How safe are you in the workplace? Do you know what safety equipment is required in the workplace? For heavy equipment operators, working safely has several aspects and while protecting people and property in the vicinity of your work area is important, looking after your health safety is also important. Heavy equipment safety training includes being trained in the requirements and use of personal safety equipment. Some of this training can be completed in a training school while other aspects require on-the-job training, especially where equipment may be specific to that industry – mining is a good example of where industry-specific equipment could be required.

On construction sites, your personal safety equipment could include:

• Footwear such as steel capped work boots
• Hard hats
• Safety clothing, including special brightly colored fluorescent clothing when required
• Safety gloves, especially when working on the heavy equipment; for example, changing tools on backhoes
• Noise prevention and hearing protection
• And eye protection

Most construction sites forbid entry to anyone who is not wearing a hard hat and steel-toed work boots. Even safety inspectors need to meet these requirements before making an inspection. Workplace safety is an important issue and one that our legislators have worked on repeatedly over the years. Employers and employees can face severe fines if they do not meet minimum safety requirements, and, as they say, ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defense.

When undertaking heavy equipment training, be sure to check to see if heavy equipment safety is an important component. This doesn’t just relate to safety modules. It also relates to the reinforcement of safety issues while in the seat learning to operate equipment. Complete the right training and employers will be happy to hire you – if you don’t complete the right training, employers won’t give your application a second look.

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not as difficult as it may seem. It takes around three weeks of quality organized training to have someone trained and ready for work. From there, you are on the road to a lifetime of learning – but then, that’s true of most professions. People often look at loaders and think, “they must be easy to operate.” The truth is, they are reasonably easy to learn, but it does take a skilled operator to get the best out of a loader.

The concept of a loader is fairly simple. Four wheels, often articulated in the middle, with a bucket at the front to carry dirt. Lower the bucket, drive forward, raise the bucket, turn around, and dump the lot into the back of a truck. It sounds so easy, yet the work itself is a lot more involved. Filling the bucket requires concentration and a sense of touch through the controls – if there are rocks, it’s time to back off.

Even raising the bucket and emptying the contents into a dump truck requires concentration, a good sense of where everyone and everything is (safety is imperative when operating heavy equipment), and a good judge of distance to ensure you are emptying into the dump truck and that you don’t collide with it as well. These may sound like simple skills, and over time they are, but they still need to be taught and they still need to be practiced.

Learning to operate a loader is not difficult. A comprehensive three week heavy equipment training program can have you in the seat ready to start work. You need to concentrate on building those skills, developing safe work habits, and getting jobs completed on time. If you can manage that, you’ll have a long and successful career as a loader operator.

Undertaking a training program to commence a new career is always a costly process. Some training programs are more costly that others, especially if you take into account the real costs of training. You could decide you wanted to become a doctor, but we all know that takes years of dedicated study and your income potential during that time is minimal – yet you still have to live. Even shorter training programs lasting only six to twelve months come with hidden costs. Your limited ability to earn during this time while still maintaining your normal life can be difficult. Is heavy equipment training the same?

The reality is a definite no! Unlike many other training programs, learning to operate heavy equipment can be achieved in as little as three weeks. On completion, you are ready for entry level employment in the industry as a heavy equipment operator – effectively, you are getting a return on your training investment very quickly. If you compare the wages of heavy equipment operators to many other careers, you will find that not only are you getting a quick return on your investment, your investment in heavy equipment training will be repaid quite quickly.

Since heavy equipment training is such a short program, you are not committing to a long period of learning with little in the way of income. You are also not struggling to find casual evening work to maintain you for six or twelve months (or more depending on the training). Heavy equipment training is short, sharp, and focused on developing skills in all the areas necessary to become a successful operator.

If you undertake your training through ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, we can help you arrange finance for your training, deliver high quality and well respected training, and provide a wide range of assistance to help you find that first job. If you assess the real costs of heavy equipment training, you’ll find they are far lower than many other training programs – and the reward is a great career once you have completed that training.

Short week this week for job listings, but that doesn’t mean the jobs we do have – or the job (singular) – isn’t important. Every job is important in the heavy equipment business.

This week, we’ve got a job from a respectable employer. It’s a trucking company with a national reputation and they offer great pay with benefits. Over the road.

