Mobile crane operator training is a must if you expect to develop a career as a crane operator. It is now compulsory in almost all states to be certified as a crane operator before you can even touch a crane, let alone operate one. To gain certification, you need quality training that is designed with both the workplace and certification process in mind. This is where ATS leads the way. We are recognized as being one of the leading providers of crane operator training in the country.

Working as a crane operator is not just about pushing a pulling levers to raise, lower or move a boom. Safety requirements are essential and this includes setting up the crane prior to use, day-to-day maintenance, traveling with a crane (especially mobile cranes), and of course the safe use of a crane. Other areas of importance include environmental factors like understanding how weather, particularly wind, can affect the operations of a crane.

If you intend on entering the workplace as a crane operator then you need to ensure your training meets industry requirements. The workplace has expectations of operators, particularly new operators that have been certified. Undertaking your training through a provider that is trusted by industry also helps when trying to find employment opportunities. If your training has been provided by ATS then employers know that you have been well trained, and that your certification has been well earned.

The workplace is competitive and while crane operators may be in demand right now, employers are still going to be selective. You can give yourself a real competitive advantage by looking for training providers that deliver the very best in training outcomes. ATS prides itself on being one of those training providers – reason enough alone to select us for your training.

Excavators – they were once considered to be great at digging holes in the ground, particularly trenches for pipes. These days, excavators can be found in a variety of workplaces and digging trenches has become just one of many tasks they can perform. One of the best places to see the variety of jobs an excavator can perform is on a demolition site.

Demolition jobs have to be every big kid’s dream job. While we like building things, just watch your kids – they take great pleasure in pulling them down again only to start all over. Demolition work, however, is not a kid’s job. In fact, it’s a serious job that requires precision and care with safety of paramount importance. Excavators often play a major role in demolition jobs because of the variety of tasks they can perform.

Attachments are what allows an excavator to be versatile and while pulling down walls is a major part of their job, using attachments such as claws and jackhammers means the excavator can move and break up large sections of a building. It can be an interesting experience just watching an excavator rip up a concrete building block – they can certainly make short work of the task.

You will find excavators at work in a variety of jobs. The mining industry relies on them as does construction. They can be used for river and creek dredging or widening, forestry and, using smaller versions, landscape gardening. To become an excavator operator is not as difficult as some believe. Three weeks of heavy equipment training will prepare most students for entry level employment opportunities. On the job training using a variety of attachments will soon see proficient operators offered more challenging roles such as demolition work.

If you’re interested in a career as an excavator operator, contact ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools for more information on course dates, financial assistance and post-training career services. The opportunities are there for those ready to take them.

The economy is starting to improve and, as it does, we are becoming freer with our dollars and starting to spend. While the economy in general benefits, customers spending more through retailers means more work for truck drivers. As a result, truck driving careers are starting to rebound and over the next 12-18 months, the demand for experienced drivers is going to increase.

Truck driving has been a popular career in the past and for good reasons too. The job pays reasonably well and you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder all the time. In fact, once you’re in the driver’s seat, you’re effectively the boss. Add to this, fairly good work conditions – let’s face it, modern trucks are air-conditioned, come fitted with CD/radios and, often, two-way radios. Power steering and much easier to handle gear boxes and clutches makes driving almost a breeze. The hardest part of a truck driving career is probably obtaining your commercial drivers license or CDL.

Of course, if you’re smart you’ll undertake training through a well recognized truck driver training school. If they are well recognized then they obviously have a good reputation for training drivers to industry standards, and for achieving high pass rates when it comes to undertaking the commercial drivers license assessments. The most important part of any truck driver training program is the hands-on training you receive. Reversing maneuvers, driving in traffic and general driving skills are all important if you want to pass your license tests, and if you want to be a successful truck driver.

If you’re looking at truck driver training options – give ATS Truck Driver Training Schools a call – or send us an email. Our training program can prepare you for a commercial drivers license test in as little as three weeks and when it comes to reputations – we have one of the best in the business.

When talking to those who dream of a heavy equipment career, it can be hard work trying to get them to think realistically. As with most careers, you can’t expect to start at the top – after all, if you start at the top, the only direction you can go is down. Operating a large excavator or bulldozer is not out of the question, but you do have to get the basics right first and to then work your way to more responsible roles.

If you are considering a career in heavy equipment, start by thinking like an employer – who are you going to employ and what sort of jobs are you going to give them? Novices are obviously going to get the more mundane easy jobs. The harder task will go to those that have experience. Just remember, those experienced operators once started at the bottom, as you will. How they applied themselves to the various tasks then reflected in the types of jobs they were asked to do – the more they applied themselves and learned about their roles, the more difficult the tasks.

