You won’t see heavy equipment operators working in tandem all that often so if you ever do get a chance, stop and watch awhile. The most common heavy equipment vehicles to be used in tandem are the bulldozer and the grader. Graders are particularly interesting as their work is generally on the finishing side of a project.

Working in tandem takes a lot of skill and a lot of concentration. With graders (and often bulldozers), the two (or three or four) machines work in a staggered pattern with the second machine to one side and behind the one in front. As the first machine carves the ground, it pushes dirt to one side. The following machine then pushes this dirt further across. I have seen videos of four graders working together in this formation on a new airport runway – the precision of the operators is fascinating to watch.

It does take a lot of skill and a lot of experience to work in these formations. Gaining these skills can be difficult since there are not that many opportunities to work together in a formation. Most construction companies use the one machine to do the complete job.

In order to work as a team, grader operators require good initial training that provides a solid platform on which to build. While you can learn to operate a grader from another operator, there is a good chance you will also be learning some of their bad habits. You will also quickly find that most employers will not recognize that as being formal training so employment options will be severely limited.

Training provided by a recognized and well respected heavy equipment training organization delivers skills that can be built upon, and skills that future employers will acknowledge. Grader operators are required to work to precise measurements in today’s construction industry – that requires real training from real training organizations.

One of the most popular vehicles in any municipal fleet is the grader – or should I say graders. This is especially so in northern regions where winter snow is an annual occurrence. Graders aren’t as versatile as many other vehicles in the heavy equipment department, but they are certainly the best machinery when it comes to snow and snow damage.

If you ever drive through mountainous country, especially some of the county backroads, one feature will stand out – there are a lot of sections that are made using gravel. There’s a good reason for this – gravel allows free drainage of water, doesn’t get muddy, and vehicles rarely get bogged down in it.

Winter snow and ice can do a lot of damage to roads, however, once the thaw sets in, gravel roads can be returned to full use fairly quickly by just having a grader level them out again. In winter, those same graders will be seen working as snow plows to clear the roads of snow and ice.

Learning to become a grader operator requires two steps. The first step is to develop a basic set of skills through heavy equipment training. That enables you to take the second step, and that is to refine your skills on the job. Some careers require years of study before you are competent to begin work. Grader operators only require a couple of weeks of heavy equipment training. However, it then takes years to hone those skills with every job teaching you something new.

If your local region suffers from regular snow and ice in winter, then graders are most likely the most popular vehicle in your county’s fleet. In fact, they are probably out right now repairing roads damaged from winter snows.

Heavy equipment is often thought of as being strong tough machinery that is used to power through dirt and rock. In most cases it is. The bulldozer’s main claim to fame is its brute strength when it comes to pushing dirt around. Excavators are renown for their ability to dig trenches in the toughest conditions. Graders, on the other hand, while tough and powerful, are also known for their ability to sculpt the ground under them – and it’s that ability that we rely on for most of our roads and highways.

I marvel at today’s graders. With the use of computer-aided technology, a grader can be finely set to grade the ground under them to precise measurements. This includes both height and angles – or grades. If you regularly drive the highways, especially when it’s raining, you’ll notice the water running off the road easily and quickly. This is because of the very slight slope or grade given to the highway – and it’s all the work of a grader.

There are other areas where you will notice the effect without understanding why. Sweeping bends on highways, especially those that have to wind their way around hills or mountains, all have a slope, known as a camber, that is designed to help the car ‘stick’ to the road rather than trying to veer off. Engineers can determine the precise angle needed, and graders can prepare the road to those precise measurements.

You can learn to become a grader operator in just a few short weeks. Heavy equipment training programs will have you trained and ready for entry level work in next to no time at all. At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, we’ll even work with you to try and find you that first job. Grader operators, they don’t power through the ground – they gently sculpt that ground.

Did you know that motor graders are frequently used as part of a demolition team? They are and they are expert at some of the jobs given to them. Motor graders have traditionally been used to finish road surfaces prior to the asphalt being applied.

Today, motor graders are used to peel off old asphalt when roads require rebuilding. They are also used on unsealed roads, particularly in late winter or early spring after snow and water damage. Motor graders can restore a road to a full use quickly, making short work of any potholes or rocks that have accumulated. But what interests us today is the work a grader can do on a demolition site.

