There will always be a need for storm clean up crews because there will always be storms, right? Whether it’s a summer tornado in the midwest, or a hurricane hitting the coast, El Niño causing problems or a classic Nor’easter hitting major cities — somebody has to be able to move a lot of debris. That means a piece of heavy equipment in most cases, and a skilled operator able to do the job in unstable conditions.

Many Types of Heavy Equipment Used After A Storm

What does it take to restore a storm-damaged area? Here’s a list of the usual:

• excavators
• dozers
• track loaders
• wheel loaders
• cranes
• dump trucks
• backhoes
• and many more

The Right Equipment Is Useless Without The Right Operator

As impressive as heavy equipment is for getting an overwhelming job done, it takes a well-trained operator to do it safely and competently. Without the operator, that equipment is useless. Nobody knows when the next big storm will hit, but you know it will. In the meantime, a good heavy equipment operator is usually working away on a job site somewhere, earning a paycheck and honing skills.

When the need arises, that heavy equipment operator is ready to be part of the emergency cleanup crews who are desperately needed. Not all of those jobs are volunteer, either! Many operators make good money doing this service.

How can you be ready for this opportunity? By clearing some room on your calendar for training. ATS has training classes in heavy equipment, crane, and truck driving starting every three weeks, all year long. By the time the next storm comes rolling through, you could be ready.

Winter is here, and heavy equipment operators all over the country are doing some work on the side plowing snow for local businesses and other facilities. If you’ve been asked to plow the parking lot since you know how to operate heavy equipment, do some homework first so you don’t run into trouble.

When Plowing, Where Does The Snow Go?

Before you even start plowing, make sure you know where all that snow is to be piled. It doesn’t make sense to push it against the building or block handicap parking. Think about future snowfalls, too. You want to make room for additional snow if things get crazy.

Another point to consider is visibility. Piles of snow that seem okay to you because you are high on the plow can block visibility for somebody in a low car trying to get into the street safely.

Think about what will happen when it melts. Drains and catch basins need to stay clear so they can deal with the flooding. This is why the snow against the building is a bad idea; people don’t like water in the basement.

Plan Snow Removal Carefully

It’s a good idea to have a plan when doing snow removal. Sidewalks can get shoveled into the lot, then the plow will take care of the snow piles. If a lot of snow is expected, a steady repeated skimming is a lot better than waiting for it to stop before you start plowing. By that time, people have had to drive in it and things get more tricky.

Be careful plowing next to curbs and beside parked cars. You don’t want to do any damage to property!

Get The Best Heavy Equipment Operator Training

If you have done your training at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School, you’ve been exposed to a lot of different types of equipment. This really helps when the opportunity to make some extra money comes up but you have to use the church’s snow plow/tractor combo to do it. The more experience you have with different kinds of snow plow setups, the easier it is to do a good job as a part-time snow plow operator.

The right techniques with the machine plus the right plan for removing the snow make you a person in demand this winter.

There are quite a few class-A CDL truck driver openings this week. That’s not hard to understand because this is the time of the year when somebody who can drive a dump truck with a spreader or a snow plow is in high demand. It takes heavy equipment operators and Class-A CDL truck drivers to keep the roads clear in winter weather.

There are a couple of crane operator openings, too. This highly specialized skilled trade is one that often comes up as a need in many kinds of industries. The best way to be prepared for careers in heavy equipment, no matter what kind of machinery we are talking about, is by getting the professional training and certification needed in your field.

One of the biggest advantages of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School is the fact that the Employment Assistance doesn’t stop when you graduate. There’s help finding a job in your field as long as you need it. Here’s this week’s list:

OMAHA, NE — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — hiring crane operators

COMMERCE, CA — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

ANCHORAGE, AK — hiring crane operators

SAUK CITY, WI — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

NEENAH, WI — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

BALDWINSVILLE, NY — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

BLACK EARTH, WI — hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers

Another advantage that ATS offers is the job site, a perfect place to explore and see what the skilled trades industries hold for your future.

Have you ever seen a big piece of heavy equipment on a flatbed trailer, securely tied down and being transported to a new job site? The person driving that truck usually is the same person who will be operating that backhoe, grader, or whatever it is once they get to the job site. Heavy equipment operators who also have their Class A CDL often are hired before those who only have their certifications because they can drive the truck that takes the equipment to new locations.

