Now that Memorial Day is over, let’s have a frank talk about holidays and truck driving. If you think that you’ll be one of those rare truck drivers who are always home on every holiday, then you might rethink your plans to acquire truck driver training. Heavy equipment operators are another story.

Typically, heavy equipment operators work on a job site that is owned by a private company, public corporation, or government entity. Many of them get holidays off, but there is no guarantee. A truck driver, on the other hand, is more likely to work holidays for one simple reason – they deliver the goods that serve as the backbone of modern society.

Truck drivers transport everything from basic toiletries to lumber and automobiles. Anything that is sold in a store has to be transported from the manufacturer to the retail outlet where consumers purchase it. Also, raw materials are often transported by truck drivers so that manufacturers can build the products they sell over the retail counter. All of this means that holidays like Christmas and Easter are especially busy times for truck drivers. But other holidays might be busy times, as well.

If you deliver hardware and tools, for instance, you might be busier around Father’s Day than most other times of the year. If you deliver flowers and fabric, you might be busier around Mother’s Day. Deliver turkeys? Thanksgiving will likely be a peak season. If you deliver produce, you’ll be busy all year.

That’s not to say that you’ll be delivering ON Christmas Day. You may be on the road up to Christmas Day. Many retail stores will receive a new product on the morning of Christmas Eve, and if that is the case, you’ll likely be there with your truck. But if you are thousands of miles from home, you’ll be traveling on Christmas Day to get back to your family.

Most truck drivers understand this when they enter the profession. You have to be flexible if you want to make the big bucks as a truck driver.

There are good reasons and bad reasons for changing careers or starting an equipment career. If you’re young and with no or little job experience, it’s a good time to start a career. But what about heavy equipment? Is that the right career choice?

If you’re older, you might think twice about changing careers, but there are good reasons to do so even in the middle of your life. Here are three solid reasons why heavy equipment is a good career choice no matter how old you are.

1. Baby Boomers are retiring – Because the Baby Boomer generation is beginning to retire, the next 20 years will prove to be a good period for career change and growth. Companies will be looking for younger people to step up and fill the gaps left by their employees retiring.
2. There is high demand – The heavy equipment industry is seeking new candidates to hire and train right now. With America’s infrastructure crumbling, there is lots of work today. Both the private sector and public sector need qualified people to operate heavy equipment to build roads and bridges as well as skyscrapers and public projects.
3. The pay is good – There are few blue-collar jobs that pay as well as heavy equipment operator jobs. When you consider the pay, the pension, and all the benefits together, it’s a fairly lucrative field. And if you have multiple qualifications (i.e. rigger, mobile crane operations certification, Class-A CDL), then you can command even higher pay.

Heavy equipment operations is a good career, and there are plenty of opportunities to go around.

Last Saturday, Heavy Equipment School posted our equipment job listings for the week. Included were several mobile crane operator positions, rigger jobs, and positions requiring a Class-A CDL (commercial driver’s license). These are typical heavy equipment jobs. The difference between positions you’ll see on our job board from week to week usually has something to do with location. You may find jobs on the East Coast, West Coast, or in the heartland of the country. No matter where the positions are located, however, employers usually want someone who is either trained, experienced, or both.

You can’t buy experience. Either you have it or you don’t. A 5-year on-the-job record of operating a forklift will go a long way in the heavy equipment professions, but if you don’t have that experience, then job training is the next best thing.

Heavy Equipment School offers formal training on all of the basic equipment you’ll run into on the job site. If you’ve already been trained on that equipment (cranes, forklifts, backhoes, scrapers, etc.) and you want to take your career to the next level, we offer rigger and signalperson training as well as Class-A CDL training. The crane certification training we offer will graduate you with a certificate from the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO). It means you’ll be employable anywhere in the United States.

Accreditation is very important. Whether you seek a crane operator certification, a rigger/signalperson certification, or a CDL, you’ll be proud to have completed the achievements that earn you that certification. And it will mean that you are ready to start your career.

Are you ready? Today could be the start of a long and profitable career in heavy equipment. Let’s get started.

As long as there are roads and bridges that need to be built, as long as construction crews follow the plans of an architect and build skyscrapers, shopping malls, apartment buildings, and single-family dwellings, and as long as people continue to accumulate waste that needs to be dumped, there will be a need for heavy equipment operators.

