We are rapidly approaching that time of year when traffic on many of our roads stops to a crawl, or stops altogether. The cause? Snow! Bulldozer operators are often recruited to operate the snow plows used to clear roads. They are not the only operators called upon.

In some areas, trucks and/or farm tractors are fitted with a bulldozer type blades. They perform the same role as a bulldozer although not quite as effectively. Other areas use graders. These are particularly useful in areas where the snow has been compacted.

Technically speaking, a snow plow is the blade that is fitted to any vehicle. A rail car that has a blade fitted is also known as a snow plow. Rather than having heavy equipment experience, you require train driver training to operate these vehicles.

There are of course several specific purpose vehicles that have been built that also bear the name snow plow. When looking for employment as a snow plow operator, you need to clarify what type of snow plow is being used, otherwise you may find yourself operating unfamiliar vehicles with snow plow blades attached rather than specific snow plows.

Dedicated snow plows are very similar to bulldozers so a bulldozer operator will generally have a lot of the operational skills required to operate the machine. Using a grader on icy roads is very similar to using a grader on any other surface. Graders are popular since they can be set to very fine measurements shaving the road to within fractions of an inch of the sealed surface.

Looking to work as a snow plow operator? Start by undertaking a bulldozer or grader operator training program. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools offer heavy equipment training programs that deliver skills in a range of heavy equipment – just what you need if you want to work as a snow plow operator.

Whether you are digging through topsoil, sand, clay or rock, the machine of choice generally is an excavator. However, employers don’t stay in business for long if they don’t make the right decisions. When it comes to digging holes, you need good operators and the right tools. When it comes to excavators, a good operator will struggle if required to use the wrong tools; having said that, having all the right tools won’t make a poor operator look good either.

Sourcing the right tools is the easy part. In fact the hardest part is probably sourcing the finance to pay for the tools. Excavators are certainly not cheap machinery, and that’s for a basic excavator. Once you start adding the various attachments, you are looking at a huge investment, an investment the business relies on to succeed.

With that in mind, businesses have an even tougher job; finding the right operator for their business and equipment. With so much money invested in equipment, the last thing the business needs is a poor operator who causes more damage than good. The longer a machine is ‘off the job’, the more money it is costing the business.

Good operators are not that scarce. It is finding them that can be difficult. Over time businesses develop a system, a system that often involves networking and word-of-mouth referrals. Training providers such as ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are often asked for referrals of their good students. Why? Because they have built a sound reputation for providing skilled graduates who are ready to work.

If you are seeking a career as an excavator operator then gain your skills through a training provider that is highly regarded throughout the industry.

I am noticing a steady increase in the number of vacancies for motor grader operators these days. In fact, there is an overall increase in advertised vacancies for heavy equipment operators. I have seen several ads that read – operators required for roller, front end loader, mini excavator, street sweeper tractor (mower), motor grader, asphalt lay down machine, oil distributor and chip seal machine. Smack in the middle, hidden away was the motor grader.

The increase in demand for all heavy equipment operators is due in no part to the federal stimulus spending packages. Motor grader operators are in demand because a lot of that money is going into new roads – heavy users of motor graders.

In the past, many businesses could get away with using one or two operators across a range of equipment. They would use a bulldozer to clear the way, the motor grader to prepare the surface and a front end loader to remove the debris. At the moment, there is so much work on their books they need operators for each of these machines. They are going from two or three operators to five or six – a doubling of operator numbers.

For those who have wanted a career in heavy equipment, particularly as motor grader operators, now is the time to act. Employment numbers are forecast to rise over the the next 5-6 years and this increase in demand will start to put pressure on operator training schools. At present, you can enroll and start your training almost immediately. The same will not be true in the months to come. By this time next year, the demand may be such you will have to wait several months for the next training vacancy.

Act now and undertake your motor grader operator training. The demand is there for new operators – will you be one of them?

Loaders are one of the units of heavy equipment that seem to be everywhere, doing everything. When it comes to versatility using just one scoop, loaders beat off all their on-site rivals in almost every department.

