Working on an oil rig can be a tough job. You are miles away from land, from your loved ones, and from the hustle and bustle of city life. What you have is miles of wide open sea, as far as the eyes can see.

Pile drivers have a noisy job. They are required to drive piles, made from steel, wood, or concrete and steel mixes, up to 10 or 15 feet underground. These piles are the bases on which buildings, or this case, oil wells, are built.

These ‘piles’ need to be driven in precise locations to precise depths. If the driver is one inch of center the pile could be driven in at an angle, or perhaps be damaged.

The pile driver itself may be mounted on a platform, housed on a barge or attached to the oil well itself. Using levers, pedals and hydraulic valves, the operator raises and drops the heavy hammer to drive the pile deep into the earth.

On land, pile drivers assist in the building of retaining walls, bridges where they drive the piles that support the bridge into the rivers bank and for building construction.

Heavy equipment such as pile driving requires training and ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools are the best prepared to train you for a career as a heavy equipment operator.

If your travel the highways, back roads, or even the streets around your neighborhood, these roads all have one thing in common. They have been created by heavy equipment from what was once uncleared land to the finely finished surface you are driving on.

Heavy equipment is used every step of the way. Whether it is bulldozers tearing up the ground, motor graders leveling the surface to dump trucks spreading sand, dirt or gravel. That is only half the job.

The heavy graders are then brought back in to again level and plane the sand, dirt or gravel until there is an even surface with the right slope or camber ready for the final seal.

The heavy equipment used to place that final seal is one of the most important. If asphalt is being used, then the operator has many things to consider. The material needs to be placed at a specific thickness, however, the material is often a hot mix so it must be placed at a set speed to ensure the mix hasn’t cooled off to quickly.

Even concrete surfaces need placing at the correct speed and thickness to ensure a top surface for driving. Where asphalt differs to concrete is in the final finish. Heavy equipment roller driver drive up and down the road using machines with many tires helping to cure the surface.

So called ‘steam’ rollers (although they no longer use steam) also travel up and down trying to achieve a level surface that allows vehicles to travel on with reduced noise whilst being safe.

All of this is in the hands of heavy equipment operators. To gain training in this field, select a recognized training firm such as ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

Over the last 100 years heavy equipment has slowly evolved from large cumbersome beasts that spent a lot of fuel to move a small amount of dirt to today’s machines that are, by comparison, much smaller and yet capable of moving far more dirt with less effort.

The role of an operator has also changed. 100 years ago you proved your abilities, not with a piece of paper, but by climbing in and doing the job. The hours were long, the work dirty and as an operator, it was brute strength that was required simply to turn the steering wheel. The levers took even more work.

Today, with power assisted steering and feather touch lever control, you can operate your heavy equipment virtually with a single finger.

With the implementation of laser pointing devices, satellite navigation, GPS, and onboard computers, an operator can virtually set the machine to a do a job and sit back go to auto pilot. Perhaps it isn’t quite that easy, but the day is coming. Computers certainly do make life easier now. Heavy equipment operators from the past would not recognize todays machine.

Top operate a piece of heavy equipment now, you need almost as much class room training as behind the wheel. Check out our training at ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

The versatility of heavy equipment is generally determined by its ability to move through adverse terrain. Wheels will enable a machine to do some traveling off road but when things get slippery or steep the only machines that will move are the ones on tracks.

Tracks are basically a steel highway that is picked up and laid down in a continuous circle. While being advantageous for moving heavy equipment to different places, tracks do bring along with them the expense of repair and replacement.

Tracks wear out through metal to metal contact, ground to metal contact and contact even with the air. There are many components in a track system, collectively known as undercarriage. If everything works properly, all the components wear out at the same time and all can be replaced at the same time.

When components don’t wear out at the same rate you end up throwing away items that are not completely worn out. That’s money that can’t be recovered. With good training and on the job experience, you can soon learn to tell how each component is wearing.

One of the mot important things when operating heavy equipment is to understand you machine and be able to recognize when things are not right. Learn to operate heavy equipment with tracks at ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools

We have often mentioned the heavy equipment training that ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools offer. One of the best advertisements for any product comes from the mouths of those who have used a product.

Our past students have found the training to be not only comprehensive, but also delivered in a way that creates an environment to bring out the best in people. These students have been appreciative of the trainers, the facilities and the equipment used.

Being happy with the training is one thing. Being able to put that training into practice is the most important aspect – in other words, gaining employment in the heavy equipment field using equipment that they were trained to operate. In many cases, this involved obtaining licenses from third parties – for example, a CDL license.

The training provided by ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools is accredited and complies with set standards. Our students are ready to start work the moment they finish their training. If you would like to see what former students have to say about our training then visit our student feedback page and see what their feedback is.

There are time when you may look at a training program and say ‘I wish’. Sometimes it may look daunting, you may feel you don’t have the skills or for some, they feel they don’t have the high school or college education required to get accepted into a heavy equipment training program.

