Heavy equipment operator training has many different formats with some training bodies specializing in one piece of equipment, like a bulldozer or excavator. A thorough heavy equipment program should expose the students to a variety of machinery for both practical experience and for familiarization. A student may decide to specialize in bulldozers, however, knowing how a grader works and its limitations, for example, can help the bulldozer operator when working around a grader.

Having exposure to a variety of equipment is important. It is also important to have some hands on experience in the popular machinery in use today. This includes bulldozers, excavators, graders, loaders and backhoes. When it comes to employment, these are the areas of greatest demand and the areas where most students will find employment.

Large reputable training organizations that have been around for many years have one very important attribute over many of the newer training organizations springing up and that is experience. Not so much the experience with training itself, although that is important. Their experience is in knowing what employers are looking for when looking to hire new operators – an attribute that many new training organizations haven’t as yet developed.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have been around for over 25 years. During that time they have developed a reputation for providing industry with quality operators who have been trained ready for work – in other words, they have the skills that employers are looking for. The heavy equipment training program offered by ATS includes excavators, graders, backhoes and, of course, the bulldozer. No training is complete without experience operating any of these machines.

Winter brings quite a few interesting scenarios that backhoes have to deal with. Water pipes that rupture due to the cold, perhaps sewage mains and a myriad of other problems that occur every time we bury essential services. The one piece of equipment you can always rely on to come in and help, of course, is the backhoe.

They are quite nimble for their size and can be quickly set up to dig up a trench and expose problematic pipelines. They can help raise and lower pipes and finish the job by back filling the trench. It can be a cold job, however, especially in some of the older models that have open cabs. You could be called out at odd hours as well if it is an urgent situation.

Learning to operate a backhoe is an interesting experience as it combines the skills of an excavator operator and those of a loader operator – fortunately not at the same time. Gaining employment as a backhoe operator is even more interesting since your versatility exposes you to such a wide range of tasks.

Becoming a backhoe operator is not as difficult as many would imagine. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can have you trained and ready to work in as little as three weeks. Forget training that takes three or six months – developing skills in areas that employers need is what is important, not developing a range of skills that you may never use.

If you are considering a career as a heavy equipment operator, particularly as a backhoe operator, then contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools and find where and when the next operator training course starts.

Technology is everywhere and over time it has developed to the point that mankind has almost become redundant. Where advances won’t take over from humans is in the area of heavy equipment technology. There are many reasons why this won’t occur – here are a few:

Reaction to changes in dirt – it takes more than a human eye to know when the dirt under the heavy equipment is changing. Operators will tell you it’s in the hands – really, it’s like a sixth sense – they feel the change in the hands and feet just like an experienced driver can feel the changes in a road’s surface. There is no way you can build that into technology without it consuming a lot of time as it senses the area before it digs.

Reaction to the environment – machines are not that good at avoiding anything that moves, especially if it moves unexpectedly. An operator can see a child, adult or animal that wanders too close. They can also see vehicles, buildings and intangibles like wind and the effect it has on the environment. Even if a robot had ‘eyes’ to see these changes, would it react as quickly as a human?

Experience – experience has shown that even in areas where robotic heavy equipment has been trialled – for example in mining, it is has still taken an operator somewhere to control that robot – so it is still not working on auto pilot.

A career as a heavy equipment operator is quite safe from any modern technology. Heavy equipment technology can do a lot to make the work environment safer, more comfortable and to work faster – but it will never replace a human at the controls. Heavy equipment operator training is still a worthwhile investment in your future – an investment that has a lot of rewards to offer.

There is one thing you can almost guarantee around the nation – there is a truck delivering its load somewhere. If there is a truck then there is also a driver and the only only way to get into the driver’s seat is by obtaining a commercial drivers license. No license – no work – it is as simple as that.

Our nation relies on the transportation of goods and much of that is done using trucks. There are the huge interstate truck trailer combos plying the highways right down to the small trucks making home deliveries around town. Almost all of them require a driver with a commercial drivers license. The easiest way to obtain a commercial drivers license is by undertaking a truck driver training course through a reputable truck driver training school.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools has been around for a quarter of a century. We started by training people to become truck drivers and we are now one of the most reputable truck driver training schools in the nation. We don’t just teach people how to drive a truck. We teach people the skills required to gain their commercial drivers license. That license is then your license to gaining sustainable employment.

Truck drivers are always in demand. Even during the recession, people still required goods and those goods had to be delivered to the stores somehow. Truck driving is not only a job that is always in demand, it is the kind of job that pays reasonably well and has a high job satisfaction level.

