When I suggest you can sit in the seat of a bulldozer for free, I am not talking about joy rides. I am talking about real down-to-earth experience and when I say ‘free’, I really do mean free. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have been conducting highly successful one day workshops in heavy equipment and truck driving with entry to these workshops totally free.

If you decide to attend one of these workshops, you will be able to participate in the training module, “Introduction to Heavy Equipment”. You will also be able to participate in a range of training-related activities including:

• Meeting instructors and current students to get a feel for the campus
• Meeting admissions counselors and discussing training options
• Experiencing training in real time by attending actual training sessions
• Gaining hands-on experience, and that means climbing all over the equipment and sitting in the operators seat

While bulldozers are one of the most popular machines, you can also get a feel for a range of equipment including:

• backhoes
• graders
• loaders
• cranes
• excavators

And that is just a short list (the equipment available will vary from campus to campus). What is important for anyone considering a career as a heavy equipment operator is the chance to gain a real feel for the industry. By attending these workshops you will gain a better understanding as to whether or not this is the best career option for you – at no cost. The no-cost component is important because it really is free. These workshops are offered free of any obligations – no contracts, no expensive agreements and no commitment required to undertake any further training.

If you are interested in attending one of our workshops, check out our website for further details on where and when our free heavy equipment workshops are being conducted. We currently have workshops scheduled through to early December and since numbers are limited, booking a place is essential. If you’re ready to discuss booking a place, call us on 1-800-383-7364 and reserve your spot. If you’ve never been in the seat of a bulldozer, or any other heavy equipment, then do yourself a favor; call us and give it a try – it could be the start of an interesting career as a heavy equipment operator.

Bulldozers are one of the most popular machines for new operators entering the heavy equipment field. For many, the dream of operating a bulldozer starts in childhood and only re-kindles after leaving school. If you’re considering entering the field as a bulldozer operator, you may be wondering where you could possibly find employment.

Heavy equipment is used throughout industry with loaders and bulldozers the most popular. They certainly appear in the most diverse areas of industry. Bulldozers started life in rural communities where they helped to clear land and build dams. There is still a strong demand for this type of work today. While ever we eat and have farmers supplying that food, we will need bulldozers.

Construction is the biggest employer of bulldozers and bulldozer operators. From clearing land for new buildings to clearing land for roads and highways, bulldozers are there, often in numbers. You will also find bulldozers in use in the mining industry, forestry and in the military. Snow plows are nothing more than specialist bulldozers and, in communities where snow is not a regular event, bulldozers are used as snow plows.

You will find bulldozers in use across a broad range of industries and over time, employment opportunities have been steady. The prediction is that opportunities will rise in the future as ‘baby boomers’ start to age and retire. This could leave a vacuum of experienced operators – a factor that is well worth considering when deciding on a career.

Bulldozer training is part of a more general heavy equipment training program. These programs can be completed and have you prepared for entry level employment in as little as three weeks. If you still have that childhood dream of operating heavy equipment, why not make it a reality – the work is there.

When it comes to big boy toys, bulldozers still lead the way. Not to appear sexist, they are also one of the most popular choices for female operators as well. There are many reasons for their popularity, the chief one being the amount of machinery in use around the country. They are not only the most popular when it comes to new operators entering the industry, they are the most frequently used unit of heavy equipment.

One of the benefits for new operators is the broad use of bulldozers. They are used in agriculture, especially when it comes to land clearing and dam building; in road construction, often as the first tool to clear the way; and in general construction, again to clear the way for housing, commercial and industrial developments. Bulldozers, or modified versions of a bulldozer, can also be found within industry with grain handling being one example. Snow plows are often modified bulldozers as well and generally require bulldozer operator skills.

Because there is such a broad range of opportunities available to bulldozer operators, it can be fairly easy to obtain sustainable long term employment. Wages and work condition are good with most operators finding employment within easy traveling distance of their homes. Training to become a bulldozer operator can be completed in as little as three weeks with students ready for entry level positions on graduation.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have a long tradition of providing quality operators to industry. ATS regularly consults with industry to ensure that our heavy equipment training is up to date and that students do graduate with the skills required to succeed. If you are interested in a career as a bulldozer operator, or any other unit of heavy equipment, contact ATS for details on our next training program. We have training centers in many parts of the nation with courses commencing on a regular basis.

The wildfires in California have once again seen the introduction of bulldozers to help reduce the fire’s impact. Bulldozers, of course, cannot fight fire directly, but they can have a huge impact when it comes to preventing the fire from spreading too far. Some bulldozer operators spend much of their career working as part of a fire reduction crew, moving from area to area clearing away the ground cover.

