How long do you think backhoes have been around? Backhoes came to life in the mid 1950s when someone had a brain wave and decided to add a shovel to the front of a tractor and hoe to the rear. Because the action of the hoe is the reverse of other equipment, it was called a backhoe. While the term backhoe really relates more to the hoe, the name stuck to the machine as a whole.

History aside, the backhoe has become one of the most popular units in the fleet known as heavy equipment, or earth moving equipment. The backhoe has come a long way from those early days and now includes four wheel drive, turbo drives, air-conditioned cabs, and computerized components. Despite the advancements, little has changed in the actual operational aspects of the equipment.

Sure, an operator from the early ’60s would struggle to operate one of today’s machines, given an hour or so to familiarize themselves with the controls, and they would be up and running and ready to work. One of the upsides to acquiring heavy equipment operator skills is that these skills are with you for life. Like all skills, it may take an hour or two to get up to speed if you’re out of the business for a couple of years, but the actual operations are still the same.

You can acquire the skills to become an effective backhoe operator by undertaking a heavy equipment training program. At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, these training programs run for three weeks so, in effect, you can become a qualified operator in less than a month. Are you interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator? If you are then check out our heavy equipment training programs. A career as a backhoe operator could be just around the corner.

Excavators come in a variety of sizes these days. From giant lumbering beasts to compact units that can get into some pretty tight places. Not only are they available in a range of sizes, they also have a wide range of attachments, making them extremely versatile machines. Gone are the days when an excavator was only useful for digging trenches – show me a hand tool and I can almost guarantee there is an excavator attachment to match.

Despite the range in sizes, the wide variety of attachments that an excavator can use, learning to operate one is not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, you can go from zero to a competent operator in as little as three weeks. Not only that, but along the way you could also pick up operator skills in bulldozers, graders, backhoes and loaders.

Exposure to a range of equipment during training helps you appreciate their power and their limitations, important knowledge when you are working as part of an earth moving team. The main role of an excavator is still to dig trenches. Their attachments help them to achieve this quickly without having to call in other equipment. However, they are not restricted to trenching.

Excavators have been used as part of demolition teams, in the mining industry, and in very different roles such as removing silt from the bottom of rivers to make them deeper. The role of an excavator operator is varied, challenging and well paid.

Does a career as an excavator sound interesting? Find out more by contacting us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools to see when our next heavy equipment training program starts.

We are entering an era where the skills of yesterday may not be adequate enough to continue with today’s equipment. At the same time, who wants to lose skilled and knowledgeable employees just because of new equipment. On-training is perhaps the next big step in employer-employee relations. This is where Associated Training Services and their heavy equipment, crane operator and truck driver training schools can be of assistance.

ATS has been providing in-the-workplace customized training for many years now. We have a well trained and highly dedicated team of trainers that can design and implement training programs for your employees based on your actual needs. Wherever possible, we align these training programs to national standards. This provides employers with well trained employees and at the same time offering these employees skills that are recognized nationwide.

Customized training can be delivered at any one of our ten training centers or, if it’s more practical, in the workplace. Training covers a broad spectrum, including heavy equipment associated with earth moving; mobile cranes and lattice boom cranes; and CDL truck driver training.

The advantage of undertaking customized training in the workplace is that employees can be trained on the actual equipment in use in the environment it is being used in. They are trained to use the equipment to deliver maximum productivity for specific tasks.

For more information on customized training, contact us at 1.800.383.7364 and we can discuss your training requirements. Customized training in the workplace helps to reduce employee stress in situations where they are failing to cope with the demands of the job through lack of up-to-date skills. By providing training that updates those skills, you will be increasing confidence levels and reducing stress and you’ll be rewarded with increased productivity and less downtime.

If you are, or have been, a member of the military, or a spouse or dependent of a member of the military, past or present, then you may be eligible for financial aid that may help you undertake one of our training programs. Now that sounds like a mouthful so let’s break it down into actual details.

For current service members and their spouses, financial aid is available in the following forms:

For active members: $4,500 is available under The Armed Forces Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). This is for all active members in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. There is specific criteria attached to the funding.