Why Does This Combination Work So Well?

The combination of heavy equipment operator certification and CDL means many more career opportunities open up for you. Industries that need that combination include a lot of possibilities:

• Equipment transportation
• Sand & gravel hauling
• Concrete/Asphalt
• Freight hauling
• Tanker driving
• Dump truck driving
• Tractor-trailer operations
• Road paving
• Mining
• Construction materials handling

How Much More Training Does It Take?

Associated Training Services provides short-term truck driver training for heavy equipment operators who want to take advantage of the expanded opportunities they can have with a CDL. In three weeks of full-time training, you are given the knowledge and the skills needed to take your CDL road test and move your career to a new level:

• Department of Transportation rules & regulations
• safety & CDL equipment operations
• driving heavy equipment on roads
• backing heavy equipment
• pre-trip inspections
• coupling & uncoupling
• other essential CDL truck driving skills

As the winter season hits, heavy equipment operators in various parts of the country have opportunities to do some incredibly important service to the community. Whether you act as a volunteer or pick up some part-time income, dealing with storm damage is something that not everyone can do.

Storm Prep And Cleanup Are Needed

In some areas, crews are out trimming trees away from power lines in the hope that this year won’t be quite as catastrophic as the previous winter outages were for the region. Out west, snow has already closed some mountain roads and plows are out. It takes a skilled operator to maneuver big machinery in treacherous conditions because the operator must be completely familiar with the way their machine responds.

An experienced heavy equipment operator is one of the most important workers in the challenges of storm damage cleanup, and those who have the certifications and skills to provide these essential services will be deeply appreciated. Much of the estimated cost in a storm’s aftermath is the pay that the crews get to put things back the way they need to be.

Be Ready To Respond In Any Season

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School is one of the best in the business. We have a solid reputation for providing the training that gives our graduates a competitive edge in their industry. Because our heavy equipment operation programs include experience at the controls of many different types of equipment, it’s not difficult to find ways to put that experience to work.

A green job using heavy equipment usually is thought of as being pretty destructive, right? Bulldozers doze, graders scrape, excavators make huge holes and trenches, and it has a huge impact on the environment. But it can be a positive impact because a skilled operator knows how to use their machine to do the job that’s needed with the least amount of damage.

What is a Green Job?

Green jobs encourage the use of renewable energy sources like geothermal, solar, nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind energy. If you have ever driven to Buffalo, New York and seen the massive wind turbines scattered to the southeast, you’ll see that even though those turbines are big and numerous, there’s land being farmed around them. You can see the big blades for miles before you see that they tower over many acres of crops. This is one example of a minimal disruption of the land with maximum energy returns and it took heavy equipment to do it.

The Green Job Initiative is designed to create a greater demand for heavy equipment operators who are able to meet the challenge of working in alternative energy industries. President Barak Obama signed this legislation opening 5 billion jobs, and many of them are going to be challenging, exciting, and satisfying careers for ATS grads.

Being trained with an eye on the future is what Green Jobs is all about, and that fits right in with the idea that it takes professionals with the best certifications and training to do the job with the least negative impact on the environment that we will all be living in. It’s good for the environment, good for the industry, and good for your job prospects as an ATS grad.

There are two important parts to finding a job at anything, and heavy equipment jobs are no different. These two parts are preparation and connections, and unless you have them it’s probably not going to happen.

Preparation

If you are planning on becoming a professional, the best thing to do is get professional training and the appropriate certifications, right? There’s a good reason for that: if two equally experienced candidates apply for the same job, the one with the legitimacy of an accredited training is probably going to be the one to get that job.

It also helps to have the “soft skills” that get you through the hiring process, like writing a resume, filling out electronic or paper applications, and interview skills. These may not have anything to do with heavy equipment but they have a great deal to do with getting hired. Employment Assistance at ATS works with students on these skills so that they can get through the process and get on the work site.

Find A Job Connection

The second part of finding a job is the connections that are made with other professionals, or what many call “networking”. Graduates of ATS programs are able to make these connections at the job site, a placement website where individuals in the skilled trade industries can network with each other and find employment, companies can find personnel, and training providers can serve their customers.

