane operators are acting to identical sets of rules, there needs to be a consensus on what those rules should be. The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) is the organization that was formed to plan training and assessment guidelines for crane operators.

Training and assessment for certification is now a nationwide standard. No matter where you do your crane operator training, if the training organization is accredited by NCCCO then everyone will receive similar training and pass the same assessments. So the first step was to establish a set standard throughout the country.

The second component was to accredit those organizations that were capable of delivering the training required. Accreditation was also given to those organization that met the minimum standards for assessing crane operators. There is now a national standard of training and assessing, which ensures that any crane operator that has been certified can effectively work anywhere in the country.

Whilst crane operator certification was originally planned to reduce workplace accidents, the end result is a set of minimum standards for all crane operators. These standards cover the complete range of crane operations, including, of course, safety. Find a training organization that is NCCCO accredited to deliver both the training and assessment of crane operators and you will be assured your training meets national standards.

Driving a dump truck can be a hot and dusty job – although at this time of the year it could also be a cold, damp and muddy job. It’s not all hard work, however. There are times when the dump trucks and their drivers relax a little and have some fun. Christmas is one such occasion, especially when they help out Santa.

I am sure you have seen Christmas parades, or perhaps had Santa visit a workplace Christmas party that has been put together for the families. We don’t see them quite as often as we used to. Thirty or forty years ago every workplace had a family Christmas function of some description. The star of the function was always the arrival of Santa.

For many workplaces, Santa arrived in a dressed up dump truck. He still does today. The dump truck is cleaned out, lined with all the Christmas trappings that befits a Santa. A large chair is placed on a few pallets to give him some height, and the dump truck is ready for Santa.

It’s not just Christmas. There are many street parades each year that feature characters dressed up to please the children. They drive down the street on the back of a dump truck. For other characters, the back of a flat bed truck is used.

What shouldn’t surprise you is that despite all the fun and pageantry that accompanies these events, the dump truck driver’s responsibility still revolves around safety – probably more so given the number of children pressing in trying to get a closer look. It takes a lot of skill and concentration to drive a truck at such slow speeds, skills that have been picked up through dump truck driver training and through practical hands on experience. Of course, our kids don’t care – they just want to see Santa.

Career opportunities for new crane operator training graduates are looking good for at least the next five years with strong growth expected across all construction areas. Crane operators are particularly fortunate when you consider how diverse the opportunities are. Whilst construction absorbs a large proportion of new graduates, manufacturing also offers opportunities in the form of overhead crane operators whilst general lifting also offers opportunities in the form of mobile crane operations.

Employment can be sporadic through the winter months in some areas as construction grinds to a halt due to weather. Opportunities do open during these periods in southern states where weather may have a smaller impact on construction.

There are opportunities to be had in areas that many forget to include in their job seeking strategies. Ports rely a lot on the use of cranes. These are specialist cranes for which specialist training may be required. That training is generally built on the foundations of basic training, skills and experience that a crane operator will have developed operating standard cranes.

Rail companies, shipping companies and trucking companies often make use of crane operators. Cranes can be found mounted on rail wagons, barges and in some freight centers. These are all areas where you could find employment opportunities.

Given the diversity of work places that use crane operators and the strong growth in construction, career opportunities for new crane operator training graduates is strong. By undertaking a recognized crane operator training program and satisfying the certification criteria, you will be well placed to take advantage of the many opportunities that are currently available.

Think of a wheel loader and you probably think of the loaders you see running around a construction site loading rubble onto dump trucks. They do a great job too but did you know they were the teens of the family? The bobcat is probably the baby of the family and just like a baby that has learned to crawl, they zip all around the place – always under your feet.

If the bobcat is the baby of the family, you should see the grandpappy of the family. Compact loaders weigh in at around 10,000 pounds and draw around 50 horse power. The grandpappy’s weigh as much as 430,000 pounds and draw as much as 1500 horse power. That is one big machine – do the maths. That’s 43 times larger and 30 times more powerful.

Wheel loaders of that size of course are used in specialist roles such as mining and, yes, helping to move mountains – large hills anyway. One scoop load would fill a standard dump truck with plenty to spill over. Imagine the size of the wheels!

While these machines are giants in their class, the skills needed to operate them are not much greater than those required to operate a standard loader. Experience is the key to operating a machine of this size and that experience starts with a wheel loader training program that prepares you for the workplace.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools may not get you into the cab of one of these monsters straight away. They will, however, provide the training that can get you into the cab of a standard wheel loader where you can start to build the experience required. Discover more about our wheel loader training programs and the opportunities that await.

There is a lot more to being a crane operator than most people realize and crane operator training can be rather involved. When we see a crane at work, all we see is a load going up and an empty hook coming down – sometimes it can be the reverse – an empty hook going up and a full load coming down. To get the crane into a position where it can safely perform that task is often the more complicated part of a crane operator’s job.

A crane operator’s job can be broken down into four components. Equipment maintenance; equipment setup and dismantle; job and risk assessment; and lifting. Looking at each of these individually:

Crane maintenance: This is the more mundane part of the job. Regular walk around inspections ensuring that nothing is showing signs of wear and tear is one component. Another regular part of the job is ensuring that all fluid levels are right and that all movable parts receive regular lubricants.

Crane setup and dismantle: This is one of the most vital parts of a crane operator’s job. In fact, the crane operators own ‘life could depend on how well he sets up the equipment. Cranes work on a theory of balance and counter balance. If the crane is not set rigidly in place and well balanced, the weight of the load could for the crane to tip over. Crane operators may also need to assemble some components. Tower crane operators will always need to assemble and disassemble various parts of their own machine.

Job and risk assessment: This is an ongoing activity that should be percolating around an operator’s mind at all times. Prior to the job starting, the operator should assess the loads that need lifting, the weight of the load, and any environmental factors such as wind. Risk assessment goes hand in hand with job assessent – every part of the lift is assessed for any possible dangers.

The lift: After all that, the lift will come as an anticlimax – at least, if you have done every thing right up to this point. If everything else is right – the lift should be completed with minimal fuss.

Crane operators are well paid and have a very serious role to play on construction sites. Is this the career for you? Find out more about crane operator training . You never know, you could be on your way to a new career today.

Do you like adventure? If so a career as a bulldozer operator may be just the ticket. There is plenty of reliable and steady work available for bulldozer operators. There is also a lot of work available for those who like variety.

Bulldozers are versatile machines. You could be working for a couple days out in the back blocks somewhere clearing land for farming. Your next job could be in the middle of the city clearing rubble from a demolition site, or out on new stretch of highway that is being built.

As a bulldozer operator you get to see and participate in all sides of a construction saga – the construction, the demolition and the reconstruction. Life is never dull, life is never boring and if you like to do a little traveling then a bulldozer career can offer it.

If you are tired of the monotony of sitting behind a desk or walking a factory floor then getting out and about in the sun could be the change you are looking for. As a bulldozer operator I can promise you one thing, you will see plenty of sun, a little rain and perhaps even a little snow.

Bulldozer operators are well paid compared to many other workers and with a steady flow of work currently available there is little chance of being laid off through lack of work. Training to become a bulldozer operator can be completed in as little as three weeks. With the amount of work available at present you could be employed in a new career within a month of starting your training.

If you are sick of your current job, consider a career as a bulldozer operator. If you are looking for bulldozer training designed to get you started – look no further. We have exactly what you need. The only thing missing is you.