Having spent the week reviewing the latest Department of Labor stats on the future of employment in the heavy equipment industry, perhaps it’s time to review how we can help you get started into a great career as a heavy equipment operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have their own job placement assistance service for anyone wanting to start a career in the industry. There are hundreds of employers in the database all wanting to employ trained and competent heavy equipment operators.

Through the database you can locate employers in specific geographical locations throughout the United States. The goal is to assist our graduates in finding employment opportunities.

Each campus has a job placement assistance director. Their role is:

Your campus has a job placement assistance director that you can talk to about job placement. From the very first day the School will emphasize job placement assistance as a cooperative effort where the School and the student work together to achieve a common goal: SUCCESSFUL JOB PLACEMENT.

Our assistance commences during your first week of training and continues until you are successfully places. We also follow up to ensure that everyone is happy with the job placement.

The heavy equipment field is strong and growing and requires freshly trained recruits to add the work pool. You can get your start to a career by contacting ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

One of the fastest growing heavy equipment careers is that of a class A truck driver. With the cost of fuel soaring, many businesses are turning away from air freight and resorting once more to road freight.

You would think that even road freight would suffer with higher fuel prices – and it does. However the industry is so competitive that most freight companies are reducing profits rather than hiking prices – price rises are certainly lower than those imposed by airlines. There are other reasons as well- all of which result in a demand for more trucks and with it more drivers.

In the past, many trucks would drive from A to B at only 75% or even less capacity. They are now moving with 100% capacity and there are still insufficient vehicles and qualified drivers to move freight. A career as a class A truck driver can be rewarding. One of the benefits of truck driving is that, once you leave the depot, you are virtually your own boss. You drive the truck and there is certainly no foreman sitting behind you yelling instructions – its you, your truck and the open road.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with the relevant in class and on road training to help you gain your class A commercial driving license.

Once you get your start in the field of heavy equipment operation you may find that what you are doing is not quite enough. Training is the start of a career and ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can help there.

Getting your first job operating a heavy equipment machine is your next step; and of course we can help you there as well. As you gain more experience you are going to start to eye of some of the larger more technical machines. How do you get behind the wheel of one those?

There are several options available. The first is to simply approach your employer and see if they are willing to let you spend some time in the cab alongside a regular operator. This may not suit all employers as this time is unproductive. However, the heavy equipment operator may be willing to spend a little time with you during a meal break or before or after work.

A better option is to gain further formal training through a heavy equipment training school. They may be able to provide hands on training in larger machines or machines more suited to ambitions. If you have undertaken training as a dozer operator then it is fairly easy to gain training as a motor grader operator or similar.

Once you have finished your training and gained employment, the future is wide open. As we have pointed out in the last few posts, demand for operators is rising and with it the pay checks. A career in the heavy equipment industry is challenging yet very rewarding.

Heavy equipment is normally associated with construction and often with just land clearing and road building. There are however many other areas where heavy equipment operators are required. These include farms, forestry, mining and cargo ports.

The Department of Labor is expecting strong growth in the requirement for heavy equipment operators in these areas. Growth ranges from a strong 10% in mining to 4% in forestry with farming and cargo around the 7%.

Wages in these occupations range from around the $11 for rural/farming occupations to $18 for crane operators working in our ports.

Truck haulage is expect to rise significantly as the cost of fuel impacts on the airline industry. Growth is difficult to asses given the option of rail versus road. If road continues to expand then employment growth to reach 12-13% in coming years.

Wages for truck drivers vary greatly with local drivers receiving a little over $15 per hour. Long distance drivers are being paid per trip rather than per hour and wages vary according to the distance traveled.

As we have seen with this weeks posts, the requirement for heavy equipment operators is growing strongly in all sectors of our economy. The wages are also growing at a rate comparable to inflation with conditions for workers improving all the time.

Given the new technology and ability of employers to do more with less, the increase in labor in these sectors is significant. Economic downturn normally calls for cuts in the workforce. This is not so in the heavy equipment skills area.

To join the heavy equipment work force you need the appropriate skills. We keep pace with modern trends and employer requirements and offer training that is relevant to these needs. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools would be happy to discuss your training needs and provide you with the opportunity to kick start you career.

If you are in the heavy equipment operator sector then your paychecks are growing quite strongly as the demand for your skills grows.

Latest figures from the Department of Labor show the median hourly rate for heavy equipment operators at $17.74 with some as high as $23.98. These rates were for those in the construction industry. Sector breakdowns are as follows:

Highway, street, and bridge construction $19.88
Utility system construction $18.62
Other specialty trade contractors $18.00
Other heavy and civil engineering construction $17.63
Local government $15.95

Heavy equipment operators in the paving, surfacing, and tamping areas received a slightly lower median of $15.05 with some earning as high as $19.71. Sector breakdowns:

Other specialty trade contractors $15.26
Highway, street, and bridge construction 15.11
Local government 14.86

Median hourly earnings of wage and salary piledriver operators were $22.20 with a top rate of $31.65. Sector breakdowns:

Other heavy and civil engineering construction $28.60
Highway, street, and bridge construction 22.50
Other specialty trade contractors 20.60
Utility system construction 18.62

Compared to many other industries the growth in paychecks for heavy equipment operators is still strong and growing annually.