Souses of active members: the MyCCA (Military Spouse Program) provides funding of up to $6,000 for education, training, licenses, certificates and degrees leading to employment.

Veterans: Nearly all ATS training schools are approved for the use of Veterans Educational Benefits. If injured on active service, veterans may also be eligible for vocational rehabilitation training.

Dependents of veterans: Dependents of active members injured while on active service may also be eligible for vocational training.

If you are considering undertaking a training program through ATS and you feel you may be eligible for one of these financial aid options, contact us for more information on the training programs available for funding.

I must add that these programs and the funds available were correct at the time this post was published. If you are reading this at a later date then please refer to the military websites for the latest training program funding available.

If you have ever thought about a truck driving career then now is certainly a good time to give it some more thought. Our economy is still shaky yet the demand for truck drivers is going up. Once our economy returns to some normality it is predicted we will be short of competent and experienced truck drivers. Gaining your commercial driver license now, and then getting what ever experience you can on a variety of different trucks will see you well set up for the boom.

Taking on a truck driving career is not that difficult. Three weeks of training through the ATS Truck Driving School will see you well prepared to take on the commercial drivers license test. Pass the test and you will receive your license. That’s it. Of course, the three weeks of truck driver training are fairly intense and cover behind the wheel areas such as:

• tractor-trailer reversing
• driving in traffic
• safe braking and braking distances

This is hands on training, not sitting in a class room being told how to do it, or sitting in the passenger seat watching someone else doing it. This is you do the driving; you learning the skills; and you gaining the experience. In fact, when it comes to training, it’s all about you succeeding. You see, we don’t consider ourselves successful until we see you being successful.

Our approach of the last 45 years of successful training is to focus on the needs of industry and to then provide industry with drivers that are ready to meet those needs. In short, we train you to be successful at truck driving because you gain the skills that employers are looking for. Are you ready to take part in the next boom in truck driving careers?

Everywhere you look there is bound to be a unit of heavy equipment hard at work. There are bulldozers clearing land, graders preparing roads, excavators and backhoes digging trenches and loaders moving what ever it is that needs moving. But which unit of heavy equipment is the most popular? Now, by most popular, I refer to most number of units sold and most number of units in operation at any one time. The answer may surprise you although on reflection, it shouldn’t. The answer? Believe it or not it’s the skid-steer loader.

I said that, on reflection, you can understand why. First, it is the largest unit of heavy equipment sold. Second, there are more skid-steer loaders in operation today than any other unit of heavy equipment. The reasons are fairly understandable too. They are cheap to buy, efficient when it comes to fuel use, easy to maintain and easy to transport. Add to that the versatility with the range of attachments and the fact their lighter weights cause little damage during operations and you have one handy little piece of equipment. It also helps that they are fairly easy to learn to operate as well.

Just about every construction yard, construction company and local government authority has a skid-steer loader. Most heavy equipment operators could jump into the seat of a skid-steer loader and operate it as well – perhaps not as efficiently as a full time operator, but they could get the job done.

Learning to operate a skid-steer loader is not that difficult. Most respectable training companies like ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools include skid-steer loaders in their heavy equipment training programs because of their popularity. If you want to get behind the controls of one of the countries most popular units of heavy equipment, give us a call to discuss your possible training options.

Graders are similar to other heavy equipment in that there are procedures that operators go through when on the job. For example, there are pre-startup, startup and shutdown procedures that need to be followed. There is one thing for sure – you cannot just jump in and start working.

When it comes to grader training, these procedures must be learned before you jump into the driver’s seat. For experienced operators, it takes no more than a couple of minutes to go through each of the procedures. What is involved with each procedure? Let’s have a look (and this is not a comprehensive list – just an example).

Pre-Startup procedure for a motor grader

• fluid levels are correct
• evidence of damage
• evidence of structural weaknesses
• evidence of stress on welds
• attachments are fitted correctly
• tires are inflated and not damaged

Startup procedure for a motor grader

• engine is running smoothly
• hazard systems are operational
• controls function smoothly

Shutdown procedure for a motor grader

• grader is parked in suitable location
• motion locks and brakes are applied
• visual inspection for defective equipment
• grader secured against unauthorized operation

As I mentioned, this is by no means a comprehensive list. In fact, most of what is on that list is just plain common sense. If done properly, minor problems can be identified and fixed before they become major issues causing lengthy down times.

