Carpentry is a highly rewarding profession that is relatively easy to break into. If you are already in a job, it might be hard for you to give up your income to undertake an apprenticeship or an intensive training program. It is, however, always possible to pick up a few carpentry skills along the way that can help you achieve more from your construction career. Here at Associated Training Services we offer a range of training programs that help our students better their employment opportunities. Carpentry training has helped many people like you find better work and earn more money.

The carpentry certifications that you decide to pursue are entirely up to you. We offer a range of options that will get you certified for the tasks that are commonly required in the construction industry. We don’t offer an apprenticeship, we offer training in the skills that are required on the job all the time. With your carpentry certification, you will become a skilled worker and be able to enjoy the benefits that go along with that. You can earn higher wages, enjoy better conditions and have greater security. If you are interested in carpentry training, please do not hesitate to contact us at Associated Training Services.

What are front loaders and why would you want to drive one? Front loaders are also known as front-end loaders and sometimes simply as loaders. They are a great piece of heavy equipment, with an enormous range of functionality. They come in a number of different sizes to suit the tasks that they are required to perform and the locations that they are being used in.

The typical front loader has a wide bucket that is made for moving material. That is their primary function, moving loads from one place to another. The bucket is mistaken, by many people that are unfamiliar with heavy equipment, to be a bulldozer blade. In fact, bulldozers and front loaders have little in common (though a blade can be fitted to a front loader to turn it into a light dozer).

A range of different hydraulic attachments make front loaders suitable for a range of tasks. They are wheeled, not tracked, so they are easy to use in built up environments. Being wheeled, they don’t have nearly as much power as a heavy tracked bulldozer, but they get most jobs done quickly. Wheels make front loaders maneuverable and faster moving, and it is for these reasons that they are so popular.

If you are interested in training for an exciting career in front loaders, please contact us at Associated Training Services. Front loaders provide rewarding careers for people such as yourself in a range of different industries/

Backhoes come in all types of sizes. You will see small backhoes that are suitable for working in tighter spaces and much larger backhoes for bigger construction projects. A good training course will prepare you for operating any size.

Backhoes are Versatile

Even small backhoes can achieve some outstanding results. This is one of the reasons why there are so many owner-operators of backhoes. Small backhoes are relatively inexpensive and offer a great way for entrepreneurial heavy equipment operators to get started on their own. Even if you are not thinking about going into business for yourself, you will find there are plenty of job opportunities for operators of backhoes. You can see them at every construction site that you go to.

Backhoes are used in a range of functions, not just in construction, but anywhere that digging is required. You see backhoes in use in agricultural, mining and even demolition related applications. Anywhere that you need to dig or move material, you are likely to see a backhoe in use.

Training in Backhoes

Getting certification to operate backhoes is a relatively straightforward process. The first thing you need to do is to contact us here at Associated Training Services. We have a nationally accredited training program and schools in various locations around the country. Once you have completed your training, we can take you out of the classroom (and simulated work environment) and put you into a real workplace with our job placement program. Our training schedules come in both full time and part time options. Give us a call today and we can get you on the road to a successful career operating backhoes.

Financial aid is something that people really need to take care about. There are people that would argue that it is best to avoid financial aid whenever possible. Many people overburden themselves with debt, the sub-prime mortgage fiasco has taught us that much. Financial aid becomes a problem when you borrow money to purchase something that loses value. In the sub-prime mortgage situation, people found that housing values fell after they had purchased their properties. Therefore, when they ran into repayment problems, they were unable to recoup their losses by selling their properties. It is a larger scale version of what happens to many people when they borrow inordinately large sums of money to purchase a motor vehicle.

If you are considering financial aid, you need to be sure that you are making a smart purchase. What is a smart purchase? A smart purchase is something that is going to maintain or gain value. Property can be a smart investment if you understand the market, so to can education. Can you sell education to recoup your losses? Of course you can’t, but great training can see you earning more money than you were able to earn without training. In this way, training has a tangible value and is worthy of financial aid. The sooner you complete the training, the sooner you can earn higher wages. Here at Associated Training Services, we offer financial aid because we realize that it can help people make a better life for themselves. If you believe that you might be in need of financial aid, please do not hesitate to contact us.

What do hardhats have to do with heavy equipment safety? When you are in the vehicle, nothing really, hardhats have a lot more to do with workplace safety than heavy equipment safety. If you are in a covered vehicle a hardhat is generally not going to give you too many safety benefits. If there is a hard roof over your head, that will protect you from falling objects. The hardhat might come into play if something comes through the windshield but in terms of actual heavy equipment safety benefits, they are unlikely to offer much. All the same, you should always wear your hardhat.

Why wear a hardhat in a vehicle? Heavy equipment operators quite often need to exit their vehicles. In fact, there are often times that they must work alongside their vehicles. These are times that accidents happen. You might be perfectly safe inside the vehicle, but step outside and you are vulnerable. You should make a habit of wearing your hardhat at all times, wear it so often that you feel naked without it. The last thing you want is to have an accident when you are unprepared. While hardhats are not that big a part of heavy equipment safety, it is highly recommended that heavy equipment operators make use of them. Hardhats save lives and prevent injuries and that is at the heart of what heavy equipment safety is all about. If you have any questions or comments relating to heavy equipment safety, please feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Getting financial aid can literally mean the difference between subsistence living and an exciting, rewarding career. Heavy equipment training can be expensive; we make no secret of that. The reason why heavy equipment training costs what it does is that the equipment costs a lot to purchase and maintain. We like to have experienced professional instructors to provide high quality instruction. We keep our prices as affordable as possible but we are realistic. Many people find it hard to afford training. The reason why people find it difficult to afford heavy equipment training has more to do with the fact that their income provides them with very little to spare than the actual cost of training. It is hard to save money when you are literally living from paycheck to paycheck. This is where financial aid comes in.

