The life of a crane operator can be a dangerous one. It becomes more so for those working at the top of new buildings in the city. Yesterday’s collision between a helicopter and crane in London is a good example – although thankfully not one that happens regularly. Mobile crane operators can be grateful for one thing – they have their feet firmly planted on the ground, and it would take a very low flying helicopter to cause them any problems. In fact, mobile crane operators are more at risk of colliding with overhead power lines than anything else.

Mobile crane operators lead a fairly interesting life. Because they are mobile, they are able to travel very quickly between jobs. A mobile crane is nothing more than a specially built truck that has a crane mounted at the rear. The truck is driven like any other truck following normal truck driving road rules. The crane has its own operating cab – in effect, an operator is skilled as both a truck driver and crane operator, and that often includes the requirement for a commercial drivers license.

There will be times when a mobile crane operator is required to work at the one site for days or weeks at a time. At other times, they may well find themselves at two or more different sites each day, with each site requiring completely different jobs. Variety is certainly a big factor in the life of a mobile crane operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools provides training in both mobile crane operations and truck driving. Our training will prepare you for certification as a crane operator and complete the requirements to be issued a commercial drivers license. If you’re interested in a job that has a lot of variety requiring multiple skills, then mobile crane operations not only provide those also a career that is well paid and always in demand.

If you have a desire to be a heavy equipment operator, you will need to understand that your role on a construction site goes beyond just operating your equipment. You will often see heavy equipment operator job vacancies that include descriptions such as “and general laboring when required.” Everyone pitches in on a construction site. You cannot just sit in your cab waiting for your next job – you will be expected to get out and help in other areas.

It doesn’t happen all the time, however, you can expect this situation to occur on a regular basis. There are some jobs where you will be working alone, however, in most instances, you will be a part of a team. Sometimes it’s a good idea to wander down to a construction site to watch everyone at work. You will often see heavy equipment operators getting out of their cabs, sometimes only for a few minutes, at other times for an hour or more.

One area that does irk many heavy equipment operators is the constant in-and-out nature of some jobs. This happens frequently on demolition sites where an operator is constantly helping to manually demolish some sections. As a heavy equipment operator, your main focus and time will be on operating your equipment. You will spend 80%-90% of your working time operating that equipment, however, that does mean you’ll spending 10%-20% of your time away from your heavy equipment doing other manual laboring jobs.

For those who have a variety of skills, for example, skills on a range of heavy equipment, truck driving skills, or crane operator skills, then you may find you’re moving between them and your heavy equipment. In most cases, doing a different job can come as a welcome change to what you have repeatedly been doing. You’re part of a team, and that means you pitch in and help out whenever required.

Truck drivers are the theme of this week’s job vacancies. Large trucking companies often go on recruiting drives, a situation that is helpful for those looking for truck driving jobs. In the coming week Schneider will be at our truck driving school to recruit drivers, and this includes those who have recently graduated from truck driver training and received their commercial drivers license. Some of this week’s jobs include:

Truck Driver
Madison, WI
Capitol Warehouse needs a tanker driver for mostly WI and surrounding state runs, home most nights.

Truck Drivers
Sun Prarie, WI
Schneider will be hiring CDL-A drivers at DDS on 01/15/2013 at 4PM

Truck Drivers
Marshfield, WI
Roehl at Marshfield hiring CDL-A drivers for Dairy Tankers runs, WI and MN

Heavy Equipment Operators and Laborers
Nationwide Contracting – Oklahoma
Heavy Equipment Operators and Laborers Experience required. Must have valid D.L., be able to work ex­
tended hours.

You can find more information on these and other jobs on our dedicated jobs website.

Heavy equipment safety has become a big issue to the point it has drawn the attention of regulators. We have already seen crane operators requiring certification and riggers and signal persons now require some form of skills acknowledgement. Heavy equipment will most likely be the next area that regulators target, although that will prove to be a huge task given the number of operators currently employed. That doesn’t mean they won’t take them on and require some form of skills recognition, possibly to the level of certification.

We currently have compulsory minimum safety training requirements in many workplaces, and that includes heavy equipment operations on construction sites. For many operators, certification will just be an assessment of their current skills. However, there are quite a few operators who may fail some of these assessments, and one of the reasons for their failure will have been the lack of relevant training when they first started out.

Quality training is one of the most important aspects to a new career in heavy equipment operations. Employers look at your training history as part of their assessment for employment suitability. Employers do have preferred training organizations, and likewise, there are training organizations that employers don’t like. A good guide to quality is longevity – if a training organization isn’t delivering, it won’t stay in the business for long.

Workplace safety is an important issue for employers today. Accidents cost employers a lot in terms of money, time and reputation, areas that businesses can ill afford to waste. Be sure your heavy equipment operator training includes a strong safety component and that your training is provided by an organization that is well respected within the heavy equipment community.

Every sector of the market goes through a process of peaks and troughs. Sometimes the economy is booming and there is a high demand for workers. At other times, as we have seen in the recent past, there is a slump in the economy and work can be hard to find. Of course, there are often times when one sector of the market appears to buck the trend with demand for workers remaining high despite a market slump. Unfortunately, there are many workers who are not in a position to protect themselves from market slumps – they end up on merry-go-round swinging from plenty of work to no work at all. Heavy equipment operators are not immune from these market swings, although it is interesting to note that demand has remained high over the last couple of years.