Heavy equipment safety training has two aspects and they are both covered by workplace safety laws. Those working as heavy equipment operators have a responsibility to themselves and to everyone and everything around them. Those working on the ground have exactly the same responsibility. Heavy equipment safety often covers both in the cab and on the ground safety aspects.

Communication is one area that is common to those both in the cab and on the ground. Whether it’s via hand signals or through the use of two-way radios – being able to clearly understand what is being communicated is important.

For those on the ground, and for operators, jumping on and off moving equipment is considered a dangerous act and should not be attempted. If you are on the ground, you should wait until the equipment has come to a stop before attempting to get on. For the operator, if someone is wanting to get on board, the obvious step is to make your equipment safe so they can get on.

Safety laws include the wearing of safety equipment such as hard hats, footwear and specialist equipment such as hearing protection. Both ground and cab personnel need to be aware of what safety clothing is required and to be using them on the job.

Observation is another key area for both heavy equipment operators and ground workers. For the operators, this includes equipment inspections prior to starting work. For those on the ground, being aware of and reporting unusual noises and/or vibrations coming from the heavy equipment can help to prevent serious accidents, or serious equipment breakdowns.

Heavy equipment safety involves everyone on a work site whether you are an operator or part of the ground crew. Heavy equipment safety covers a broad spectrum of issues – what is important is that these are fully understood. A lack of understanding can lead to serious accidents often resulting in death – sometimes that of the operator. Heavy equipment safety training – it’s more important that you realize.

It seems the next big trend in heavy equipment will be excavators and their attachments. More importantly, some of these attachments can do the work of other more specialized equipment. Using the attachment can reduce costs and reduce time. According to GradingAndExcavation.com – a trade magazine for graders and excavators:

The right crushing, breaking, and pulverizing attachment paired with an excavator or loader creates a powerful, portable, and profitable green machine that is ideal for demolition, in-place recycling, and reclamation.

An excavator that can dig up an old road then, by switching attachments, break up and crush that asphalt would be a huge plus to contractors. The crushed asphalt can then be reused as a base for the new road surface. Recycling at its best. Excavator operators that have skills using these attachments will be in high demand as more contractors realize the huge cost benefits of multi-tooling their excavators.

It is not just road construction that is starting to use this technology. Concrete breaking and crushing is another area which is becoming popular for onsite recycling. Perhaps the biggest impact will be felt on new housing estates. Here the material, including rock, that is dug out is crushed down to a suitable size to reuse on the site. This is removing the need to truck out this material and, in some situations, truck in replacement soil. There is a similar situation developing with demolition sites where the bricks and mortar are being crushed and reused on site.

Learning to operate an excavator is the first step and to do that, you need to undertake a heavy equipment operator training program. Once you are skilled at operating an excavator, you can look at many of the attachments that are available and start to gain some skills using them. Excavators and their attachments are becoming an important component in the recycling of building materials. Learn to use them effectively and your skills will be in high demand.

I keep an eye on the heavy equipment employment market watching for trends or indications of what sort of direction demand is going to take. Despite it being winter, a quick search of job vacancies for grader operators listed over 150 current vacancies. This is actually up by about 30 vacancies compared to a month ago. There is one trend that I think is worth noting if you are looking for a career as a grader operator.

The current trend is an increase in the number of vacancies listed that ask for grader operators that are multi-skilled. The predominant requirement is for grader operators with experience operating excavators and bulldozers and to a lessor extent, angledozers. I should point out that I was searching for grader operators and motor grader operators only. A look at other jobs within the heavy equipment field returned the following statistics:

heavy equipment operators – 200
construction equipment operators – 190
bulldozer operator – 61
excavator operator – 54
backhoe operator – 81
loader operator – 200
skid steer loader operator – 46
frontend loader operator- 63

In some cases job vacancies appear in more than one search result because of the way the vacancy notice was written. It is also interesting to note that loader and grader operators are the two most in demand at present. I use several different data sources to investigate job vacancies with these results only coming from the one site, Careers.org. If you search around you will find there are many more vacancies advertised online. What is interesting is that many employers prefer word-of-mouth, local newspapers and local employment specialists to help them find new workers rather than using an online source.

Extrapolate these figures and you may find as many as 300-400 vacancies for grader operators currently available. Employers have always had a liking for heavy equipment operators that are multi-skilled. Before starting any heavy equipment training program, make sure they provide training on a range of equipment. As you can see, you will be far more employable.