So starting with the basics then becomes important. Heavy equipment training that exposes students to a range of equipment and a range of tasks is the best start. Hands on training is obviously the best way to learn. Standing behind someone and watching them may teach you how to use the controls, but it doesn’t give you a ‘feel’ for the equipment. There is so much more to learn by actually sitting in the operator’s seat. Your hands and feet play an important role in ‘feeling’ what the equipment is doing – for example, is it straining, is it hitting rock, and what about the many other situations?

This is what is often termed ‘instinctive’ control of your equipment. Your body feels what is happening and acts almost before your brain clicks into gear. The more hands on experience you gain, the more control you will have over your equipment. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have been training prospective heavy equipment operators for decades. We can’t teach you ‘instinct’ – you develop that over time. We can, however, teach you to become highly proficient operators, ready to start in the work place and ready to gain that ‘instinct’ in the workplace. Your heavy equipment career starts by getting those basic skills right – and that’s where we can help you.

If you take a lot of pride in your work then a career as a grader operator could be ideal. Of course, you need to like working outdoors and working as part of team. As you drive around your neighborhood, along city streets, and out on the highway, take note at how well the roads have been made. You can lay a lot of the credit right into the lap of the grader operators who worked to precise measurements.

Grader operators are responsible for providing a smooth base that has been carved to the right slope prior to finish being applied. It takes a lot of skill to work to such fine measurements, yet many operators learn these skills in quite a short period of time. You can credit this to the type of training received in the first place. Quality training is one of the keys to most occupations and grader operators are no different.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have been at the forefront of heavy equipment training for over thirty years. We know what skills and attributes employers are looking for when it comes to new recruits and, over time, have developed a reputation for delivering. For those looking to enter the field of heavy equipment, proper training has to be the first consideration.

Is there a demand for operators? There is and, generally speaking, there always will be. While ever we build roads, undertake new housing developments, and undertake large constructions projects, heavy equipment operators including grader operators will be in demand. It is predicted that our aging population will result in a fairly sudden drop in the number of workers available to fill these roles. If you’re interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, now could be the best time to undertake training – this will see you trained and experienced, ready to fill the coming void.

Women have been in heavy equipment for a long time, particularly when it comes to working on the land, in landscaping, and in family earth moving businesses. They have also been involved in careers such as truck driving, careers that have long been considered male bastions. Modern bulldozers, although large heavy machines, are no different to driving a car once you gain the required skills. Funnily enough, it is the general public that consider these careers to be male bastions. Employers and coworkers think nothing of working alongside a woman in most of these areas.

The only thing holding a woman back from working as a heavy equipment operator is the woman herself. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have been training women in these skills for many years, and they have moved on to very successful careers. Bulldozers have been a popular choice for women, probably more so than most other forms of heavy equipment.

Training to become a bulldozer operator can be completed in as little as three weeks. In fact, one of the benefits of a career as a heavy equipment operator is that it is age, gender and background neutral. Being skills based, the training focus is on learning how to operate the equipment. That is not to say there is no classroom-based training; safety, for example, is an important part of any heavy equipment training and some of this training needs to be theoretical.

Careers in the heavy equipment environment have become open in recent years with emphasis more on one’s ability to do the job rather than gender (or age for that matter). If you’re interested in become a bulldozer operator, or an operator of any form of heavy equipment, whether your male of female, young or old, or from any background, contact ATS for details on our heavy equipment training programs. There could be a whole new career just waiting for you.

If you like variety in your career then backhoes are the answer when it comes to careers in heavy equipment. Loaders, while doing a range of jobs, really rely on the one instrument, a shovel. Excavators, while having a range of attachments that make the job more interesting, rely on a bucket. Bulldozer and graders rely on blades to get a job done. Backhoes, on the other hand, are multi-function machines.

For starters, backhoes have a bucket at one end and a shovel at the other so they perform the roles of both a loader and an excavator. Like an excavator, the backhoe also has a wide range of attachments that can perform a variety of tasks. Gaining backhoe skills also sets up an operator with the option of operating loaders or excavators as well should the need (or demand) arise.

In today’s workplace, being able to operate a range of equipment makes you a valuable addition to any workplace. Backhoes provide that career option. You could find yourself working on a housing project this week, a road building project next week, and a demotion project the following week. And that is just a taste of the types of work available.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools makes the task a little easier for you as well. Our heavy equipment training programs cover a range of equipment including loader, excavators and backhoes along with the traditional bulldozers and graders. If you’re looking for a career that has variety then consider a career as a heavy equipment operator, particularly a backhoe operator.