According to some loader operators, you should never refer to the scoop as a bucket. Excavators and backhoes have buckets, loaders have scoops. Whichever way you look at it, that scoop is deadly and can certainly move a few mountains.

Sometimes known as a front-end loader, these machines perform different tasks on a continuous basis. One moment they are moving dirt or gravel, the next is moving pipes. They even help to move other equipment around a construction site.

Being one of the most versatile machines in use, loader operators are always in demand. You will find a loader on almost every major construction site, on road building and maintenance projects, on farms and in many other situations. Loaders are also used in some industrial complexes. For example, handling wheat and other grains.

Loaders come in a range of sizes starting from the vary small toy-like skips to the large articulated loaders similar, but larger, to the one in the picture. Some of the smaller loaders use tracks, however, the larger ones almost always use wheels – it is one of the distinguishing differences between a loader and bulldozer.

To become a loader operator you need to attend three weeks of heavy equipment training. Training covers a range of heavy equipment and is undertaken both in class and hands on. A career as a loader operator offers a career that can be challenging, is always changing, and one that is quite rewarding. Get your start as a loader operator through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools.

There are many workplaces that have special requirements when it comes to employees and the equipment they use. Cranes and crane operator training is one very good example. There are many industries that use cranes in non-standard ways or in situations that are non-standard.

A good example of the use of a crane in a non-standard situation would be a crane on a boat or barge or a crane mounted on a train car. Whilst the operation of the crane itself is quite standard, the effects of the environment, in this case the rise and fall of the water, or the safety aspects of a train car, create work problems of their own.

Employers often find that the best way to recruit crane operators in these cases is to take on individuals who have good working knowledge of cranes, and then to provide them with specialist training, testing and certification. Specialist crane operator training centers around the task at the hand. A training program is developed along with testing to suit the long term aims of the employer.

If the training and testing meets certification guidelines then that process can be followed and a certificate issued. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have specialist crane operator trainers who can come out to your workplace to deliver training. Specialist training can also be undertaken in one of our classrooms. Our aim is to ensure you have the right people trained to perform tasks that often unique to your business.

Did you know that our military services used heavy equipment like bulldozers? Did you also know you could have a military career as a bulldozer operator? You can and you can fast track your initial training if you gain a qualification and experience before signing up to the military.

There are two ways to enter the military as a bulldozer operator. The first is to sign up, do the complete basic training then request a transfer to the heavy equipment division. The second is to sign up as a trained and experienced bulldozer operator. You will still need to undertake the basic training.

A career in the US Army, for example, can be an exciting one and can take you to many places around the world, even as a bulldozer operator. Although your specialty skill will be as a bulldozer operator, you will still be considered a part of the infantry. This means learning the basic skills that all soldiers possess, namely, handling weapons and working as a team under attack.

Bulldozers are not the only heavy equipment used by the military. They also use crawlers, wheeled tractors, scoop loaders, motorized graders and towed or self-propelled scrapers. Undertaking training and gaining some on the job experience is the easiest way to get a foot hold into the military.

If a career in the military as a heavy equipment operator sounds good then check out the heavy equipment training options that are available through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator schools.

Heavy equipment safety has been at front of all construction related and heavy equipment related training programs for several years now. There is a good reason for this emphasis – in simple terms, too many people had their lives ruined by accidents. It is not just the worker who suffers in an accident. There are the worker’s colleagues, the employer and, of course, the injured worker’s family. They all become victims of the one simple accident.

Safety is all the more important on a construction site as there are many people working in and around the site. As a heavy equipment operator you need to work in a manner that gets the job done yet causes no harm to yourself or to any other person (or property). Ultimately, someone has to be responsible for this safety – who do you think it is?

Current legislation on both a state and national basis requires businesses to conform to certain safety standards. This includes nominating someone as a safety officer, providing clear safety guidelines, and, where required, providing safety training.

However, when you’re on the job, no amount of legislation, nor number of safety officers, or hours training, can take over your next move. Sure, your next move will be based on all of the above, but you are the only person responsible for that move. This makes you the most important person on the construction site at that given moment.

