You can get training on heavy equipment in a lot of different ways. You can go and jump on a machine and learn by trail and error – if you survive. You can learn from an old hand who can stand alongside you and teach you everything he knows – including his bad habits. Or can get accredited training from a professional group of training instructors.

What makes accredited training more important than those mentioned? One aspect of accreditation that many people don’t understand is the standardization that occurs to maintain that accreditation.

This means that all training schools with the same accreditation for the same training program will have the same outcomes. Everyone is being taught the same information and this is generally a standard set by the industry itself, in this case, the heavy equipment industry.

It is important to find a training establishment that is accredited to teach the skills required to be a heavy equipment operator since this will mean that you have the standard of training and skills base required to work in the heavy equipment industry.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools are accredited to delivery training so can be assured of receiving quality training that meets the needs of industry.

If you like the job of pulling everything down then perhaps working as part of a demolition team is for you. Heavy equipment is not only used to build new structures, it plays an important role in pulling them down again.

From the old cranes with swinging steal balls to modern bulldozers pushing over walls and clearing rubble, there is a heavy equipment machine in use somewhere on a demolition site.

If you think you can just jump into a heavy equipment machine and start knocking things down, then think again. Demolition these days is organized and played out according to plan. Safety is a big concern, not just for the workers and onlookers. The safety of other structures and vehicles must also be considered.

This is where careful training and the ability to follow instructions comes in handy. First your need to be capable of operating that piece of heavy equipment and operate it safely. Then you need to follow instructions and plans and work to those plans, always on the lookout for any possible problems.

Once a site has been demolished, more heavy equipment is required to clear it. Front end loaders and bulldozers are used. The bulldozer to push material into piles, the front end loader to lift it all into trucks. At times cranes may also be used to lift heavier items into a truck.

Fancy yourself as a demolition expert. Get the training on a piece of heavy equipment first and your on your way. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can get you started in your career as a demolition worker – just sign up and complete your training first.

You have to wonder about the mentality of some operators. Of course, accidents do happen, but if you take care and you are aware of your environment then these accidents wont happen. Check out this heavy equipment operator:

Obviously wasn’t taught how to operate his equipment by ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools. Get the right training first then hope aboard your heavy equipment and stay safe.

Being a heavy equipment operator is one thing, knowing how to transport it is another thing – and it is often one thing that is never taught. Let’s face it, we don’t need to move our equipment that often, we leave it to the professionals.

Of course, if you ever get to own your own heavy equipment then you are going to find more cost effective to move it around yourself. The first tip to tying it down, read the manual. Heavy equipment will almost always have tie down points.

If you cannot find any tie down points then there is a second simple rule, all four corners, and each blade. For a bulldozer with a rear bucket, this would require six points tied down. For a front-end loader, five points.

When in doubt, contact the manufacturer or your local transport department, they are the ones who will issue the fine if you get it all wrong.

Of course, you could always ask your instructor while you are undertaking your training. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools provide comprehensive training on heavy equipment.

Have you ever seen a piece of heavy equipment with two seats in the cabin? No! Didn’t think so. It is extremely difficult to ‘teach’ someone how to operate any equipment. We can teach you safety features, and we can teach you basic maintenance, teaching you operate is a different story.

The real issue is not so much what we teach, but what you learn. When it comes to heavy equipment you will learn more by doing than by watching. Once you start operating the equipment we can provide advice on what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong, and what areas you could do a little differently. You job is take the advice as part of a lesson, not as a form of criticism.

In education, there is an old saying that goes something like this:

“The teacher is present when the student is ready to learn.”

In other words, unless you are willing to learn, a teacher is useless – we cannot teach a brick wall to do anything. This is very true when it comes to heavy equipment. We provide you with the opportunity to learn how to operate the equipment. We cannot help you at all unless you are ready to learn, not from a blackboard, but from sitting in the seat and doing.

For some students, it all comes naturally. For others, they need to keep practicising until they get it right. Operating heavy equipment is a combination of eyes, hands, feet, and, believe it or not, your backside. You need to feel the equipment – become one with it. You will soon learn that what you feel with your hands and feet is what is happening now. What you feel with your backside has already happened.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools give you every opportunity to learn to operate equipment. If your ready to start learning, we are ready to start your learning.

Motor graders are the real work horses when it come to moving dirt and leveling and planing a surface to fine tolerances. This is done through the use a blade, or moldboard, that can be set and held at a precise slope and elevation. The operator can raise, lower, turn and tilt the blade through controls in cabin.

Typical motor graders feature three axles with the engine and the drivers cab situated above the rear axles. In road construction, road graders are used to “finish grade” or refine the “rough grading” that was performed by heavy equipment such as scrapers or bulldozers.