The truth is, it is not what you know now, or what you have learned in the past, it is what you are capable of learning and what you are capable of doing that is important. Heavy equipment training isn’t a walk in the park. It can be fairly heavy going at times. However, if you have a little dedication and a little determination you can succeed.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools are not so much interested in your past. The future is what counts so we will work with you to help you achieve your goals. Applying for training is straightforward. Our heavy equipment training online application form is a standard contact form. Once we receive your application we will review it and one of our admissions representatives will call you back to discuss the options.

Heavy equipment operators are in heavy demand right now so now is the best time to start your training for a new and lucrative career.

One of the fastest growing heavy equipment careers is that of a class A truck driver. With the cost of fuel soaring, many businesses are turning away from air freight and resorting once more to road freight.

You would think that even road freight would suffer with higher fuel prices – and it does. However the industry is so competitive that most freight companies are reducing profits rather than hiking prices – price rises are certainly lower than those imposed by airlines. There are other reasons as well- all of which result in a demand for more trucks and with it more drivers.

In the past, many trucks would drive from A to B at only 75% or even less capacity. They are now moving with 100% capacity and there are still insufficient vehicles and qualified drivers to move freight. A career as a class A truck driver can be rewarding. One of the benefits of truck driving is that, once you leave the depot, you are virtually your own boss. You drive the truck and there is certainly no foreman sitting behind you yelling instructions – its you, your truck and the open road.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with the relevant in class and on road training to help you gain your class A commercial driving license.

Once you get your start in the field of heavy equipment operation you may find that what you are doing is not quite enough. Training is the start of a career and ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can help there.

Getting your first job operating a heavy equipment machine is your next step; and of course we can help you there as well. As you gain more experience you are going to start to eye of some of the larger more technical machines. How do you get behind the wheel of one those?

There are several options available. The first is to simply approach your employer and see if they are willing to let you spend some time in the cab alongside a regular operator. This may not suit all employers as this time is unproductive. However, the heavy equipment operator may be willing to spend a little time with you during a meal break or before or after work.

A better option is to gain further formal training through a heavy equipment training school. They may be able to provide hands on training in larger machines or machines more suited to ambitions. If you have undertaken training as a dozer operator then it is fairly easy to gain training as a motor grader operator or similar.

Once you have finished your training and gained employment, the future is wide open. As we have pointed out in the last few posts, demand for operators is rising and with it the pay checks. A career in the heavy equipment industry is challenging yet very rewarding.

Heavy equipment is normally associated with construction and often with just land clearing and road building. There are however many other areas where heavy equipment operators are required. These include farms, forestry, mining and cargo ports.

The Department of Labor is expecting strong growth in the requirement for heavy equipment operators in these areas. Growth ranges from a strong 10% in mining to 4% in forestry with farming and cargo around the 7%.

Wages in these occupations range from around the $11 for rural/farming occupations to $18 for crane operators working in our ports.

Truck haulage is expect to rise significantly as the cost of fuel impacts on the airline industry. Growth is difficult to asses given the option of rail versus road. If road continues to expand then employment growth to reach 12-13% in coming years.

Wages for truck drivers vary greatly with local drivers receiving a little over $15 per hour. Long distance drivers are being paid per trip rather than per hour and wages vary according to the distance traveled.

As we have seen with this weeks posts, the requirement for heavy equipment operators is growing strongly in all sectors of our economy. The wages are also growing at a rate comparable to inflation with conditions for workers improving all the time.

Given the new technology and ability of employers to do more with less, the increase in labor in these sectors is significant. Economic downturn normally calls for cuts in the workforce. This is not so in the heavy equipment skills area.

To join the heavy equipment work force you need the appropriate skills. We keep pace with modern trends and employer requirements and offer training that is relevant to these needs. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools would be happy to discuss your training needs and provide you with the opportunity to kick start you career.

The Department Of Labor has a good site that provides a lot of information for anyone looking to work in the construction industry. They have a special section for those looking to work with heavy equipment and the training and certification required.

Most of the information points to school leavers entering apprenticeships. However there is one section that deals with private training and it makes for interesting reading. One section is particularly important:

[source]Certification and other qualifications. Mechanical aptitude and experience operating related mobile equipment, such as farm tractors or heavy equipment, in the Armed Forces or elsewhere is an asset. Operators need to be in good physical condition and have a good sense of balance, the ability to judge distance, and eye-hand-foot coordination. Some operator positions require the ability to work at heights.

Certification or training in the right school will allow a worker to have opportunities across the country. While attending some vocational schools, operators are able to qualify for or attain various certifications. These certifications prove to potential employers that an operator is able to handle specific types of equipment. Certifications last from 3 to 5 years and must be renewed.

The article reiterates some of the information we passed on in earlier posts. One line stands out and relates to ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools – training in the right school will allow a worker to have opportunities across the country.

To receive certification the heavy equipment training school itself needs to be accredited. If you are looking for training, make sure the training organization has accreditation from an authorized body.