The heavy equipment operation profession is one of the most ubiquitous and necessary professions in the world. From hauling dirt to loading barges with huge crates and for overseas transport, heavy equipment operators are the backbone of the world economy. And the range of equipment you can be trained on to make the world go around is astoundingly huge. Here are just a few of the types of equipment that employers need qualified personnel for right now;

• Mobile cranes
• Forklifts
• Wheel Loaders
• Backhoes
• Bulldozers
• Excavators
• Road graders
• Skid steers
• Dump trucks
• And more.

Each of these types of heavy equipment has larger and smaller versions of it and needs an expert driver to maneuver depending on the job at hand. The best way to get trained on this equipment is to take a heavy equipment operator training course.

Some heavy equipment, such as mobile cranes, require a special certification. You can get that certification through rigorous training, as well.

Truck drivers can be short-haul or long-haul. If you’re going to be a truck driver, either way, then you need a commercial driver’s license. Once you have your CDL, you’ll be qualified to work for any employer who hires truck drivers, long haul or short haul, anywhere in the U.S. Why not start your training today?

If you want to work in the heavy equipment industry, there should be no obstacles holding you back. There are plenty of jobs going around, and with the Baby Boomers retiring, plenty more positions will be opening up for the Millennial generation. You’ll be first in line if you have the proper training and motivation.

Here’s how to land a heavy equipment job in five easy steps:

1. Attend a heavy equipment training school and receive all the necessary training on each piece of equipment you are likely to encounter on the job site.
2. Get the certification that you need to be fully qualified to work in the heavy equipment industry within your state. This might include specialized certifications like mobile crane operations, rigger/signalperson, and a CDL truck driver license.
3. Prepare a resume
4. Learn effective interviewing, networking, and other “soft” job search skills. Associated Training Services (ATS) will assign a career counselor to you to help you hone these skills so that you have a leg up in the interviewing process once you start looking for a job.
5. Search for the best heavy equipment job opportunities in your area. Total Resources Network can be an invaluable resource as you search for heavy equipment jobs where you live.

ATS has been training heavy equipment operators since 1963. We started with diesel truck drivers and expanded to other types of heavy equipment starting in 1996. We have become the most recognized heavy equipment training school in the United States with the very best instructors in the business. And we have special deals for veterans.

There’s no law that limits you to how much career training or jobs you can receive. A general rule of thumb is this: The more you know and the more you can do, the more valuable you’ll be to potential employers. For that reason, we recommend training on as many different types of heavy equipment as possible.

In the Heavy Equipment School basic course, you’ll be trained to operate the following equipment as a matter of course:

• Backhoes
• Front end loaders
• Wheel Loaders
• Skid steers
• Scrapers
• Bulldozers
• Road graders
• Excavators
• All-terrain forklifts
• Articulated haul trucks

You’ll also learn valuable and useful skills such as grade reading, soil identification, laser levels, worksite safety, reading site layouts, and basic heavy equipment maintenance. We won’t leave anything to chance. Your education will set the course of your heavy equipment career, so we take it seriously.

How to Get a Leg Up With Employers

Learning how to operate the basic heavy equipment you’ll see on most construction sites is the best way to get a foot in the door of a heavy equipment career, but going beyond that will enhance your career prospects and make you more employable. You’ll also earn more once you are on the payroll. That’s why we recommend the following training courses, as well:

• Mobile crane operations
• Truck Driving
• Rigging/Signalpersons training

With each of these specialized training courses, you’ll be certified to work in the heavy equipment industry as you learn important skills from the best instructors in the business. The sooner you enroll in training, the sooner you’ll be employable and make good money in a heavy equipment career.

If you spend your hard-earned money on special training to prepare you for a career in heavy equipment operations, you definitely want to make sure that your training pays off and prepares you for that career. What you want is to ensure you can land a job with your training. There are a few ways Associated Training Services helps you better prepare for your career as a heavy equipment operator.

It all boils down to how we assist our students in several key areas of training:

1. Financial Assistance – If you can’t get your training, then you’ll have a hard time managing a career. That’s why we offer financial assistance. We want all of our students to succeed, and what better way to do that than by ensuring that your heavy equipment operator job training is affordable and easy to pay for? Your financial options include student loans, military, and veterans benefits, and state and federal grants.
2. Housing Assistance – Even if you work out how to pay for your career training, you still need a place to live while you are in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin being trained. If you’re local, you likely have that all worked out. But if you have to travel to our facilities, you need a place to live while you are being trained. That’s why we offer ATS dormitory for you to get discounted rates while you are in school.
3. Employment Assistance – We offer employment assistance on several levels. First, we assign you a personal career counselor to help you with your job search and advise you on important job search skills. We also train you on soft skills like resume preparation and interviewing. And you gain access to our job leads database forever.