If you like adventure, being away from home, seeing the country, and getting paid well for your efforts, then look up the ATS Heavy Equipment School and check out our heavy equipment job listings. We have a list of the best heavy equipment and truck driving jobs from the best employers in the industry.

There is a certain fascination with working as a crane operator. Everyone wants to reach the lofty heights of a highrise crane operator, and I do mean lofty heights. Some of those cranes “walk” their way up the building as it grows below them. The problem is, while it may seem to be an exciting career, there’s a certain monotony to the job. You spend the whole day lifting the same objects, often to the same place – there’s not a lot of variation of challenges in these positions. At least, until it’s time to move your crane.

One of the advantages that mobile crane operators have is variety. Because their crane is mobile, it can be sent around the region at a moments notice, and the range of jobs performed is endless. Think of a task where a heavy object requires a lift, and a mobile crane will most likely be called in (unless it’s a high rise building of course).

Mobile crane operators require several skills. They need to be truck drivers, since their crane is effectively mounted on a truck – this also requires a commercial drivers license. Mobile crane operators may also require rigging skills in order to set up their crane ready for use. Of course, they also require crane operating skills in order to do the actual task. Add to that record keeping skills that their employer requires to bill clients, and time management skills in order to complete tasks on time, and you have a highly skilled operator.

Training to become a mobile crane operator is not taxing and can be completed in as little as three weeks. Mobile crane operators are always in demand and they can attract good wages, especially those with plenty of experience. If you want a job that isn’t boring, is well paid, and can often offer challenging situations, consider a career as a mobile crane operator.

Heavy equipment operators are often in high demand, especially when major construction projects are scheduled. Taking that first step to becoming a heavy equipment operator is always tough. You need to justify the time and expense required to undertake heavy equipment operator training, and then there’s always the concern as to whether or not you will find a suitable job after graduating from that training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have tried to make that decision a little easier by offering as much help as possible. The one attribute that you need to bring is desire – if you want to be a heavy equipment operator, then there are many different ways of achieving that goal. Without desire, the urge to push on is not there and the temptation to quit at the first obstacle all too easy to take. If you have that desire to work with heavy equipment, then talk to us. We can help you achieve that goal in many different ways. Some areas where we offer direct assistance include:

• Free Heavy Equipment Training – Take a day to attend a free training session. This will help you decide if a heavy equipment career is really right for you.
• Financial Assistance – We can help you locate suitable funding sources. We are also eligible providers of training under several government programs including those designed for service personnel.
• Housing Assistance – We can help you with accommodation for the duration of your training. This saves on travel time and costs and places you close to the training school for easy access.
• Career Services – We have skilled career services personnel who can help you source suitable employers, create application letters and resumes, and provide advice on how to perform well at interviews.
• Free Jobs Site – ATS has a dedicated jobs site where employers can list job vacancies. You can include your resume on site to make it easier for employers to find you as well.
• Heavy Equipment Training – Once you have made that final decision, we can provide you with all the training required to prepare you for employment as a heavy equipment operator. This includes both classroom based training and in-the-seat operator training.

If you have the desire to become a heavy equipment operator, then we have all the tools and resources and training required to help you achieve that goal. All it takes is one toll free phone call to (800) 383-7364 and you’ve taken that first step.

One practice that has been around for a long time is that of relay truck driving. It’s a practice that can be traced back to the stage coach days where stage coach drivers would handle a team for 8-10 hours. Stage coach companies had way points dotted across the country and when a stage coach arrived, the team and the drivers where swapped over allowing the stage coach to continue on its way. The same process is used today, however, we don’t change the horses, just the drivers.

Relay truck driving jobs are ideal for those who don’t mind spending every second night away from home. The job requires a truck driver to take over a load and to drive for 8-10 hours before handing over to another driver. After a break from driving, the truck driver would then take over on the next truck heading towards their home town.

Some relay truck drivers take a permanent night shift while others do a permanent day shift. These jobs typically pay around the $20 per hour rate and you may be required to work six days per week. In most cases, you would work a regular route driving similar trucks with similar loads each day. This is a popular approach by some trucking companies as it keeps their rigs on the road for the maximum number of hours possible each day. In the trucking business, the vehicle is only earning money when its on the go – the moment it stops moving, it’s no longer earning an income.