In the past, scrapers would be called in to slowly peel away the foundations to level the ground. Today, a motor grader can be called in to do the job – and they can complete the work in half the time. Large construction companies are calling on motor graders to perform jobs that 20 years ago would have been impossible. Motor grader operators can now set their blades to such precise measurements, they can peel snow away from a road without harming the road’s surface.

To become a grader operator today, the real skill requirement is in being able to read site plans and then setting your motor graders blades to achieve the intended results. This takes knowledge of soil types, and often laser or even GPS technology. For those seeking a career that is varied, interesting, and full of technical wizardry, a career as a motor grader operator could be perfect. You can learn to be a motor grader operator in just three weeks by attending our heavy equipment operator training program.

There are many people who look at motor graders driving up and down a stretch of what will soon be a road or highway and think, “that looks so easy.” In a way, for an experienced operator, it is. However, it takes good basic training and a lot of experience before you can say “it’s easy.” The reality is, a motor grader’s job is quite involved and it certainly involves more than just “driving up and down.”

Part of the training that is essential to motor graders is the theoretical, or classroom-based, training. This covers subjects such as:

• grade reading
• grade stakes
• laser levels
• site plans
• site layout
• soils and
• safety

Being able to read site plans is important since a grader operator’s role is to work to precise measurements. This brings in skills such as grade reading and laser levels. If you think about a stretch of road, particularly highways, they are not completely flat. They built with a small amount of slope to them – this is to enable water to flow from the center to either side rather than just pooling in the middle of the road. Corners have a camber to them that makes them safer to drive on at highway speeds.

It takes a lot of skill to get these slopes and cambers just right and that comes back to a grader operator’s ability to read plans, and to work to those precise measurements. Training followed by on-the-job experience is the only reliable way to build these skills. Being a grader operator is not as easy as some people may think. However, with the right heavy equipment training behind you, it’s not that difficult either.

At this time of year local authorities are busy ensuring their snow removal equipment is up to scratch and ready to roll. They will also be looking to ensure they have an adequate supply of trained operators for their equipment. Motor graders are becoming a popular choice for this job for a number of reasons. First, the equipment itself is not just for snow removal. In the spring, summer, and fall they can be employed doing a range of jobs. The second reason is related – they don’t require operators that specialize in snow removal equipment – if you can operate a grader, you can move snow.

For operators, of course, this is a real bonus. When winter closes in and general construction starts to close down for the winter, grader operators will find that their services are still in demand. This means they get to stay home for the winter; they don’t need to travel to warmer regions looking for work. Of course, for many areas, snow removal is essential or the whole region grinds to halt – this makes these positions highly important and well respected.

Grader operator training is a three-week course that combines both in the operator’s seat training and classroom training. Training in safety, maintenance, laser levels, and site plans is also included, however, it’s the in-the-seat training that makes you a real operator, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities for that if you undertake your training through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools.

Winter may be on our doorstep, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t work around for grader operators. If there’s snow, then there will most likely be graders out there shifting that snow – you could operate one of them!

Heavy equipment careers seem to wax and wane in popularity, and it normally doesn’t relate to demand. In fact, it can often be more location-based than national. This has been evident in areas where there has been a lot of heavy construction over the last year. Seeing heavy equipment being used on a daily basis seems to trigger a desire to ‘give it a go’ by people from that area. Motor graders are one piece of machinery that is seen for extended periods of time. If you’re interested in a motor grader career, the path is not that difficult.

To gain an entry level job as a grader operator, you need to have completed a heavy equipment training program. These training programs can take from three weeks to three months depending on how many hours of instruction are delivered each week. Some training establishments also stretch training programs to the max in order to justify higher fees. When looking at a heavy equipment training program, there are several factors that should be covered. These include:

• hands on operation of a wide range of heavy equipment,
• safety training,
• basic preventative maintenance skills,
• technical skills such as laser levels and grade reading,
• soil types and how they react when worked, and
• site layouts.

Finally, look for a tried and trusted heavy equipment training provider. These are training organizations that have a long history in the business and that have good reputations with employers. When talking to your training provider, ask if you can visit the training site prior to signing on the dotted line. Normally, after three weeks training you should be ready to accept entry level employment as a grader operator. The path is easy, if you find the right training provider to begin with.

The perception amongst most people is that graders are difficult vehicles to drive. The truth is probably the opposite, driving them is a piece of cake. However, setting the controls, such as the angle and height of blade is a little different. That does take some skill, especially when setting them to fine degrees. However, it doesn’t really matter what type of heavy equipment you are operating, they all have their little idiosyncrasies that make them a challenge at times.

