Not all heavy equipment training schools offer job assistance. That’s why when you find one that does you should jump at the opportunity to get the training you need to further your career. And in these tough economic times, finding long-term payable work is a task worth putting all of your energy into.

Job assistance programs, of course, are of two natures: First, there’s the kind that simply takes your name and puts you on a list. Then there’s the kind of program where a list just won’t do. The job assistance program administrators actually care about your employment future (as much as they care about your employment history). Those kinds of programs will put out as much energy in helping you find the right job as you will. In many cases, they have their preferred employers and when you sign up for the job assistance program they will notify all the employers on their list to see who has an opening. Then they’ll contact you and give you your list so that you can be proactive in finding employment.

That’s the kind of job assistance you need. Real, proactive assistance. But before you get there, you need real, proactive training in the heavy equipment you’re going to be working on. You might as well pick the best heavy equipment training school with the best job assistance program.

With the economy starting to rebuild, a lot of individuals are resorting to agencies to help them rebuild their own lives. If you’re an agency operator, or perhaps an agency employee – have you considered referring your clients to a career as a heavy equipment operator, truck driver or crane operator? With a lot of money being thrown into construction at present the need for operators and drivers is growing substantially.

Heavy equipment careers are not restricted by age, gender or race, making these careers one of the true non-discriminatory work-forces around. Average incomes for these careers range from $35,000 for commercial truck drivers, around $37,000 for heavy equipment operators and $39,000 for crane operators. Top operators can earn in excess of $60,000 per year making them one of the best paid in the industry.

There are several benefits to referring your clients to ATS Heavy Equipment Schools. Training can be completed in three weeks and ATS has a follow up job placement program designed to help graduates find employment in their chosen field. For agencies looking for outcomes, placing clients into training where the training provider also helps to find employment can be a real bonus – the training provider is doing a lot of the work for you.

If you think you may have clients that could be well suited to careers in heavy equipment, crane operations or truck driving, contact us for an agency pack that contains a video, brochure and other relevant information to help you and your clients select the right training program for their future.

Are you a heavy equipment operator that needs to move their own equipment? If so, then a commercial drivers license (CDL) is the only way to go. A class-A commercial drivers license allows you to drive trucks on the public highways and is the trucking equivalent to a standard drivers license.

Truck driver courses go for three weeks and include both in classroom and hands on training. The object of the training is to give you the knowledge and skills that will enable you to pass your class-A commercial drivers license test. This knowledge includes road rules and safety along with skills required to safely and efficiently drive a truck.

On the road training includes highway driving, reversing and parking, along with the many other skills required to drive any vehicle, trucks in particular. ATS has over 45 years experience in truck driver training – in fact, truck driver training was the starting point for the business.

Over the past 45 years ATS has established an enviable reputation for providing skilled operators who generally have little trouble gaining their Class-A CDL. There are many heavy equipment operators trained by ATS in the workplace who have turned to us for help in achieving their Class-A CDL. The only reason they return is because the quality of the training has helped them succeed in their chosen career.

If you’re a heavy equipment operator looking to open up your career options, consider adding a class-A commercial drivers license to your set of skills. It will open more doors than you can imagine.

There is a growing shortage of certified crane operators throughout the country with many employers finding it difficult to find workers who have undergone crane operator training and certification. In many states, crane operators can not be employed unless they have that certification. It can be frustrating for employers and for crane operators.

Crane operators of course can seek certification – that is not a difficult process. For those seeking a career change, the opportunities are there. Undertake crane operator training from a reputable training organization and your certification assessments should be included. This means you can undertake the training and have employers waiting to snap you up.

It is surprising to hear there is a shortage of certified operators when you consider the employment prospects. Crane operators are amongst the highest paid heavy equipment operators. They work in an environment that is interesting and often challenging. Certified crane operators are classified as professionally skilled with the certification being recognition of the skills and knowledge of the operator.

Certification covers areas that go beyond just operating a crane. Important areas such as general workplace safety, lifting safety and knowledge of the crane itself. The certification process is recognized throughout the country which means those that secure their certificates are able to find employment anywhere in the country.

