With news coming out of Australia regarding their serious bushfires and the losses of hundreds, almost a thousand, homes, it reminds us of one of the toughest jobs that bulldozer operators have to do. We have wild fires that burn thousands of acres of land and destroy homes here as well. California seems to get razed on a regular basis and often the only solution is to go in after the event and bulldozer the whole area.

For operators it can be eerie scene. What was once a thriving community now reduced to ashes. Once the bulldozer has gone through and leveled the area, you would hardly know the community existed. Come back in 12-18 months and you would be surprised. Humans are resilient. You can knock us down, we get up, dust ourselves down and rebuild and get on with life.

As tough as the job is, it is one that has to be done. Without the bulldozer operators going in and clearing the way, these communities could not rebuild. Even if it is just a house lot, it still has to be cleared to make way for the new home.

No amount of training can prepare you for the devastation that will confront an operator. What we can do is train the bulldozer operator so they can go in and clear the area quickly and efficiently. Where whole communities are destroyed, whether it’s fire, storm or man made; teams of bulldozer operators will go in, often having the area ready for re-building within weeks.

The life of a bulldozer operator can be tough but someone has to do it. Are you ready to undertake bulldozer training and help rebuild devastated communities? You may never get the call – you just never know. One thing I do know; bulldozer operators always seem to get the tough jobs – and you know what? – they are always ready to stuck in!

The range of heavy equipment is extensive and when you consider how many different brands and models there are, employers often find it difficult to find the right operators for their equipment. Once you complete your training as bulldozer operator, one of the best things you can do is try to gain experience on as many different machines as possible.

Fortunately, bulldozers are one of the more common machines used in the heavy equipment industry. Because there are so many different bulldozers in the workplace, finding employment is never difficult. In fact, being a bulldozer operator you can move one from job to another building your experience on a variety a machines as you go.

Training to become a bulldozer operator is not too difficult. However if you have the opportunity to you should also gain experience on other equipment such as front end loaders, backhoes and motor graders. The wider the range of heavy equipment that you are competent at operating, the easier it becomes to find employment.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools include a wide range of heavy equipment in their training. You can check out the different types through their web site. The training is delivered in both a classroom and in the field format.

I watched with interest as a single bulldozer worked away at one of the local airports yesterday – up and down it went, pushing the snow of the runaway and onto the sides. It was a never ending task. As quickly as the bulldozer cleared the tarmac, more snow would fall.

He eventually cleared the runway sufficiently for a couple of the smaller planes to take off. As I watched the snow building up on the shoulders and at the end of the runway, I had the most ghoulish thought – if a plane were to have an accident right now, what a wonderful bank of pillows to land on.

The skills employed to move the snow and clear the runway are no different to those required to clear a construction site. Those skills can be taught through an accredited training provider like ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

You pick the most appropriate training to meet your needs and wind up as a highly successful heavy equipment operator. Sign up before the end of the year, December 31, and you could be eligible for a nice little discount off your training costs.

I watched with interest the other day as a series of heavy equipment machinery came to the rescue of a derailed train. The train lost three of its trucks, each running off the tracks and rolling over. The three trucks where each filled with gravel.

It was a fine piece of coordination. The crane came in and first emptied the trucks completely by lifting and tipping the contents out. The crane then moved the empty trucks to one side. It was then time for the bulldozer to come in and push all the gravel away from the tracks and into neat piles.

The rail gang then moved into action removing all the twisted track and laying new track. Once the new track had been laid, the rail trucks where then lifted back onto the tracks. The engine carted them away while another engine brought in a new series of trucks. A front end loader then loaded all the gravel into the new trucks.

This team work had the tracks cleared and repaired and reopened within four hours of the accident occurring. It took the skills of these operators working in a fairly confined space together with the coordination and planning of the rail boss to get the job done. And they did.

As a heavy equipment operators, whether it is as a crane operator, bulldozer driver or front end loader operator, you just never know what your next job may be and what sort of situation you may find yourself in.

The best preparation is in your training and the best place to gain the skills required is through ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools. Sign up now and you may be eligible for a sizable discount on your training – however the offer ends on December 31.

A lot of people wouldn’t consider a ship building yard as a user of heavy equipment or heavy equipment operators. In fact this is far from the truth.

Whilst you wont find a ship yard full of heavy equipment operators, you will find crane operators, forklift operators and front end loader operators.

The role of a crane operator is fairly obvious. They raise and lower much of the heavy materials during the assembly processes.

Forklifts, or forktrucks, also help with lifting, however their role is often to unload trucks, move laden pallets and look after stores.

Front end loaders have a curious role when compared to their normal jobs. Front end loaders in ship yards can be called upon to lift materials to a working height. These materials are often the smaller, but heavy in number items, such as rivets, rivet guns, welding rods and related materials. They act as a bucket to hold these items and as a garbage collector for used materials.