This in fact is the reason that safety training is mandatory. The hope is that some of that safety training will influence each and every action you take. Heavy equipment safety – don’t treat it with disdain; your life, and perhaps mine, could depend on it.

Heavy equipment careers are booming with government statistics suggesting that demand for operators will continue through to 2016. Back in 2006 (latest reliable statistics), there were 494,000 heavy equipment operators spread across the nation. The predicted trend was that this number would grow by about 8% by 2016 – that is around 40,000 new positions or around 4,000 new jobs each year. That doesn’t tell the whole story, however.

It is predicted that around 14% of operators (2006 statistics) will leave the job in that same period, many through retirement as the baby boomers era starts to decline. That represents around 70,000 operators leaving the industry – or 7,000 per year. The net total is a requirement of 12,000 new trained workers each year until 2016.

You know what they say about statistics and I agree to an extent. You will not see 12,000 new jobs each year. In fact the projection had been for a steady annual increase in the number of new recruits required. 2010 is when the baby boomers are expected to drop off the employment charts in bigger numbers. This has been offset somewhat this year by the strong demand for new recruits to service the construction programs associated with the economic recovery initiatives.

If you take all that and put it together – the bottom line is that demand for heavy equipment operators is NOT expected to drop at all. This means that anyone entering a heavy equipment career can expect stability of employment until at least 2016. That’s good news for everyone involved in the industry. However, what about today – right now – what is the demand?

A quick search on Google produced many lists of job vacancies. Indeed.com represented the average with almost 3,000 opportunities listed for heavy equipment operators. I suggest, if you are looking at a heavy equipment career, you get started. There has never been a better time like the present – take advantage of it while you can. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can quickly get you started in a rewarding career as a heavy equipment operator.

There are a lot of highly skilled workers who spend their days driving trucks for a living. A commercial drivers license opens up many opportunities and if heavy equipment skills are added the opportunities get even wider.

One of the jobs that many truck drivers undertake is the pick up and delivery of heavy equipment. Truck drivers normally arrive at the pick up point, wait for someone to load the heavy equipment onto the truck then transport it to its destination. Once again they may be forced to wait until someone arrives to unload the equipment.

It’s a straight forward enough job for the truck driver – apart from the waiting. It would be far more more convenient if the truck driver could arrive at the pickup point and load the heavy equipment onto his truck himself. Likewise, once he gets to the end of his journey, then unloading the heavy equipment and moving on to the next job.

It makes sense and many truck drivers do undertake heavy equipment training to augment their work. They also find themselves in big demand with employers recognizing the value of employing multi-skilled workers. Being multi-skilled, you do of course open the door to a great many employment opportunities, the chief of which is the transportation of heavy equipment.

If you have a commercial drivers license and you are looking to add skills to your repertoire – consider training to become a heavy equipment operator. There is work available across the nation as both heavy equipment operators and as truck drivers. There is also a lot of work available for those who can do both.

When it comes to heavy equipment and the construction industry, sometimes size is a problem, not a benefit – that’s where backhoes step up and complete the job. Backhoes can perform the same duties as most excavators. Of course, being somewhat smaller, they do take a little longer to complete a task, but when space is limited at least they can complete the task.

Backhoes and excavators are similar machinery when it comes to the tasks they can perform. Many of the attachments are similar as well. Although they can perform the same duties, these machines look nothing like each other.

Excavators generally run on tracks whilst backhoes run on wheels. Excavators have a large cab and engine room where backhoes are more like a tractor when it comes to the cab and engine room. Excavators and backhoes both use booms and buckets, the big difference being the size of bucket. Backhoes differ from excavators in that they also have a front-end loader style scoop at the front of the machine.

With those differences noted, the final straw is in their look and maneuverability. Backhoes tend to be long and narrow. Excavators tend to be in the short and squat category. It is the squat issue that makes their life harder when working in tight spaces. Backhoes can drive into smaller areas and still operate effectively.

Backhoes can be fun to operate. They are certainly one of the easier machines to learn to operate. Backhoe training as part of a general heavy equipment training program is the norm these days since it provides new operators with a wide variety of skills. If you think backhoes are toys when it comes to heavy equipment, think again. They are an essential part of any construction team.