Fires generally start in fallen leaf litter, often spreading quickly, and when wind and dry conditions combine, quickly climb to tree tops where they can rage through the canopy at high speeds. By clearing as much of the ground litter away as possible, it helps to reduce the possibility of fires starting in the first place. But what about fires that are already raging?

Bulldozers play an important role in these situations as well. Firefighters will determine where a suitable fire break should be established. Bulldozers will then move in and totally clear that area, often working around and against the clock. When successful, the fire is either brought to a halt, or at least slowed sufficiently to allow firefighters to get the upper hand.

For bulldozer operators, it can be dangerous work. The last thing they want is to be caught with the fire raging towards them. At the same time, there are homes and peoples lives at risk if the fire break isn’t established. It takes dedication and a lot of skill to complete a task with that sort of pressure around yet, year after year, bulldozer operators not only do it, but they often do it well enough to make an impact on slowing that fire.

If you want to be a firefighting bulldozer operator then you need to start off on the right foot and that is by obtaining the very best in heavy equipment training. Gaining the skills required by employers is a must in today’s workplace. From there, you can further develop your skills until you reach a point where you can work in areas that are both taxing and dangerous. Homes and lives are saved each year because of the work undertaken by skilled bulldozer operators – are you going to be one of the next generation of firefighting bulldozer operators?

Three heavy equipment vehicles that can often be seen working together are loaders, bulldozers and dump trucks. They do make for a perfect team with the bulldozer’s sheer grunt giving it the ability to move a lot of dirt around fairly quickly. Loaders then transfer those piles of dirt to dump trucks to be carted away. You will often see bulldozers, loaders and dump trucks working together in areas such as pre-construction of buildings and roads.

Bulldozers do one thing – they move dirt and they do it well. With plenty of grunt in the engine, and a good strong blade at the front, they can carve out a new road or building site fairly quickly. It is interesting to watch the bulldozer take an area of land that is lightly vegetated and transform it into a flat clean area of land ready for whatever project is intended. The only sign of the bulldozer’s presence being the piles of dirt and rubble scattered around the edges of the site.

Bring in the loader and those piles of dirt and rubble are soon gone, all transferred to waiting dump trucks for removal. Loaders don’t rely on brute forward strength. Their power revolves around their ability to quickly maneuver around a site and to lift large loads, particularly overhead and into dump trucks. Where bulldozers rely on tracks for mobility, loaders are generally wheeled and often articulated, giving them even more mobility.

Dump trucks complete the picture. With open top bodies, they can be quickly and easily filled with dirt and rubble. Being trucks, they can take that load to any destination, including driving on the open roads. Dump trucks get their name from the action of dumping, or tipping the body upwards to ‘dump’ out their load.

These three vehicles work independently yet each relies on the other to complete its job. For those looking at a career in heavy equipment, standard training at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools introduces students to all three vehicles (and many others). If you are looking for hands on training that prepares you for the workforce, check out your heavy equipment training options – perhaps a career as a dump truck driver, bulldozer operator or loader operator is right for you.

Summer is here and for some parts of the country it heralds the arrival of the fire season. It seems inevitable that every year some part of the country will burst into flames. Right now, there are bulldozers at work preparing the way for these fires. They build fire breaks, try to remove as much of the ground litter as possible and generally clear areas that could be highly combustible.

Their work is invaluable and could help to reduce the destruction caused by some of these summer fire storms. Unfortunately, the bulldozer’s role doesn’t finish there. In many cases, once a fire storm has ripped through an area, it is those same bulldozer operators that are called in to clean up the damage caused by these fires. This often involves clearing away what were once people’s homes.

Although it may sound like an easy job, working to reduce the amount of fuel on the floor takes an experienced and skilled bulldozer operator. Many of these areas are protected so the operator needs to work in such a way that ground fuel is reduced with the minimum amount of damage to the environment. These are skills that are developed over time and rely on the operator receiving good training at the start of their career.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are leaders in the field when it comes to training new recruits to the industry. The school’s reputation amongst contractors is good with many contractors sourcing their new employees direct from any one of the schools. While you cannot expect to be out creating firebreaks immediately after graduation, work is available in a variety of areas, work that will provide the experience and skills required to undertake that type of employment in the future.

Are you considering a career as a heavy equipment operator – more specifically, a bulldozer operator? If so, contact us to determine which school is closest to you and when the next heavy equipment training course commences.

In an age where everyone is becoming environmentally conscious, moves are afoot to reclaim land and return it to its former natural glory. While bulldozers may have been a part of the original stripping of the land, they are now an integral part of the teams trying to re-vegetate these areas. Little has changed for the bulldozer. They still go in and strip the land bare again – only this time, rather than farming, building or open spaces, that stripped land is being planted out with vegetation that is native to that area.