Heavy equipment careers are rewarding on many levels. The pay packet of course is one of the first that people look at and heavy equipment operators are fairly well payed when compared to other construction workers. One of the biggest rewards an operator gets is the feeling of power. When you climb into that cab, it feels like it is you and your machine against the world – you are in your own environment.

If you are really keen on moving into the field of heavy equipment operations then there are a few things that you can do that could give you a head start. The first and obvious area to research is heavy equipment training. Without training through an accredited training company, your chances of gaining employment will be greatly reduced. Be sure your training is accredited on a national level – this is one of the only means of determining the quality of the training company.

Training is the first step and gaining employment the last step. In between, there are a number of things you can try. The first is to look around at family and friends. Do any of them work in any area that uses heavy equipment? If so, find out if they can help to arrange a meeting with the person responsible for that heavy equipment. Whilst employment is important, what you need more than anything else is time behind the control. With this in mind, your request will be more along the lines of work experience rather than employment.

Other areas include heavy equipment hire companies. You may not get much experience using the earth moving side of things, but they may allow you some work experience time moving heavy equipment, performing visual inspections and basic maintenance.

Don’t be put off by refusals. Insurance is always an issue with heavy equipment owners. They also have a lot of money tied up in their equipment so they cannot afford any down time caused by accidents. They are going to be cautious at the best of times. However, every operator had to start somewhere and if you use that approach, someone will provide you with some experience. If you prove yourself to be a competent operator, who knows, they may recommend you to a job vacancy.

Good quality heavy equipment training followed by some hours behind the controls will provide you with the credentials to finding full time employment quite quickly. You just need to be proactive to help yourself if you want to a heavy equipment career.

Winter can be a demanding time for crane operators, particularly mobile crane operators, and the snow can really test their crane operator training to the limit. Snow, of course, creates many problems. It can create havoc on our roads, although for mobile crane operators it is the snow on the sides of roads that causes more problems.

This time of year seems to give way to strange accidents, no doubt often caused by black ice on our roads. Cars and trucks skid, overturn and wind up in strange places – places where often a tow-truck can’t retrieve them. This is when a mobile crane may be called in to help retrieve the vehicle. Even then it’s not plain sailing since the mobile crane needs to be able to find some firm footings before attempting to lift.

Road accidents are not the only problems caused by snow. Building can start to feel the effects of the weight of snow and often require assistance from cranes. Mobile cranes are called in to support the wall or roof until construction crews resolve the problem. Once again, snow under foot makes life challenging for crane operators and tests their crane operator training and experience.

Having to work under challenging conditions is another reason why national certification has become important. Operators holding a national certificate are able to demonstrate that their skills and knowledge meet a specific national standard. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools conduct accredited crane operator training. We are also accredited to perform assessments and to award crane operator certifications.

Small environmentally friendly machines like bobcats and skid steer loaders are becoming very popular. There is a good reason for this too. Being small, they cause far less damage to the ground. They also tend to create less in the way of pollution and use far less fuel. There are many models available that operate using liquid gas rather than diesel fuel.

Where skid steer loaders really win is in their maneuverability. Running on tracks, they can turn the full 360 degrees on the spot and squeeze through fairly narrow gaps. This versatility and maneuverability has made them very popular in areas such as landscaping and for jobs such as cleaning up in tight areas around newly constructed buildings.

What has made the skid steer loader even more popular has been the introduction of so many different tools. In the past, the skid steer was just a loader. It could dig and it could be used as a small bulldozer, but the implementation of a variety of tools has made the skid steer a small jack-of-all-trades. Some of these attachments include:

Bucket – digging, moving, lifting, and loading
Augers – digging holes
Pallet Fork – lifting, loading, and moving loaded pallets.
Grapple – lifting, holding, and placing.
Blade – leveling and grading dirt, rock, sand and other materials.
Breaker – break up concrete, stone and asphalt
Tiller – level or till the earth.
Cement Mixer – mix, transport, and dump concrete
Stump Grinder – grinding stumps into wood chips
Snow Blade – plowing snow

That is quite a range of tools which, in the right hands, makes a skid steer loader extremely versatile and useful in many situations. Ownership of either a skid steer loader or a bobcat is often the easiest way into running your own business.

How do you become a skid steer loader operator? The best place to start is with a heavy equipment operator training program. This will teach how to operate a range of equipment including a skid steer loader. The broader knowledge base will help you become a far better operator in the long run with a better understanding of soil types and the limitations for a skid steer loader. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can provide you with the opportunity to start a career as a skid steer loader and perhaps start your own landscaping business.