There’s a huge database that’s constantly being updated with resumes and applications from job seekers, openings from companies, and more. It’s a perfect place to make the connections that lead to professional growth and that next job.

Did you think that heavy equipment operators only work in the summer? Wrong! They work all year round.

It’s true that many construction and highway workers can get laid off during the winter months, but if you are willing to work in the winter, there’s a lot of work available. Every parking lot, and street, that gets snowed on will need to be plowed, right? Even if you aren’t working for the Highway Department, there will often be part-time work available with organizations that need a reliable person to keep their pavement clear.

But it isn’t just plowing snow that’s required, because there’s a lot more to getting roads and parking areas clear than plowing. If you have your CDL, some experience, and are willing to obtain a Tanker endorsement you could drive a truck that carries chemicals for de-icing. Operators are needed for rollers, tractors, front-loaders, hi-lifts, and more. It all depends on the area and what the weather is like in the winter.

A lot of material is needed for salt trucks and spreaders, so a lot gets loaded and moved to various strategic points. Ice storms come through and make opportunity for tree removal jobs or disaster cleanup. Winter weather causes big problems and it takes big machinery to keep things moving along.

Getting trained as a heavy equipment operator now means you’ll be ready when the snow flies, even if you have been laid off from your regular job. It’s a good backup plan, but it’s also a good career path because heavy equipment operators really do have work all year long.

Sometimes, you get into a career field and find out it takes abilities you struggle with. One great way to see what’s involved with a type of job is O*NET OnLine. This is a tool for career exploration and job analysis, and it’s a good place to see what a job will actually be like before you start training.

For instance, a search for heavy equipment operator results in a big list of possible matches, with the top item being Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. The summary report has different sections in short bullet lists:

• Tasks like “coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.”
• Tools & Technology like probable machinery and software used.
• Knowledge like building, construction, and mechanical information.
• Skills like controlling, monitoring, and troubleshooting equipment.
• Abilities like multilimb coordination, manual dexterity, problem sensitivity, and reaction time.
• Work Activities like operating equipment, getting information, communication, and problem solving.
• Work Context like being outdoors, wearing safety gear, whole body vibrations, and noise.
• and more

It’s a good way to see a little bit more about the details of different kinds of jobs, and most job descriptions don’t really get into skills and abilities in quite the same way. There are many kinds of jobs listed on the site, with similar information. Once you have explored a bit, you’ll notice that many of the heavy equipment operating jobs mention training. This is because most employers want a certain level of knowledge backed up with certification for insurance reasons.

One of the best places to get the training you’ll need is ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School. You’ll get the foundational preparation you need for any job involving heavy equipment, and you’ll get help finding a job, too.

Becoming a heavy equipment operator is a childhood dream come true for some, and a new discovery for others. Learning how to safely and skillfully guide large machinery to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks is pretty amazing when you think about it. But many people who have the dream of operating heavy equipment don’t see that dream come true because they fail to recognize the help available. Here are the three basic parts of finding that heavy equipment career:

Training & Certification

Associated Training Services’ Heavy Equipment Operator Training School provides the best training around, with all the necessary certifications you need to be instantly employable. You get on-the-seat experience, preparation for the needed tests, and walk out as a graduate fully prepared to be an entry-level employee who only needs time to improve your skills.

Career Services

From the day you walk in the door, ATS Career Services starts working with you to develop the skills you need to get the job, such as interviewing, resume writing, and networking. They do a personal interview with each student and provide a customized packet of career possibilities when you graduate, based on the things you are interested in.

After graduation, Career Services stays available for you whenever you need assistance. Our database is constantly being updated with employment information so the leads you get are current.

Networking

Every graduate of ATS has access to the Total Resources Network, a job site that matches employers with qualified personnel. You can post your resume and qualifications, look for openings that meet your skill set, network with others, and much, much more. It really is a total resource network and a valuable asset for your career advancement.

Each one of these basic tips for finding a job in heavy equipment operation depends on you. Sure, you can find a job without one of them, but it’s going to be more difficult. And these are tools, the way you use them makes a difference in the outcome. Using each tip well is a sure way to find a good career.