ATS provide both crane operator training and certification. The latter is done through the National Commission For The Certification of Crane Operator (NCCCO), an organization established to set and monitor certification processes for crane operators. If you decide to undertake your crane operator training and certification through ATS you know you will be receiving training from one of the most respected training organizations in the country – that makes your qualification all the more important.

The use of GPS is growing markedly in our society and you can really see the impact it is having when you look at construction and machinery like graders or excavators. A technology known as 3D GPS assists the grader operator to accurately position the blade, allowing for a faster grade without utilizing survey grade stakes.

There are several spin-offs in the use of GPS when it comes to heavy equipment. A grader is a good example of the use and some of the benefits obtained. Safety, of course, is always an important issue on a work site. The use of GPS to set the position and orientation of the blade, even when working to slopes, means the grader will perform the work exactly as planned. This removes the need for a grade checker. Their job was to constantly check the grade from the ground, often putting them in close proximity to all the heavy equipment – the closer you get, the higher th risk of an accident. No grade checker – no accidents.

A second major benefit for construction companies that use GPS in their work is speed. Machinery like graders will get the job done first time every time. If the GPS co-ordinates have all been calibrated correctly then you will never come across a situation where the work done doesn’t meet the plans – and it’s done first time around. This saves time which equates of course to saving money. In some cases, construction contracts award bonuses for early or ontime completion of projects.

The use of GPS can be a specialized field when it comes to graders and excavators. Before undertaking GPS training, you would need to have a solid foundation of excavator or grader operator training along with a little experience using that equipment. Once you have that solid base of skills, you can then undertake GPS training for heavy equipment

Going to a heavy equipment training school to undertake excavator training can provide you with a really good skills base. However, once you get out into the workplace, your training continues. Learning by doing is certainly one of the best options, however, sitting back and just watching the experienced operators at work can be a big lesson in itself.

It’s not restricted to excavators either. Just watch the experienced hands at work on bulldozers, graders or any other heavy equipment. The reason I picked on excavators today is because I took a little time yesterday to watch an excavator at work. They may be large cumbersome beasts, but there are a few little tricks that some operators pick up with experience.

The excavator I was watching had almost finished digging a large trench. It had about 10 feet left but was really cramped for any room to move. It certainly had difficulties extending its arm. One option was to send the excavator home and get either a smaller unit in or perhaps a backhoe. Of course, that takes time and you know what they say, ‘time is money’.

Here is where the experience of the operator came to the fore. He set about building a mound, only five or six feet high. Once completed, he navigated his excavator to the top of the mound. From an increased height of only five or six feet, he had the extra room to extend the excavator’s arm and complete the trench, the last part being only a few feet in front of the mound he had built. Where it would have taken a couple of hours to swap equipment, he had the job completed.

Of course, without a solid training base you will never come to appreciate the little tips that experienced operators can demonstrate. Excavator training by a quality heavy equipment training organization is a must if you ever hope to be in a position where your experience can be passed on to the next generation. You have to get the basics right before you can learn the more advanced processes.

One of the most versatile members of the heavy equipment family are backhoes and they really do earn their keep when it comes to housing projects. The reason for backhoes being so popular is because they are able to perform all the work required – the ultimate multi-task machine.

Backhoes are able to perform a lot of the work of a bulldozer, clearing the land ready for construction. Whilst they may not have the power of a bulldozer, they still pack plenty of grunt and their scoop at the front not only cuts into the surface like bulldozer, it can also carry the dirt the same as a front end loader. There are two units of heavy equipment taken out of the picture.

Once the ground has been cleared, the backhoe can act like an excavator and dig trenches for foundations and for services that require underground pipelines. There is a third unit of heavy equipment covered.

If the ground is particularly hard, there are numerous attachments that can be added to help break it up – a task that would take half a dozen men a couple of days to do using pick-axes or by using explosives.