Relay truck driving is just one of many different types of truck driving jobs. This type of truck driving generally involves large vehicles so a commercial drivers license is essential. Most trucking companies now prefer drivers that have been through a professional truck driver training program along the way to gaining their commercial drivers license. If relay truck driving, or any form of truck driving, appeals to you, contact us at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator School – we can provide the truck driver training and assistance in finding that first truck driving job.

Associated Training Services is beginning a new column this week that we hope will become one of your favorites. We’ll be highlighting job listings within the heavy equipment industry. There are a lot of them and we expect the list to grow.

This week’s job listings include:

• A transportation company with multiple offices nationwide is looking for alert drivers for local and long haul deliveries.
• A contractor in Huntsville, Alabama is looking for bulldozer, pan scraper, construction tractor, and asphalt distributor operators.
• A company in Livermore, California needs crane operators locally and excavating equipment operators all over the state.
• In Johnson City, Texas, a construction trenching firm is seeking oilfield workers to help with trenching for pipelines. Starting pay is $15-$20 and you get per diem.
• Relay driver needed from Madison, Wisconsin to Fremont, Indiana and back, six nights a week for $21.11 per hour.
• Deliver roofing supplies in Columbus, Canton, and Mentor, Ohio for a recognized supply company.

This is just the tip of iceberg where heavy equipment job listings are concerned. Look for this list every Saturday. Brought to you by the premier heavy equipment job site online, a service of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator School.

Skid steer loaders are often looked down upon by construction crews, yet they are one of the busiest and most versatile machines in use. In fact, many operators will brag that if a skid steer can’t do it, then it can’t be done. It’s a hard claim to argue against actually considering the range of attachments that can be used with a skid steer.

One of the real benefits to a skid steer is their maneuverability. Being small, and being able to turn in their own tracks, they can get in and out of most places. Being four wheel drive, they can work well in snow or mud, and in the unlikely event they get stuck, they can use their bucket to push themselves out. The most common attachments in use are a bucket and a set of forks. However, you can also attach post hole diggers, trenchers, grapples, and even a snow blower, and that’s just the tip of the attachment iceberg. Skid steers can:

• dig holes,
• load trucks,
• clear snow,
• push dirt, gravel, or sand,
• carry heavy items,
• spread dirt, gravel, or sand,
• back-drag dirt, gravel, or sand to achieve a level finish,
• shave turf strips, and
• dig trenches

Skid steers are used everywhere from farms to the construction industry. However, their real home is in landscape gardening where this one tool can do a variety of jobs, including carrying and holding large plants that are being transplanted. Compared to their larger cousins, skid steer loaders are also easy to transport. The can be driven onto a small flatbed and towed by any decent-sized vehicle. While skid steer loaders are small, they can be tricky to operate, especially for a novice. Heavy equipment training prepares an individual to operate a wide range of heavy equipment including skid steer loaders. Looking for variety, a skid steer loader operator certainly experiences that.

Over the years the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) have established guidelines and minimum requirements for workers engaged in different industries. In the construction industry, there are a range of occupations that have been looked at in order to increase safety and, in so doing, decrease the number of accidents. Riggers have not been immune from this close examination, and from November 8, 2010, riggers had to be ‘qualified’ to undertake specific tasks.

To meet OSHAs criteria for a “qualified person”, riggers must meet certain conditions. These include:

….possession of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully demonstrated the ability to solve/resolve problems relating to rigging.

The easiest way to demonstrate these abilities is by obtaining an NCCCO certification. This is generally obtained following training and assessment by a suitably qualified assessor. Experienced riggers can obtain certification by undertaking the assessment alone. However, rules and regulations are constantly changing so updating skills through training never hurts.

Employers must engage qualified riggers for work that includes the assembly and/or dis-assembly of cranes, hooking, unhooking, or guiding a load, or in the initial connection of a load to a component or structure and are within the fall zone. Associated Training Services has been accredited through NCCCO to deliver training and assessment to meet the standard required for certification as a rigger. By undertaking rigger training and assessment through ATS, employees will receive their rigger certification, a qualification that is portable and recognized across the country. If you are a rigger who requires certification, contact ATS for more information on our next training and assessment program.