The role of a heavy equipment operator in a ship building yard can be varied and interesting. To see a large ship coming together is amazing in itself. To actually be a part of the working crew is even better.

If you fancy yourself in a ship building yard – perhaps as a crane operator, then check out ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools for a training program that may help to kickstart your career.

There is one thing in life we all have, don’t want, and get others to deal with. Our waste. We throw it into the bin which gets collected and from that point on, we don’t want to know about it.

The waste is taken to a central location where it is often used as landfill. Heavy equipment like large bulldozers push the waste around, mixing it with soil and slowly burying it. As time goes by the waste becomes compacted down.

Once the landfill area is full, fresh dirt is used to completely cover the site. Again it is the bulldozer that is called into action to bury all the waste.

It may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect job, but someone has to do it. Not only that, it actually takes a skilled operator to perform the landfill requirements properly. These operators are trained to use their equipment on a variety of surfaces and slopes. If you think about it, rubbish is soft, it cane compacted, your bulldozer is going to sink and slide around. You need good skills to handle that terrain.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can help you acquire all the skills needed to operate a bulldozer effectively. Check out our training site for more information on course start dates.

The bulldozer is one of the few machines capable of turning a waste land into prime real estate. It doesn’t matter how rough the terrain is, whether its littered with tree stumps, small hills or swamp – the bulldozer makes light work of the whole job.

Bulldozers have the strength to pull out some of the toughest stumps then turn around and cut through the earth, each pass taking of more and more until you have a smooth level surface ready to be built upon.

Of course, it doesn’t take the one pass. Depending on the layout, could take days or even weeks but the bulldozer gets it done. If you get the chance to stop and watch, look at how they gradually take more and more of the surface away, each time taking from raised areas and depositing into lower areas (for example, into a swamp) until the whole site is level.

This takes a lot of skill. Unskilled operators tend to cut to much into one area and not enough in another leaving the side uneven and looking like a rough patchwork quilt.

You can gain the skills to operate a bulldozer effectively to clear building sites through ATS Heavy Equipment Training Skills. Check us out for all your options.

The excavator and bulldozer play a tag team role in many mining environments, none more so than the coal mining industry. Here they are the kings of heavy equipment virtually running the whole show. All other heavy equipment rely on these two operating effectively.

Excavators are powerful units of heavy equipment designed to chew away at the coal face, taking huge bites. Most excavators rely on one or more conveyor belts to remove the mined material to either large dump trucks or to a huge pile awaiting transport away from the mine.

Bulldozers provide the grunt when it comes to push. Bulldozers collect the excess material from around the excavator. This allows for easier for easier movement around the site. The bulldozer is also ensuring that all the mined coal is heaped up ready for transport.

The work hand-in-hand; one scraping the other pushing. Heavy equipment operators in the coal mining industry may specialize in just one piece of equipment or they may be relied upon to operate several different pieces of heavy equipment. Gaining a cross section of training is always going to be a big plus when it comes to looking fro employment.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools we endeavor to provide you with that cross section of heavy equipment training to prepare you for employment in a cross section of industries including the coal mining industry.

The mining industry would not survive today if were not for the heavy equipment used. The world’s appetite for raw materials is such that no amount of human power could ever hope to satisfy it.

There are several different types of heavy equipment in use, particularly in open cut or surface mining. There are those that dig and gouge away at the material being mined, and there are those that push the mined material around. A third group are involved in the transportation of the mined materials.

Excavators do a lot of the actual digging. Some mines sites use explosives to loosen the material then bring in huge shovels that effectively take big bites of the loose material and dump it into equally large dump trucks.

Large bulldozers are used either to scrape up the loose material and work in conjunction with shovels. The bulldozer forms a large pile that shovel can then scoop up. Bulldozers are also used to rehabilitate areas once the raw materials have been mined out.

The trucks used to carry the material to a loading site are massive. Their wheels are the two or three times the height of a man, require large specifically built fork lifts to get the wheels on and off and use tires that can cost up $50,000 each – forget all four – that’s each.

The one thing these heavy equipment operators have in common is the basic training required before they can commence work. Training organizations such as ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can prepare you for a career in the mining industry. Inquire now for details on a course starting near you.

With winter rapdily approaching there are many towns and cities that will be looking to use snow plows of some shape to keep their streets clear of snow. To operate a snow plow you will need training in the use of heavy equipment.

Whilst snow plow work may be season, the skills gained in learning to use heavy equipment can also be in used in construction, mining and civil works, so they can always be put to use. Once winter returns you can again hit the streets to keep them clean.

There are many different types of snow plow used. They range from bulldozers on wheels to graders down to tractors that drag a plow behind them If the snow is particularly thick then the drag option may not be viable.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not difficult if you have the right trainers and the right training program. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with effective and industry relevant training in a wide range of heavy equipment. Get the right training and perhaps you can spend your wintery days helping to keep the streets clear of snow.