We offer financial aid because we realize that sometimes people need a little help to get started. Our financial aid is available to approved customers. You will need a good credit rating to get financial aid from Associated Training Services. If you have a bad credit rating then you may still be able to get financial aid if you are able to supply a guarantor. Failing finding a guarantor, we might be able to explore other options or to direct you to other sources of financial aid. If you are having problems finding the money to start training, don’t let that stop you, contact us at Associated Training Services, we just might be able to help.

Why is having three points of contact so important for heavy equipment safety? The most common accidents on worksites are from stupid things that just happen. People slip on stairs, people trip getting out of vehicles. People fall out of vehicles. While nine times out of ten, this will hurt nothing more than a person’s ego, sometimes people are seriously injured. Sometimes the injuries are enough to keep them out of work for a long period of time or even permanently. Maintaining three points of contact minimizes the likelihood of one of the most avoidable types of heavy equipment accident.

I once read a story of a particularly ruthless safety inspector. It was a long time ago, so I forget exactly how it went, but I remember most of the details. This particular safety inspector was on an oil rig, when a reporter came to visit her. One of the rig workers brought two steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee for the safety inspector and the reporter.
The safety inspector promptly responded, “You were holding two cups of coffee, how did you hold onto the handrail.”

While this might seem ungrateful on the part of the safety inspector, she was absolutely right for doing so. There are plenty of construction safety inspectors that would have said the same and some would not have been so polite. Three points of contact is of the utmost importance to heavy equipment safety.

The three points of contact rule is that you must maintain three points of contact when entering or exiting the vehicle. A point of contact is generally a hand or foot. Two points of contact, which is all that most people think that they need; places people at risk of losing balance. It is a rule not just in heavy equipment safety, but in many other professions as you can see from the story above.

Do you have any heavy equipment safety stories? Please feel free to drop them in the comment box, we would love to hear them and might even incorporate them in a future article. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Some ATS schools offer a combination Class-A (Tractor Trailer) and Commercial Driver Licensing (CDL) program. The CDL is required to haul your equipment on a flatbed/lowboy trailer and to drive dump trucks on public roads. ATS schools also teach off-road dump trucks, which do not require a CDL.

Many construction industry employers value equipment operators with a CDL. The CDL component trains you to test and receive a Class-A CDL. If you are planning on getting your Class-A CDL, you need to be aware that there are some additional fees related to this part of the program and those are not included in the tuition price. These fees include DOT physical exam, drug test, permit fee, road test, and license fee. These fees vary in price but can total as much s $300. These fees usually can be paid for with your financial assistance if you qualify.

To learn more about the CDL training and tractor trailer school, visit http://www.equipment-school.com/.

On any given day you will probably see at least one or two dump trucks. That is a very good sign if you are looking for a new career. Training to operate dump trucks is a very straightforward process. It does not take a lot of time and once you have your certification, there are plenty of places that you will be able to work.

Dump trucks, being covered vehicles, have a distinct advantage over smaller types of heavy equipment. You are out of the weather and able to work in any type of weather. You don’t need to take a day off because it is raining or snowing. Work can go on, so you can continue to be paid.

While there might be some occasional heavy lifting involved in any job, the heavy work for drivers of dump trucks is done by the equipment. This is a real plus if you are looking for a job that you can continue to do throughout your career. For construction workers, injuries take their toll. As a vehicle operator you will not need to worry as much about injuries affecting your ability to work.

Dump trucks are not just used by the construction industry; you will find yourself employable by the mining industry, the agriculture sector and in various other fields. Dump trucks are extremely versatile and that versatility means that dump truck drivers have a lot of options.

If you are interested in learning more about dump trucks, please do not hesitate to contact us at Associated Training Services.

Our instructors here at Associated Training Services are well aware of what life is like for people without certification. They have lived and worked in the real world as heavy equipment operators. They have worked at various worksites around the country as they perfected the skills that they now teach to our students.

Life with certification is dramatically different. Workers without certification are expendable. It is a sad fact that people that do so much of the work for the construction industry have such a difficult lot. Construction companies cannot afford to keep a permanent unskilled labor force, so when there are lulls between projects, workers are often let go. For workers without certification, day to day existence is precarious to say the least. People do it and some people make a very good living at it, but for the majority, it is not a lot of fun.

Getting your heavy equipment certification can change all of that and it can change your working conditions too. The skilled workforce is a fraction of the size of the unskilled workforce. You will find it much easier to find jobs as there is less competition. Certification proves that you have the competence to handle machines and tasks that unskilled workers cannot. This makes your position in a company stronger, allows you to draw higher wages and puts you in a lighter job. Operating heavy equipment can be hard work, make no mistake about it, but it is a lot easier than doing that same work without the equipment. It is work that most people are able to do for the full length of their career.

If you are interested in obtaining heavy equipment certification, contact us at Associated Training Services. We pride ourselves in helping regular people find their way into extraordinary careers.