Tomorrows post will look at other heavy equipment sectors such as mining and forestry. Careers in the heavy equipment sector are strong so if you are looking for a start – visit ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

If you are looking for a career in the heavy equipment industry then you have chosen the correct career path.

According to the Department of Labor’s employment statistics, employment in the heavy equipment field should grow by at least 8% – this is despite increased productivity levels being achieved using modern technology.

The department reported:

[source]More piledriver operators will be needed …
…More paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators will be needed ….
…Job opportunities for construction equipment operators are expected to be very good….

In addition, many job openings will arise from job growth and from the need to replace experienced construction equipment operators who transfer to other occupations, retire, or leave the job for other reasons. Construction equipment operators who can use a large variety of equipment will have the best prospects. Operators with pipeline experience will have especially good opportunities.

The department also feels it will it easier for willing workers to get heavy equipment operator jobs. What is required is for operators to have training relevant to the needs of employers with employers willing to continue on the job training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide effective training to meet the needs of employers. We also have a job placement service to help freshly trained operators gain the experience required to move onto more demanding task.

The Department Of Labor has a good site that provides a lot of information for anyone looking to work in the construction industry. They have a special section for those looking to work with heavy equipment and the training and certification required.

Most of the information points to school leavers entering apprenticeships. However there is one section that deals with private training and it makes for interesting reading. One section is particularly important:

[source]Certification and other qualifications. Mechanical aptitude and experience operating related mobile equipment, such as farm tractors or heavy equipment, in the Armed Forces or elsewhere is an asset. Operators need to be in good physical condition and have a good sense of balance, the ability to judge distance, and eye-hand-foot coordination. Some operator positions require the ability to work at heights.

Certification or training in the right school will allow a worker to have opportunities across the country. While attending some vocational schools, operators are able to qualify for or attain various certifications. These certifications prove to potential employers that an operator is able to handle specific types of equipment. Certifications last from 3 to 5 years and must be renewed.

The article reiterates some of the information we passed on in earlier posts. One line stands out and relates to ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools – training in the right school will allow a worker to have opportunities across the country.

To receive certification the heavy equipment training school itself needs to be accredited. If you are looking for training, make sure the training organization has accreditation from an authorized body.

Most people, when they think of heavy equipment, they think of those large machines they see on construction sites. And generally speaking they are thinking yellow. Yellow of course is the traditional color for the Caterpillar breed of heavy equipment.

Over the years they were certainly one of the most popular machines and for a long time they were the leader when it came to capabilities.

These days Caterpillar are not the only manufacturer around – in fact they are probably no longer the leaders when it comes to new technology in heavy equipment.

One thing you can be assured of in this day and age, no matter how old or new these heavy equipment construction machines are, once you learn how to operate one of them competently, you can hop into any other with ease.

Heavy equipment operation is fairly standardized these days. Get the right training and you have a career for life. The right training – check out ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools for our quality no fuss heavy equipment training.

What sort of person are you? Do you like being the person to put the finishing touches on a job? Perhaps your the kind of person who is technical and works to measurements, angles and depths? Or are you the brute who rolls up their sleeves and uses brute force to get a job done? Whatever your style there is a bulldozer to suit.

Heavy equipment is not just about operating a big powerful brute. When it comes to bulldozers there are many different styles, classes and even attachments that can be used.

If your the finishing kind of person, there are smaller lighter quite nimble machines that are designed for putting those finishing touches to an area. They are the types of machines that can smooth over rough patches, help to spread sand and other materials ready for construction or road building.

Next in line are your general purpose machines. Designed to push a lot of earth around, shape the ground in both depth and to certain angles or slopes. These are the machines you see on most construction jobs.

Finally their is the brute. These are the large machines often used in mines or in waste dumps. They push huge amounts of dirt, garbage or raw materials in quick time. Despite their size they are quite nimble.

What is your preference – light on your feet or the big brute? ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can you started on your career in bulldozer operations.

Yesterday’s post looked at tractors so it would be logical to assume that a tractor trailer was a trailer that was towed by a tractor. This is actually far from the truth. Tractor trailers are actually trucks and require truck licenses to drive them.

The term tractor trailer is given to a combination of a trailer and a truck. These are two entirely separate units. The truck can be hooked to other trailers and the trailer can be hooked to other trucks. They are connected by hardware,electronics and often compressed air, used to control brakes and lights.

The trailer component can come in many configurations, generally boxed, flat bed or tanker. Boxed is used to transport items such as bulk groceries; tankers are used to transport liquids and bulk dry goods such as grain; flat beds are used to transport a variety of products such as timber and heavy equipment like earth moving machines.

The truck or tractor component can also come in a range of configurations, some large enough to include a small sleeping chamber for long journeys.

To operate a tractor trailer you require a special license. To obtain this license you will require training – training by qualified people who can teach you not only how to drive a tractor trailer, but also some of the trickier maneuvers such as reversing. If truck driving is in your career plans then consider ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.