We take down the barriers to heavy equipment training. Our employment assistance website will ensure that you are successful-both while you are a student and after you graduate.

If you search the latest job listings at Associated Training Services’ online job board, you’ll notice that you can find jobs in almost any community across the country. Just enter your zip code, state, and the type of job you’re looking for and see what pops up. Of course, you have to sign up for the job board. Graduated students of ATS’s training classes can join for free.

It doesn’t matter what type of heavy equipment job you are looking for, they’re all over the place. The job board will help you find jobs in all the following classifications:

• Class-A CDL truck driver
• Mobile crane operator
• Forklift operator
• Dump truck driver
• Road Grader
• Backhoe operator
• Rigger/signalperson
• Front-end loader operator

And much more. If the job exists in the heavy equipment or heavy construction sector, then you can find it here. But you’ll need to be trained on the equipment that you want to operate, and that requires enrolling in a heavy equipment operator class that will teach you all the basic skills for operating the equipment and qualify you and certify you for the job.

You are just one leg away from getting your next heavy equipment job–or your first one if you are just starting your career. Why not enroll in a class right now and get your career started?

Don’t let finances get in the way either. If you need financial assistance, we have financial assistance specialists who can help you get the money you need for training. We also offer housing assistance and job search assistance once you graduate. Your success is our success.

If you haven’t entered the heavy equipment profession and you are considering a career in the field, you may be wondering where you can find equipment operator jobs. The answer is, everywhere.

There’s no region, city, state, or country where heavy equipment jobs are non-existent. There may be places where certain types of heavy equipment jobs are more prevalent. For instance, you’ll find huge industrial cranes at seaports where huge cargo ships travel in and out and are often seen unloading. Some large cities are hubs for tractor-trailers, and when you see a lot of tractor-trailers along with loading docks, you’ll often find forklifts, as well. Construction sites are known for featuring backhoes and dump trucks.

Heavy Equipment Operator Jobs

But you’ll find these heavy vehicles anywhere in the world. A seaport at Bremen, Germany will have many of the same types of heavy equipment as a seaport in Houston, Texas. A loading dock in Montreal, Canada will have the same basic heavy equipment jobs as a loading dock in San Diego, California.

Heavy equipment jobs are a dime a dozen. The question often is, which types of jobs are more common in which sections of the country? Areas, where logging is a common occupation, will have specific types of equipment associated with logging. Oil tankers are common near seaports where petroleum is imported or exported. If you want one of these jobs, you’ll have to be trained on the equipment that you’ll be operating on a daily basis. A good place to start is with a heavy equipment operator training school.

After you are trained on the equipment you want to work with, you can start looking for the heavy equipment job of your dreams.

Heavy equipment operators have a difficult job, and sometimes it’s as thankless as it is difficult. You could be a mobile crane operator, a rigger/signalperson, a truck driver, or a heavy equipment operator. But who are the people that support these positions and keep the work site operating while guys like you are operating the equipment? Here are five of them:

1. Payroll/human resources – Someone has to process your paycheck and make sure your insurance paperwork is completed so that you have the proper benefits. Your company’s human resources department will assist you with any questions you have about benefits and issue your paychecks.
2. Dispatch – In trucking companies, one person is usually responsible for dispatching truckers. They receive manifests and notify drivers of their next delivery route. They may even be responsible for assigning you your truck. You typically do not want to upset this person. They have a lot of power and you could find yourself without work easily if you cross the wrong one.
3. Rigger – The rigger is your construction work site’s safety person. He is responsible for making sure all of your equipment, especially lifting equipment, is safe to operate. He may even be responsible for performing some maintenance duties.
4. Supervisor – Your work site supervisor will likely be a former heavy equipment operator. He could have started out with your job. They rarely operate the equipment anymore, but their main task is to ensure that the work site is managed well and managed efficiently. They could be your direct line supervisor or two or three steps above you.
5. Maintenance – If your equipment breaks down during operation, you may have to create a work order and call in the maintenance crew. Unless the situation involves a safety violation, the rigger is not usually involved. What we’re talking about here is any maintenance issue above routine operator maintenance. You’re supposed to perform your own equipment checks before you operate it.

There may be a good chance you’re cut out for one of these jobs. If not, you should respect those who are.