I say little has changed for the bulldozer and to a point that is correct. However, for a re-vegetation program to be effective, all of the old unwanted vegetation has to be removed – roots and all. The area often needs working several times to ensure that no viable seeds remain that will contaminate the natural vegetation. Bulldozer operators are also required to sculpt the land so that it can become a natural area again.

Heavy equipment in general is now playing a huge role in environmental issues. In fact, new heavy equipment coming in to the marketplace are themselves environmentally friendly. They comply with low emissions and some of this equipment is also running on alternative fuels, bulldozers included.

If you want to be a part of the new greening movement, yet have a hankering to operate heavy equipment like bulldozers, the two are no longer incompatible. In fact, as we move forward into the future the two will become closely allied. You can do both – you just need to undertake the best heavy equipment training around and to then find the right employers.

Bulldozer training – you can actually find bulldozer training facilities all over the place. Some training schools are better than others, but then that’s true of every industry across the nation. If you are looking to enter the heavy equipment industry there are several things to beware of.

Mavericks – check the credentials of anyone who offers to provide training on heavy equipment like bulldozers. Because of the popularity of the industry at present, operators and former operators often sell themselves as heavy equipment trainers. They can be expensive, especially if you have to hire the equipment to undertake training. Good training operators have their own range of equipment and properly set up training schools – not some out of the way empty paddock.

Bad Habits – poorly trained individuals often pick up bad habits from their trainers. Employers will soon spot those bad habits and, if short cuts and safety become issues, soon show you the door. Your training should be setting good habits from day one.

False Paperwork – it’s nothing short of fraud, but by the time you find out they have gone (and so has your money). Again, it comes back to checking on the credentials of your training school.

The easy solution is to find a heavy equipment training provider that has been around for a long time. They are recognized within the industry, have a proven track record that can easily be verified (just talk to potential employers), and provide you with recognized paper work at the conclusion of your training. Heavy equipment training is not ‘cheap’ – if it is there is something wrong with the training. There is a strong demand for bulldozer operators at present – be sure your training is delivered by a training school that will help you into the workplace, not one that will teach you bad habits and keep you out of the industry.

Bulldozers are large lumbering machines. In fact, they look fairly awkward traveling on large tracks rather than wheels. Despite all that, they are amongst the most powerful of heavy equipment when it comes to sheer strength. They can also be one of the easiest pieces of heavy equipment to use – if you get the right training to begin with.

When it comes to complexity, bulldozers don’t know the meaning of the word. One of the hardest parts to learning to operate a bulldozer is often the steering, get that right and the rest gets easier. In some ways, it’s not the operation of a bulldozer that is difficult, it is the knowledge of the terrain your on, what sort of soil structure it is, how easy it is to move and whether or not its likely to have hidden objects like rocks and tree stumps.

Much of this knowledge can be picked up in a classroom, but much of it needs to be on the job experience. We can tell you about sticky clay surfaces, but its not until you actually experience it that you come to understand the effect it has on a machine like a bulldozer. Every soil type can react differently – learn that and you will become a master.

In the meantime, before looking to become a master bulldozer operator, start from the beginning with a bulldozer training program that provides a good solid foundation of knowledge. That is where ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can serve you well. As one of the nation’s top heavy equipment training companies, we know what employers want in new recruits and we know how to provide them with graduates that meet their needs. We also know what students want when it comes to training, and those needs are met as well. Become a master bulldozer operator by gaining the best possible basic training – you’ll never regret it.

Most people imagine bulldozers on constructions sites, building roads, leveling residential estates, or perhaps clearing a huge block for a new factory, school or hospital. While construction is a big user of bulldozers, the rural community makes use of them as well, particularly our farmers. There are a number of roles that bulldozers fill although few are directly related to producing food.

When it comes to rural communities, bulldozers play a big role in the establishment of dams, in clearing areas ready for grazing or tilling for broad crop farming. Bulldozers can frequently be found rebuilding farm roads, often nothing more than a scar on the land that has had road metal or gravel spread over it. In the past, farm equipment like tractors (the actual forerunner to the bulldozer) were used as bulldozers, however, these vehicles are not really built to handle the pressure. Why put the stress on a farm tractor when there’s a bulldozer just down the road.

Working as a bulldozer operator in these rural communities is more demanding, more interesting and more rewarding often than working on construction sites. The skill levels for rural bulldozer operators needs to be high given the diverse range of jobs and conditions required of them. Yet many of these operators start by undertaking basic heavy equipment training then diving straight in and continuing their skills development on the job.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is a popular choice for those looking to head into our rural communities. Our training programs are designed to provide a solid platform of skills that makes it far easier to build on in the workplace. If a career as a rural bulldozer operator appeals to you then contact us for more information on heavy equipment training and the location of the nearest training school to you.