If you are currently looking for work as a truck driver and you’re interested in working for Schneider National, then listen up. Schneider National representatives will be at Diesel Driving School classroom in our Sun Prairie, WI facility at 4 P.M. today. This is a great opportunity to talk to a large employer and perhaps find lucrative truck driving work. We have had a range of job opportunities come through the door this month including:

Local Truck Driver
Pardeeville, WI
Local driver with CDL-B required

Boom Truck Operators
Plover/Susses/Appleton, WI
Building supply company looking to hire boom truck operators.

Excavator and TLB Operators
Sparta, WI
Construction company is looking for excavator and TLB operators.

Local Truck Drivers
Madison, WI
Local company hiring truck drivers for food products.

Crane Operators
Forest City, IA
Hiring crane operators now.

Badger 460 Operator with CDL
Hartford, CT
Operators required for Badger 460?s (similar to the Gradall) must have CDL.

Heavy Equipment Operator
Tyler, TX
A global leader in engineering, consulting, design, program management, construction and operations, is looking for heavy equipment operators.

Heavy Equipment Operator II
Joseph City, AZ
Heavy Equipment Operators are responsible for the safe operation of various heavy equipment vehicles that perform the spreading and compaction of construction and demolition, commercial and residential waste disposed of at the post collection facilities. Occasionally, items up to 50 lb. must be lifted while performing the daily routine in all weather conditions. Daily Equipment Inspections (DEI) is required.

If you’re interested in any of these vacancies, then visit our job site for more information. New jobs are being listed every day so be sure to check back regularly.

If you’re not too sure about a career as a heavy equipment operator, or about heavy equipment training, then a brief tour through our YouTube channel may be some help. You’ll find short videos on heavy equipment, training, and student experiences. You’ll get to see the type of environment that our students experience and how real world it is.

It takes commitment to successfully complete a heavy equipment training program, so it is important to gain as much information as possible about your career choice and the related training. Our videos will give you a little insight into what you can expect at our training schools, and the type of equipment that you will actually be learning on.

Heavy equipment operators are in demand at present. In fact, over the years, experienced quality operators remain in demand, even when the economy starts to falter. Over the past 100 years, when times have become tough in the business world, governments have used construction, particularly roads, bridges, schools and hospitals, to help boost the economy – and it works as money flows through construction workers pockets to local communities.

If you’re looking for a career change, and heavy equipment is one of your options, then check out the ATS YouTube Channel. You can then visit our training pages to find more information on training programs, financial aspects including financial assistance, our career services department, training dates. If you have any further queries, feel free to contact us – you can talk to one of our experienced operators who’ll be only to happy to fill in any gaps.

Switching careers mid-life is not always an easy task. There are costs involved, and those costs can be daunting when you are stepping into the unknown. There are always a few self doubts as well – will you pass the training, will you find a job, and if so how long will it all take? ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools acknowledge the problems that people face when changing careers, so we try to make a heavy equipment career transitions as smooth as possible. The following is a good guide to follow for any career change.

Research your actual career choice. If heavy equipment operations is your choice, look for operators you can talk to. Whatever you do, don’t just talk to one – you are only getting a single view of your career choice. Talk to several, preferably from different companies.

Research your training school. Training is the most important component to a new career. There are several issues to look at when it comes to training schools, the most important being the school’s credibility amongst employers. Longevity is always a good sign of a successful heavy equipment training school. You can visit our training website to see reviews left by former students. After 50 years in training, we know what employers want and deliver.

Organize your finances. You will need to organize how you intend funding your training, your training time (you still have to eat and pay bills), and the period immediately after training. We offer several funding opportunities that cover your actual training costs. We are also approved to deliver training to those who are eligible for government-funded training programs (this includes current and former military).

Commence training. Once you have decided on a career, a training school, and organized your finances, it’s time to start training. One word of advice – take as much in as possible, and get in as much practice as the school allows. Training should also include safety, and ideally your training should include soft skills designed to help you look for and obtain employment. We have a dedicated career services department that works with students to find their first job. Work with our career services team and you’ll find that job fairly quickly.

Start work. This is where your hard work and frustrations bear fruit. That first day on the job will be a blur, however, it is for everyone. Use that job to build your experience, and to gain a good reputation.

They are easy steps to follow, and with our help, they can be followed quickly and easily. Are you interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator? If so, don’t wait around, check out your heavy equipment training options now.

Most people think of heavy equipment and the construction industry. Ironically, there are probably more heavy equipment operators working outside the construction industry than in. Heavy equipment can be found on the land working with farmers, to mines and on to the sea – in fact, some large ships have onboard cranes, fork lifts and even small loaders that used in the cargo holds.