Motor graders are large powerful machines that weigh approximately 15 tons. Motor graders have a variety of uses across many different industries, but their primary use is to produce smooth, consistent surfaces, either level or graded. Motor graders are widely used in the construction of roads, railway beds, airport runways and commercial building sites.

For road construction, motor graders are commonly used in maintenance of unpaved roads and new road construction to prepare the base course to create a wide, flat surface for the asphalt to be placed on. Highways appear level to the naked eye, but are actually graded at a slight angle (often called a camber) to promote and guide runoff.

For a career as a motor grader visit ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools.

If you’re looking to gain experience as a heavy equipment operator then the military may be your answer. The Army is always working on construction jobs both at home and abroad and so require the skills of heavy equipment operators. They crate airfields, prepare sites for buildings, build dams and undertake demolition jobs.

The military requires skilled teams of construction workers to complete these task. Of course when working abroad the location can be just as challenging as the construction job itself. As with all new recruits to the army, construction equipment operators begin with nine weeks of basic training to learn to be a soldier.

Once you have completed your basic training you will move on to more advanced training for heavy equipment which includes safety, using the heavy equipment in possible battle zones and the maintenance and repair of your equipment. You may also need to learn how to assemble some components of your heavy equipment as there are times and situations where the equipment cannot be shipped in one piece.

Many army professionals spend their days on powerful bulldozers, cranes, graders and front end loaders. After leaving the army, these trained heavy equipment operators are in high demand due to their superior skill levels and quickly snapped up for well paying jobs in the construction, timber and mining industries.

This all starts by getting good quality basic training on your chosen piece of heavy equipment. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with those basic skills and help you get started in a well paid career.

There are many different types of cranes in use around the country. They range in size and weight from small overhead gantry type cranes to large tower cranes.

Tower Cranes:
Frequently referred to as Construction Cranes. They are used in the construction of high-rise buildings. These cranes generally don’t have a movable base. These are the tallest cranes and have to be assembled piece by piece. Tower cranes are used to construct tall buildings, and in the case of skyscrapers, these cranes are often assembled inside the building during construction.

Floating cranes:
These cranes are mounted on barges or pontoons and used within shipping industry. They are used to construct ports, salvage ships, build bridges and unload ships. They can often handle very heavy loads and awkwardly shaped containers.

Loader cranes:
These cranes have hydraulic powered booms fitted onto trailers. They load goods onto the trailer and the jointed sections of the boom are folded down when not in use. You can commonly see these where housebuilding bricks are delivered.

Stacker cranes:
Frequently seen in warehouses where they work with an automatic retrieval system.

If your interested in a career as a crane operator then your first step has to be to get some training. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can provide you with a start to a great career as a crane operator.

Track Loaders are very similar to bulldozers and can undertake similar jobs. Bulldozers really just push and cut, they cannot load the material into a truck. Track loaders are a combination of a front end loader and a bulldozer.

The tracks gives it some grip and function in muddy, slippery areas. The loader function allows it to scoop up the material and empty it into a waiting truck just like a front end loader. The track loader’s bucket is generally a little smaller when it comes to capacity.

A good example of a track loader is Caterpillar’s small 939C track loader which offers a single lever joystick for easy control off both speed and direction. The smaller size also provides for a small turning radius. The Caterpillar 953D model is larger and features a redesigned operator cab that keeps the focus on comfort for long work shifts. The 936C is Caterpillar’s choice for general purpose work. It can do clearing, stripping of topsoil, contouring, grading, dozing, backfilling, carry materials and truck loading.

Track loaders can often be found in the waste handling industry. The Caterpillar 953C is geared for this type of work. In landfills it can be found feeding waste to the compactors, spreading, shredding and leveling and at transfer stations, the work is often sorting, crushing and loading.

You can consider a track loader as a cross between a bulldozer and a front end loader. You can start your career in this industry by getting quality training as a bulldozer operator.

If I could have had an alternative career it would have been as a long distance truck driver. I love driving. I could happily drive from one end of the country to the other, then turn around and come back. I am not interested in the scenery or anything like that – I just like the open highway – perhaps there is something hypnotic about that white line.

I am not the only one. There are thousands of men and women who feel the same and they spend their days (and nights) behind the wheel transporting our freight all around the country. Every single one of them started somewhere and it would have started with some of the basic skills required to get a license.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools we pride ourselves on the quality of the training provided to those undertaking truck driving programs. We train you all facets of truck driving and help you to acquire you truck license. We even help you find employment.

If you look at the highways around the nation, you will notice there are truck everywhere, and the industry cannot find enough reliable, honest and trained workers.

Perhaps you will be the next to graduate from our training school for truck drivers. You need to take that first step – contact us to start your career as a truck driver.