Backhoes are versatile enough to do all of those task and more. They are also one of the few pieces of heavy equipment that maneuver around a house whilst under construction and clean up all the debris and left over construction material.

Training to operate backhoes is done as part of an overall heavy equipment training program. This is a great way to learn how to operate a backhoe since you also gain skills on bulldozers, excavators and front end loaders. You gain the skills and the understanding of these machines, which ultimately helps in your role as a backhoe operator. It also provides you with alternative career options when required.

That is the call I am seeing these days – not experienced bulldozer operators – no, they are asking for reliable bulldozer operators. One of the problems many construction crews are now finding is a general approach of apathy when it come to travel. With a lot of highway construction being undertaken now, there are times when operators need to travel 40-50 minutes to get to the construction site.

Because of this apathy to travel, employers are looking for operators that are reliable. If the job is forty miles down the highway and work starts at 6am, you’re there, on time, every day that you’re required. Are you reliable or do you fit into the ‘apathy’ class? If you’re reliable, there is work available and it’s increasing by the day.

Some argue that the cost of gas is making this sort of work uneconomical. However, smart crews are car pooling to share expenses. There are employers around that provide transport to and from these sites, it’s just a matter of being at the construction yard on time to take advantage of that transport.

If you fit into the reliable class but don’t have any bulldozer operator training, that’s easily fixed. Heavy equipment training programs can have you in the workplace operating a bulldozer within a month of starting the training program. Read that carefully, within a month of starting, not within a month of completing.

The opportunities are there. If you’re reliable, keen to learn and willing to undertake a few weeks of intense training, both in a classroom and behind the wheel, then you can take advantage of these opportunities. The work is there – will you be?

We often talk about heavy equipment and heavy equipment careers, but what machinery is actually included in that title? My first reaction is to ask ‘how long is a piece of string’ since it can be difficult to quantify what is or isn’t ‘heavy equipment’.

Generally speaking, most wheeled, or tracked, equipment that is involved with the movement of dirt could be classified as heavy equipment. This includes:

• Backhoes
• Wheel loaders
• Front end loaders
• Scrapers
• Excavators
• Bulldozers
• Road graders
• Rock trucks
• Skid Steers
• All-Terrain Forklifts

These are your standard line up of machinery in that category. There are also specialized machines that are used in some industries that are advanced forms of those listed. Mining and forestry are big users of specialized equipment – a good example would be one of the giant long line excavators – when I say giant, I really do mean giant.

When we talk about a career as a heavy equipment operator, it generally refers to a career operating one or more machines on that list. In fact, heavy equipment training gives you a feel for almost every one of those machines giving you the flexibility to choose your equipment after training.

Many operators remain proficient on a range of machinery thus providing flexibility for their employer. Good examples are the excavator, wheel loader and backhoe. The skills required for both the excavator and wheel loader are also related to the backhoe – three machines, three times as many employment opportunities – hence a heavy equipment career. Do you have a choice, or would you like the option of learning to operate a range of heavy equipment?

Heavy equipment; bulldozers, graders, excavators; all lumbering giants with a reputation for destroying all that lays before it, right? Wrong. Heavy equipment operators have been at the forefront of greening projects for decades. In fact, since way before ‘greening’ became so important.

Whether building roads or clearing land for farming, heavy equipment operators have had a reputation for mindlessly destroying everything in sight. Many in fact had the opposite view. If they were clearing land for a road, they only cleared what was needed for that road. The same has been true for general construction and farming.

These days, heavy equipment is actively involved in rehabilitation projects and this is set to jump markedly as President Obama’s aim to create 5 million new green construction jobs over the next ten years comes to fruition. This will be achieved through an investment of $150 billion in construction, most of it in heavy construction.

For individuals who care for the environment, gaining skills as heavy equipment operators can set them up for life in careers that will help them achieve their environmental aims. Training heavy equipment operators for green projects is part of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools aim with training programs designed to pass on some of the knowledge required to work in this area.

Are you interested in greening America? Are you interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator? If you answer yes to both questions, check out what ATS has to offer in the way of training for future green heavy equipment operators.