One of the biggest users of heavy equipment is the mining industry. Mining has been one of the backbones of industry and as mining starts to boom again, so too will the economy. Mining has a reputation for using the biggest and best heavy equipment available. While it does use some very large equipment, it also uses a lot of your more traditional sized heavy equipment. The mining industry also requires truck drivers and crane operators, and because of the remoteness of some mines, they have a high turnover of operators.

The timber industry is another which has a steady demand for heavy equipment operators, crane operators and truck drivers. The heavy equipment used in the timber industry tends to be smaller than that used in mining, however, it is also more specialized and requires further on the job training.

Small contractors are a surprisingly large employer of heavy equipment operators, and can often be the best place for rookie operators to seek employment. Small contractors do generally work on the periphery of construction projects, however, operators and their heavy equipment are hired out to everyone. As an operator you may be working on a new construction site today, helping a farmer build a dam tomorrow and next week in a residential backyard digging a hole for a swimming pool. Small contractors certainly offer diversity and the chance to quickly learn a broad range of skills.

If you are interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, you’re not restricted to the construction industry. You’ll find your skills are required in a wide range of industries, the only real limitation being your own restrictions on where you want to work.

Are you looking for work in the field of heavy equipment operations, truck driving or crane operations? If you are, then you should have this site bookmarked along with our job site. Every Saturday we list a range of job vacancies that have been listed on our job site. You can check here each Saturday or visit our job site on a regular basis to see the latest jobs available. This weeks jobs include:

Boom Truck Operators
Plover/Susses/Appleton, WI
Building supply company looking to hire boom truck operators.

Excavator and TLB Operators
Sparta, WI
Construction company is looking for excavator and TLB operators.

Local Truck Drivers
Madison, WI
Local company hiring truck drivers for food products.

Crane Operators
Forest City, IA
Hiring crane operators now.

Badger 460 Operator with CDL
Hartford, CT
Operators required for Badger 460’s (similar to the Gradall) must have CDL.

Driver’s Helper
Reinhart Food Route driver helper needed, this would lead to a good daily route.

If you’re interested in becoming a truck driver, then it could be worth talking to one of the big employers of truck drivers. Schneider National is visiting our truck driver training school – here are the details:

Sun Prairie,WI
Schneider National doing a driver hiring seminar in Diesel Driving School’s classroom, 5/22/2012

Contact us for more details and for information on truck driver training, heavy equipment operator training and crane operator training.

One of the mysteries of heavy equipment is the name given to a backhoe. After all, the ‘backhoe’ is just one half of the equipment, the other half being a standard loader. More interesting is the fact that the ‘backhoe’ sits at the rear of the equipment, and it’s the loader end that does most of the actual ‘driving’ around.

Putting the name issue aside, becoming a backhoe operator is a popular option for many because of the multiple skills involved, and the diversity that comes with a job. Effectively, you are trained as an excavator operator and loader operator. In fact, for many backhoe operators, those two pieces of heavy equipment are their fall back jobs should they find it difficult to find backhoe jobs.

In today’s climate, that is not a frequent problem. Many backhoe operators go to the next level becoming owner operators. Because of a backhoe’s versatility, there is always plenty of work available for owner operators, and the heavy equipment itself can be picked up at a reasonable price – certainly at a price that makes being an owner operator attractive.

To become a backhoe operator, you will need to complete a heavy equipment operator’s training program. This is a training program that exposes students to a range of heavy equipment, backhoes, loaders, and excavators included. A good heavy equipment training program will also include non-operational components such as soil knowledge, maintenance and fault finding, safety and site layouts. Those extra knowledge based areas are what makes for a well rounded heavy equipment operator.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, our aim is to produce heavy equipment operator graduates who are ready to start work from day one. Our operators have the knowledge and skills to succeed, and employers acknowledge this by coming to us on a regular basis looking for good recruits. If you’re looking for a job with diversity, then operating a backhoe certainly delivers.

Whilst there is a shortage of heavy equipment operators across the nation, that doesn’t mean you can just do a bit of training and expect to walk into a job. Employers are still fussy; after all, their operators are in control of heavy equipment that is priced in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not only that, but heavy equipment operators are often working on projects that are valued in the millions if not tens of millions of dollars. Employers simply cannot take a risk on an unknown operator.