Whether it’s a grader, excavator or backhoe, being able to work to fine measurements is part of the job. Even bulldozer operators have a set of plans that they must work off and they too have to work to pre-ordained measurements. If a farmer wants a dam 6 feet deep then that is what he expects to see, not a dam that is ‘close enough’ 4 feet.

Being able to operate heavy equipment like a grader to produce finished results that perfectly match plans is a result of good training, and experience behind the controls. I am amazed when people tell me they learned how to operate heavy equipment simply by sitting in a classroom for a week or two then spending an hour or two behind the controls. That is more like familiarization than learning.

Students attending ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can expect to spend some time in the classroom – there is a lot to learn that is theoretical in nature. However, it is equally important to spend as much time behind the controls as possible. It is only by operating heavy equipment that you can get a feel for what is really happening – it is the only place where you can learn fine controls and how a machine reacts every time you touch a lever, pedal or button.

Graders are not the hardest heavy equipment to operate, they are all fairly equal. It is the standard of heavy equipment training that will determine how ‘easy’ any piece of heavy equipment is to control. Contact us at ATS if you want to try out a training program – we have open days running through to the end of the year where you can try out a free heavy equipment training program – and when we say free, we really do mean – no charge. Who knows, you may take to graders as a born natural, and find yourself starting a new career as a grader operator.

GPS is everywhere now – from use in the average car for navigation to arm bands in our children to check on their location, you name anything that moves and I’ll show you a GPS device that can be attached. When it comes to heavy equipment, GPS devices have been in use for several years as a security measure – should a piece of equipment be stolen, the GPS unit will quickly help police identify its location. More sophisticated GPS units are also used in heavy equipment like graders to increase productivity and safety.

Using a computer system attached to a GPS 3D unit, the blade of a grader can be set to extremely fine settings. These settings ensure that each pass of the grader is done to exact measurements, thus cutting the time taken to grade a particular area. In the past, it may have taken three or four passes to complete a job to a surveyor’s satisfaction. A GPS system (known as GPS Machine Control) connected to a computer also means the grader can constantly adjust the height and angle of the blade on the fly, as required, and to exact measurements.

For grader operators, short courses on how to use GPS in their equipment can help to promote them to specialist operator level. This can make them more employable than those with just the basic grader operator skill set, particularly with employers that have added this technology to their equipment. While graders are one of the major users of GPS, bulldozers, loaders and excavators are also having GPS based equipment added. If you’re an operator in these areas then undertaking a GPS training program may be beneficial in the long run as well.

If you are an operator of heavy equipment and you understand the long term benefits of GPS Machine Control equipped machinery then contact ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools to find out where and when our GPS training programs are being conducted. It’s the way of the future and those that train now will be the leaders in their field.

Developing a career as a successful and sought-after grader operator is a long term project. When I say long term, you are looking at two-plus years to reach a standard where employers will come to you seeking your services. In the meanwhile, you are the one that will be chasing employers looking for work. That’s not a problem since that is the situation with most careers – still, it’s nice to have employers chasing you instead. So what do you need to do to become a sought-after grader operator?

There are several key areas that you need to consider. Naturally, the first is that of grader operator training. You need to be trained by experts in the field, experts that will teach you good habits rather than bad, and experts that can give you a thorough grounding in how to maintain and operate a motor grader in a variety of situations.

The second area that requires consideration is that of experience and skills development. This may require a variety of employers over a period time, depending on what each employer has to offer. What you are looking to do is to develop your skills across a wide variety of terrains and working conditions until you become highly proficient in each.

Finally, there are those personal traits that round out an operator’s attractiveness. Personal traits such as leadership, attention to detail, teamwork, flexibility, and above all else, reliability, are key to your future success. Let’s face it, you could be the world’s best grader operator, but if you’re unreliable, what good are you to anyone? The same could be said for an individual who can’t work as part of a team – their skills count for nothing in the finish.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can provide the skills foundation required to gain a start in the industry. We can even provide assistance to gain that start. Whether or not you succeed of course will then depend on whether or not you’re prepared to learn and whether or not you have those personality traits that employers are looking for. If you have those traits and are willing to continue learning everyday you’re at work then career as a grader operator could be yours. Contact us now and take that first step to becoming a much sought-after grader operator – and by the way, the paycheck’s pretty good too.