Heavy equipment operators can protect themselves from these market (and sometimes seasonal) swings. The easiest way is to simply diversify your talents. Rather than being a master of one type of equipment with a little bit of knowledge of others, become a master of as many different types of equipment as possible. It is also advisable to add truck driving skills (and a commercial drivers license) to your skills list. Other equipment operating skills that could be worth considering include crane operations (particularly mobile cranes) and fork lift trucks.

No sector of the economy is ever totally immune to peaks and troughs. Heavy equipment operator careers can be frustrating at times for those who do specialize in just one type of equipment. The market is fickle and you could find that this month, bulldozers are in high demand, yet next month, no one wants to know a bulldozer operator – the need is on grader operators, or loader operators.

For those just starting out in this industry, start to protect your future from day one of your heavy equipment operator training. If it’s at all possible, gain some knowledge and experience on a range of heavy equipment. When you enter the workplace, aim for a position with an employer that uses a wide range of heavy equipment, and let it be known you want to gain experience on as many different types of equipment as possible. Employers will show a preference for you in the future since you can be moved from equipment to equipment as needed. Protect your heavy equipment from market slumps by diversifying your skills – you’ll hardly ever be out of work then.

There’s no better way to start the new year than with a new job, and we have an interesting range to choose from this week. You can find details on these and other heavy equipment jobs on our dedicated jobs website. If you are interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, then check out your options on the heavy equipment operator training website.

Pit Loader Operator
Kentucky
Experienced pit loader/heavy equipment operator—pit loaders, 40-55 ton haul trucks, front end loaders, etc. Job includes operating a pit loader in a rock quarry with the main duty of loading 40-55 ton haul trucks in an underground limestone mine to keep the primary crusher supplied with rock. Also, may include driving/operating a variety of heavy equipment including driving haul trucks, dumping products in hoppers, loading haul trucks, general work around the quarry operation, and other duties as assigned. This is for first-shift work. Overtime is required as needed and may include Saturdays.

Crane Operator
North Carolina
now accepting applications for full-time Crane Operators working in Eastern Ohio, Western PA, and North Central WV. Minimum Qualifications:

Crane Operator (MOBILE)
San Diego, CA
The Navy and Marine Corps team offers innovative, exciting, and meaningful work linking military and civilian talents to achieve our mission and safeguard our freedoms. Department of the Navy provides competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and extensive professional development and training. From pipefitters to accountants, scientists to engineers, doctors to nurses-the careers and opportunities to make a difference are endless. Civilian careers-where purpose and patriotism unite!

Crane/Boom Operator – CDL Driver
Greenville, WI
Under moderate supervision, drives the delivery vehicle to transport materials to a location or production site that requires the operation of a crane or boom in the loading and off-loading of materials. Operates crane or boom on a delivery truck, including rigging, planning, and hoisting of a variety of heavy construction materials. Requires a CDL license to operate delivery vehicle in excess of 26,001 pounds. Requires a crane or boom operator certification.

Equipment Operator – Overhead
Alexandria, LA
Work safely while performing new construction, maintenance, or repair work of energized and de-energized overhead work.

Mobile Equipment Operator Leader
Herlong, CA
Civilian employees serve a vital role in supporting the Army mission. They provide skills that are not readily available in the military but are crucial to support military operations. The Army integrates the talents and skills of its military and civilian members to form a Total Army.

Heavy Equipment Operator
Fort Bliss, TX
Must be available to start immediately. FT/ Temporary position – 2 to 3-month duration. The Heavy Equipment Operator operates heavy equipment used to excavate, load, or move dirt, gravel, or other materials.

Rental Yard Worker
Madison, WI
Currently seeking a Rental Yard Worker in Madison, WI. Responsible for providing effective customer service by providing material support for the accurate and efficient fulfillment of rental orders. This position primarily consists of handling concrete forms, forming equipment, and forming cleaning machines with some driving duties.

Heavy Equipment Operator(s)
Wisconsin
Seeking experienced Heavy Equipment Operator(s) to support a three-month-long dredging and environmental remediation operations in Marionette, WI. The Heavy Equipment Operator(s) must be able to demonstrate the safe operation of assigned equipment based on changing operating conditions. The Heavy Equipment Operator is expected to use his/her experience and judgment to make decisions within his/her limits of authority.

Heavy Equipment Operators
United States
Prince Contracting, LLC is accepting applications for Heavy Equipment Operators.

Heavy equipment operators are generally involved with the construction industry. Not all jobs, and there are occasional openings for jobs that can be a lot of fun. These jobs are often seasonal, lasting two or three months. Other seasonal jobs can last six months and if not ‘fun’, they are at least interesting. Some of these jobs include:

Snow field grooming – small bulldozer-like machinery is used to groom snow fields. This is generally done very early in the morning, and whilst it’s cold work, it’s certainly interesting and does require a lot of skills. Bulldozer operators are perfect for these positions, however, being specialized work, there are few vacancies and high demand. Related work that can give you some of the skills required includes snow plowing streets.