So how does a novice get a foot in the door. Employers want experienced and reliable heavy equipment operators, however, if they are not prepared to hire new graduates. How are those graduates going to build that experience? It’s an age old question that affects almost every industry around the world. Sometimes it helps to have someone on your side who can open a few doors. Someone an employer trusts to deliver hard working and reliable employees.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools has been in business for around fifty years. Over that time we have developed good relationships with a wide group of employers. They trust our training and know that when we graduate a new recruit to the industry, that person will be ready to start in the workplace in an entry level position. Our success depends on our graduates gaining employment – if they didn’t find employment, our name would soon turn to mud. To help graduates succeed, we have over the years developed a strong career services department.

When you start your heavy equipment training with us, our career services personnel start working with you, helping you build a resume and learn how to approach employers, and how to handle yourself during interviews. We also try to match you up to suitable employers in your area. Looking for a career change? Training is half the battle, and we don’t believe in doing things by halves – we like to see our students trained and successfully in the workplace as soon as possible – that’s the best way to kickstart a new career.

As a nation we are heading into a period where there will be just as many retirees as there are workers – perhaps more. Baby Boomers are now reaching retirement age and like most industries the transport industry is already starting to feel the pinch. Most new drivers choose local and intrastate driving opportunities, often shunning any truck driving jobs that keep them away from home for more than a day. This has already led to a shortage of long distance truck drivers.

In the future, and I’m talking about the next three to four years, you’ll be seeing long distance truck driving jobs that use the words “urgent” as in “urgently wanted – long distance truck drivers.” You may even find phrases such as “immediate start,” “great benefits,” and perhaps even “minimal experience required.”

Those with vision can plan now to fill those vacancies as they arise. In fact, gain a commercial drivers license now and build your experience and you’ll be a truck driver who’s not only in high demand but able to demand a top wage and benefits package. Truck drivers with good reputations are already being offered good wages to switch employers – the old-fashioned corporate head hunting at a truck driver level.

How do you take advantage of the looming truck driver shortage? First, you need quality truck driver training, then a commercial drivers license, all followed up by experience gained on the job. We can provide you with the training and help you to obtain your commercial drivers license. Even better, we can help you find that all important first truck driving job, a job that will give you experience and help launch your career.

If you fancy a career as a crane operator, then you’re going to need training that leads to certification as a crane operator. Learning the basics from a friend or relative simply won’t cut it in the workplace anymore. Besides which, it’s now illegal for businesses to employ crane operators who are not certified. Certification is a national standard, so once certified you can work in any state without the need to be recertified.

Crane operators can only be certified by passing a nationally recognized crane operator certification assessment. This assessment concentrates on the safe operations of cranes and has been designed to help reduce the number of crane accidents that occur each year. A crane in the hands of an unqualified operator can do a significant amount of damage to people and property, often with devastating consequences.

When considering a career as a crane operator, your best path is to undertake crane operator training through a well respected training organization. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have been around for fifty years and have been approved to deliver crane operator training and the assessments required to achieve certification. Our certification program is conducted on behalf of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) – a certification that is respected by employers nationwide.

ATS provides training on a range of cranes including:

• Large Telescopic Boom Cranes (swing cab/rough terrain)
• Small Telescopic Boom Cranes (fixed cab/boom truck)
• Lattice Crane (Crawler or Truck)
• Articulated (knuckleboom) Cranes

We also provide OSHA Compliant Rigging & Signal Person training for those interested in careers as riggers or signal persons. When looking at crane operator training, becoming certified is the only way to start a long and successful career, and ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools can help you achieve that goal.

It may surprise some potential heavy equipment operators to learn that up to half of their working life is spent driving their equipment. Now I know most would say, “of course they drive their equipment; how do they move around if they don’t drive?” However, the point I am making here is that driving skills and the awareness of driver is just as important as knowing how to operator your heavy equipment.

Heavy equipment, if not handled correctly, can roll fairly easily. You may feel that a bulldozer is big and heavy and that it wouldn’t be possible to roll – believe me, they can roll, and when they do it can be quite devastating. Excavators and front end loaders have a higher center of gravity and will roll quite easily given the right circumstances.

Operators also need to be aware when operating their heavy equipment in congested areas such as construction sites. Giving way to other equipment and trucks, being aware of pedestrian traffic, buildings, and overhead power lines are all part of a heavy equipment operator’s day. These are driving skills as much as operator skills, and generally run true for all heavy equipment.

Workplace safety is a big factor today. Operating equipment in a safe manner is the goal as businesses aim for zero down time because of accidents. Every time there is a serious accident, the workplace, the employer, and the employee come under close scrutiny from government agencies. If they feel there is a lack of safe work practices, they will come down hard with severe penalties. The best way to avoid an accident is by undertaking heavy equipment training through an accredited training organization. Once you have completed your training, remember that you are a driver.