If you’re looking to get a start in the heavy equipment industry then loaders can be your best option. They form the backbone of most construction sites because of their versatility and their ability to often get into tight spots. Loaders are used in a wide range of industries ranging from agriculture through to manufacturing. Construction is the major user, either on road building projects, land clearing projects or building projects.

The loader’s main role is the movement of earth. Whether it is moving loads of earth from one place to another or loading the trucks, the principles in use are the same. Loaders are also used to carry heavy objects in areas where fork lift trucks and manual lifting is not possible. You will often see loaders carrying machinery and pipes around a construction site.

One of the important roles of a loader is the cleaning up that occurs once a construction project nears completion. Loaders can scrape the ground pushing debris into piles, then load those piles into waiting trucks. Smaller versions have been built that perform a similar role in tight spaces such as around new homes. They have also become extremely popular with landscape gardeners.

Because of their ease of use, they make a perfect vehicle for those wanting to enter the heavy equipment field of employment. Training for loaders is generally undertaken as part of a wider heavy equipment training program. This is ideal for newcomers to the industry as it provides training on a range of heavy equipment types.

You may gain a start in the industry operating a loader, but through your training you can move onto graders, bulldozers, excavators or backhoes. Loaders – they really are the backbone of most construction sites, and that’s from start to finish.

Do you need a history of heavy equipment operations to become a qualified crane operator? As a matter of fact – no. You can come from any walk of life and undertake a crane operator training course. To a certain extent, students that undertake training with no prior experience in heavy equipment can be easier to train. To begin with, there are no bad habits to erase. Of course, prior knowledge of the equipment can make life easier for the student since they are not being confronted with completely new terminology.

In short, however, as stated, anyone from any walk of life can undertake training to become a crane operator. Your success really is going to be measured by the commitment you give to the training course along with the skills and commitment that a crane operator trainer gives to you. Women have successfully made the transition from home duties to crane operations, middle aged former office workers have made the transition as have college students that found academic life not to their liking.

ATS Crane Operator Schools works on the principle of training students to work readiness. This means incorporating both in the cab, around the equipment and in the class room activities. The main emphasis of course is hands on in-the-cab operations – the more supervised practice you can acquire, the more skilled you will become. Having a rounded training program that includes operations, basic maintenance and safety components readies a student for the work place.

If you have never been near heavy equipment before, don’t let that stop you from becoming a crane operator. The most important skill or attribute that you can bring to any training program is an open mind and readiness to learn. If you have that then you’re ready to take on crane operator training.

When it comes to starting a new career, trust is one of the most important influences in the decision making process. Heavy equipment careers are no different. Those considering a career change have to trust in themselves and their abilities to take on and cope with a career change; trust in the marketplace and its ability to support them; and trust in the training they require to make the transition. Let’s analyze each of those individually.

Trust In One’s Own Abilities

Career changes can be scary. They can also be spur of the moment decisions where an individual faces a moment of dissatisfaction with their current career. Doubt is actually a good trait to have in these situations since it brings with it caution. A career as a heavy equipment operator can be a huge step for some, often taking them from safe and secure desk jobs to the wide outdoors. If you have any doubts as to whether or not a heavy equipment career is right for you, take the easy path. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools offers a free online heavy equipment training program that you can access from home. Once you have completed that training program, you will have a much better indication as to whether or not a career as a heavy equipment operator is right for you.

Trust In The Heavy Equipment Industry

Let me start by stating that no industry is safe from the turmoil of world and national economics and that any career change is going to be a gamble. Your current career could boom over the next ten years, or crash and burn. Likewise, heavy equipment requirements could boom, or it could also crash. No one knows. However, what has been evident over the years is that construction is the one area in industry that always leads the nation to recovery. We can see that with the current economic climate where billions of dollars have been thrown at infrastructure. This has created a large demand for heavy equipment and heavy equipment operators. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools incorporates a careers services department that has one aim, to help every graduate find employment. You can at least gain a start in the industry once you complete your training.

Trust In A Heavy Equipment Training Organization

Now we come to crux of any career change. You’re ready, you’re convinced the industry can sustain a long career, so where do you go to get your training? ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is one of the nation’s oldest training schools with campuses spread around the nation. Heavy equipment training programs commence on a regular basis with training based on national standards. With strong industry recognition, anyone considering a career as a heavy equipment operator need look no further.

The bottom line is fairly straightforward. The market for heavy equipment operators is strong and there are very competent heavy equipment training organizations available. So, are you ready to consider a change in careers? If you are, a heavy equipment career is yours for the asking – so ask.