Beach grooming – like snow field grooming, beach grooming uses bulldozers of varying sizes to groom beaches. There is also often work available restoring beaches following heavy storms. Some heavy equipment operators move from the snow fields to the beaches each year.

Land restoration – there is a lot of work going on around the nation to restore land to its natural state. Bulldozers and backhoes are often found working in these areas along with smaller equipment like skid steer loaders.

Landscape gardening – skid steer loaders and backhoes are often found working as a part of a landscape gardening team. Team work is important as is following carefully designed plans.

Demolition work – there’s a little bit of the devil in all of us and that can often find an outlet in demolition work. The downside, you can’t just go in and destroy everything. These days, buildings are demolished carefully, sometimes because the materials removed are being recylced (or have the potential for recycling), or because there is a possibility of asbestos and other troublesome materials. Bulldozers, backhoes, loaders and excavators are often found working as a part of a demolition team.

Whilst there is not an abundance of work available in these areas, opportunities do arise. If you have gained good skills in heavy equipment operations, then you never know, you could find yourself working in a ‘fun’ or interesting job. It all starts with heavy equipment operator training and your first job.

Finding work in any field is a little difficult, particularly at this time of the year and given the current economic conditions. There are heavy equipment operator jobs around, however, they can be difficult to track down. There are a number of reasons for this, one being the way employers go about looking for new operators.

Heavy equipment operations is one of those industries where ‘who you know’ can be very important. Before using traditional advertising channels, employers are more likely to promote vacancies to those within their businesses, allowing word-of-mouth to promote any vacancies. Employers are also keen to use services like our job website. This site allows an employer to advertise directly to operators who are looking for work.

When looking for work as a heavy equipment operator, sometimes it’s quicker and easier to look on our jobs website rather than in a newspaper. After all, would you rather pay to advertise to the public at large (newspaper) or use a free service that advertises a vacancy to a target audience? Employers also know which jobs websites deliver the best results, and we do very well in that respect.

With Christmas Day only a few days away, job listings are going to be quiet. However, in the New Year we suggest you regularly visit our jobs website to see the latest job listings. You can also subscribe to this site – each Saturday we publish a round-up of the latest job listings. By subscribing, you can receive that post each Saturday directly into your inbox. We also list job vacancies for crane operators and truck drivers.

There is a wide range of heavy equipment in use around the country these days. You can operate equipment that digs holes, pushes dirt, or delivers a perfect finish. Heavy equipment is also used in demolition work, mining, farming and most commonly, construction. You will also find heavy equipment used in forestry, at ports, and in general industry. So what is your preferred unit of machinery? At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School you can gain training on:

• Backhoes,
• Wheel Loaders,
• Scrapers,
• Excavators,
• Bulldozers,
• Road Graders,
• Rock Trucks,
• Skid Steers, and
• All-Terrain Forklifts

One suggestion we do make is to learn to operate as many types of heavy equipment as possible. If you get the chance, also learn to drive trucks, particularly those used to transport heavy equipment. That doesn’t mean you cannot specialize in one type of heavy equipment – you can, however, the more varied your skills the more attractive you are to employers.

Learning more than one type of heavy equipment isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Each type of heavy equipment uses a similar set of controls, some more than others, and some that require more technical skills – for example, setting a grader’s blades to precise angles and heights. There are some types of heavy equipment that demand multi-skills – the backhoe is a good example; it requires the skills of an excavator operator and the skills of a loader operator.

Being multi-skilled has a number of benefits. If you become a little bored operating one type of equipment, you can move sidewise to another type. Employers obviously find multi-skilled employees more attractive. They can be set to work on any project and not left sitting around waiting. What’s your favourite type of heavy equipment? Now pick a few more to broaden your talents.

Dump truck drivers often work long hours. For some drivers, it’s a dawn-to-dusk job. For most, it’s an early start and an early finish. Some dump truck drivers are home in time to greet the kids from school – mind you, they have probably left for work in the morning before the kids have woken up.

Kids gain an appreciation for dump trucks and heavy equipment from a young age. Particularly boys, who have sand pits (although these days girls enjoy these toys too). Whilst most children drift away from these toys as they grow up, you’ll be surprised at how often the site of a dump truck tugs on those memories. If you loved playing with those toys as a kid, you probably still have periods where you wonder what it would be like to drive a real dump truck.

You needn’t wonder. You can become a dump truck driver in a matter of weeks. All that is required is the desire and the time to attend to a dump truck driver training course. Once you have the skills and the necessary commercial drivers license, you’ll be ready to start work.

When it comes to truck driving, dump trucks require special skills. Sure, you’ll spend most of your working life driving from A to B, however, it’s what you do when you reach your destination that seperates dump truck drivers from other truck drivers. Dump truck drivers need to know how to use the dumping mechanism – often whilst driving, for example, when spreading gravel over a new road. It takes a lot of skill and knowledge of both your truck and the material you are spreading.

If you’re interested in truck driving but want a job that has you home in time for dinner each night, consider a career as a dump truck driver.