Learning to operate a grader involves more than just learning the controls. These procedures need to be learned and followed along with safety issues, job planning and soil identification. However, by gaining an understanding of these areas you will become the complete operator, someone who looks after their equipment and gets the job done efficiently. There is more to grader training than just learning the controls.

Heavy equipment careers cover a broad spectrum in both machinery types and industries. You could work in construction, mining, forestry, agriculture and/or landscaping – just to name a few. You can find work in almost every corner of the world, even here at home. When it comes to machinery, I don’t have enough room on this page to list them all. You can break them down into generalized categories. These include:

• Pushing – this includes bulldozers and graders
• Excavating – this includes excavators and backhoes
• Carriers – this includes front end loaders, backhoes and fork lift trucks

I have been very brief in each description. For example, some of those units of equipment could be further broken down to skip loaders or mini excavators, for example, and I haven’t even covered heavy equipment like scrapers. If you enter the mining industry then you will be introduced to specialized equipment like shovels – in reality, massive excavators that spend all day shoveling tons of rock into trucks. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

There are jobs everywhere for heavy equipment operators, even in the military. If you have experience with heavy equipment you could even find work in our ports, on oil wells, at rail yards and in some of our largest factories. You would be surprised at which sectors of the workplace use heavy equipment – you would also be surprised at what sort of work they do.

There is one common thread that runs through these roles in heavy equipment. A successful heavy equipment career starts with a training program that provides experience on a range of equipment. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is accredited to delivering and assess students in the use of heavy equipment. If you are looking for a heavy equipment career – contact us here at ATS – we will get your started.

Heavy equipment technology is gaining new ground all the time. Sometimes, the technology is not necessarily with the heavy equipment, but with the tools used alongside heavy equipment. Take excavating as an example. Excavators have changed remarkably over the last 20 years and so have some of the tools. When I say tools, I am not referring to the attachments.

Excavators dig trenches. However, trenches can create problems, particularly if the sides start to back in to the trench. To stop this, and to provide a safe work place, shoring is used to hold the walls together. What does this have to do with the excavator? Plenty. First, as an operator you find that a trench can be dug in half the time compared to ten years ago. Secondly, excavator operators now need to learn how to work around any shoring that has been erected- the need to develop new skills.

New heavy equipment technology means that all operators require a level of training that enables them to learn to work with that new technology. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools prides itself on being up-to-date with the latest trends in heavy equipment. We pass this along to our students so they can, where appropriate, put them into use once they have completed their training.

Does a career in heavy equipment call? If so, contact us at ATS to see where and when our next heavy equipment training course commences. Your new career could start in as little as three weeks and you may well be up to date with all the latest in heavy equipment technology.

It is fairly early in the year, but I am starting to see bulldozers out and about. In some areas, the weather is such that bulldozer operators can grab an early start to the year. Their tasks at present are limited to preparing land for projects. Some are road projects where everything is taken out. Others are working on housing projects where many trees and some vegetation is left behind.

The other thing I am noticing is the growing demand for bulldozer operators. At this time of the year it is often to handle snow plows and the like, however, this year there are increasing requests for general land clearing bulldozer operators. This could be the perfect opportunity for anyone considering a career change.

It only takes three weeks. That’s all. Put yourself into the hands of a qualified instructor at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator school and they will have trained you and have you ready to accept your first job. The only effort you need is to commit yourself to the training. We have decades of experience training heavy equipment operators and we also know the labor market and what skills and attributes they require of their workers.

If a job as a bulldozer operator sounds attractive, give us a call to discuss your training options. We can also provide assistance with finance and finance applications and, once successfully through the training program, job placement assistance to find that first job. We offer a one stop solution for all your heavy equipment training needs. Employers are looking for bulldozer operators – are you our next success story?