For most people, their work is a daily grind. Their jobs are relatively safe but the work often boring. For others, their careers may swing in boom and bust cycles. It’s hard to accuse truck driving of being either of those.

Is a truck driver’s job boring? It can be a little monotonous if you’re out on the highway – it’s just mile after mile of black ribbon. Truck drivers get used to it and they do find ways to amuse themselves. When it comes to driving in the city, or any major town, then the job is definitely not boring. Just avoiding other drivers can be a challenge, especially with some of the crazy drivers on our roads – they really do test the skills and patience of most truck drivers.

What about boom and bust? Truck driving is like most businesses, so the boom and bust cycles do have an affect. However, we all still eat and we all still want the basics like clothing, fuel, and furniture. Trucks are the one element that is common to all of those areas -in fact, trucks are generally involved with every product either from farm-gate to home or from port to the home. Of course, these products may go through several other sets of hand first – and every movement involves a truck.

Truck driving as a career is challenging, is often on a boom cycle more than a bust cycle, and pays very well. As a career, you can choose between local, intrastate, or interstate driving, and the range of truck sizes and configurations are huge. If you fancy yourself as a truck driver, then your first step is to source truck driver training to help you get your commercial drivers license – and that’s where we can help.

One of the most demanding jobs on a construction site is that of a rigger or signal person. While crane operators are responsible for lifting and placing loads, it is the rigger/signal person who directs those crane operators. To be employed as a rigger or a signal person, you now need to meet the new OSHA crane mandated qualifications.

Associated Training Services (ATS) has developed one of the most effective and affordable OSHA compliant rigger/signalperson training programs in the market today. There are three areas that should stand out from that statement – the training is OSHA compliant, the training is effective, and the training is affordable. All are important considerations for those either looking to enter a career as a rigger or signal person, or for those already in the industry looking to become OSHA compliant.

The ATS rigger and signal person certification program:

1. Exceeds OSHA qualification standard for rigging and signal persons.
2. Includes written and practical training and testing.
3. 32 to 36 hours (4 days) depending on number of candidates.
4. Certification issued by National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).
5. NCCCO Rigging Level One and NCCCO Signal Person Certifications.

This is one of the easiest paths to becoming a certified rigger or signal person. You don’t have to undertake training at one organization while seeking certification in another. You will also find the employers will place a premium on your certification because of the reputation that ATS has earned over the years. In fact, we have been training for over 40 years, a record that few training organizations can boast.

If you are looking to become a certified rigger or signal person, then let ATS show you the easy path to gain that certification.

You won’t see heavy equipment operators working in tandem all that often so if you ever do get a chance, stop and watch awhile. The most common heavy equipment vehicles to be used in tandem are the bulldozer and the grader. Graders are particularly interesting as their work is generally on the finishing side of a project.

Working in tandem takes a lot of skill and a lot of concentration. With graders (and often bulldozers), the two (or three or four) machines work in a staggered pattern with the second machine to one side and behind the one in front. As the first machine carves the ground, it pushes dirt to one side. The following machine then pushes this dirt further across. I have seen videos of four graders working together in this formation on a new airport runway – the precision of the operators is fascinating to watch.

It does take a lot of skill and a lot of experience to work in these formations. Gaining these skills can be difficult since there are not that many opportunities to work together in a formation. Most construction companies use the one machine to do the complete job.

In order to work as a team, grader operators require good initial training that provides a solid platform on which to build. While you can learn to operate a grader from another operator, there is a good chance you will also be learning some of their bad habits. You will also quickly find that most employers will not recognize that as being formal training so employment options will be severely limited.

Training provided by a recognized and well respected heavy equipment training organization delivers skills that can be built upon, and skills that future employers will acknowledge. Grader operators are required to work to precise measurements in today’s construction industry – that requires real training from real training organizations.

No employer can afford to have idle employees. When it comes to construction, you have the added problem then of idle heavy equipment. In today’s business environment, construction companies want to gain the maximum out of both their equipment and their employees. To deliver maximum earning potential, operators and their heavy equipment are scheduled to fairly fine time lines, a factor that heavy equipment operators always have at the back of their minds.

If you were to look at a typical construction project, a construction company may schedule a bulldozer and operator to work for a set period of time. A loader and dump truck may be called in at some stage to remove the waste that the bulldozer has removed. As soon as the bulldozer work is done, it will be sent off with its operator to another job.

In the meantime, a backhoe or excavator may come onto the site to dig foundations, or in the case of road construction, a grader may be called to do its work. Again, support heavy equipment such as loaders and dump trucks may be scheduled. For roads, rollers and hot mix units will be scheduled to begin their work on certain days. For a building that has had foundations dug, the day for pouring cement will already be scheduled.

As a heavy equipment operator, you need to be aware of your place in this scheduling arrangement and the importance of completing work according to a schedule. Although you may be operating one piece of machinery, you are a part of a large team, a team that has one goal, getting the job done on time. By completing work on time, the construction company maintains a reputation for reliability and thus is able to contract ongoing work – ongoing work that keep you, the heavy equipment operator in work.

Heavy equipment training can provide the skills to get a job done on time – only you can deliver the commitment that sees a team complete a job on time. If you can work to a schedule, enjoy working as part of a large team, and enjoy working in the outdoors, then perhaps heavy equipment is a career worth considering.

Have you ever dreamed of operating a bulldozer, perhaps a crane, or even driving a truck? There are many people who try to turn that dream into a reality. They attend training programs that are designed to teach them how to operate each of those vehicles, then leave to find employment within each of the industries.

If you have never been in the industry, the first problem is pretty simple – where do you start looking?

If you had access to dedicated career services personnel who knew all about your targeted industry, had possibly worked in that industry, and had developed a network of contacts in that industry, they would be an asset worth cultivating for your future career.

At Associated Training Schools, you don’t have to cultivate our career services personnel, they are there ready to help you achieve your goals from day one of your training.

You just cannot beat inside knowledge. Having a database of thousands of potential employees across a range of industries is just one areas where ATS can assist students in their quest for employment. Being able to link graduates with employers through a dedicated employment website helps to streamline your job search efforts. Just as importantly, being coached in how to approach employers, how to respond during employment interviews, and how to network with possible employers removes many of the barriers that new graduates face in any industry.

ATS have a history that goes back over forty years. Whether it’s a job as a crane operator, heavy equipment operator, or truck driver, ATS have the contacts and experience, and they freely share them with students and graduates of their training schools. As a graduate walks away following their last day of training, they don’t have to wonder “what now?” They already have the answer. In fact, for some, it’s more a question of “can I be ready to start work tomorrow?”

Does your training organization give you that head start?

If you’re a heavy equipment operator, then adding a commercial drivers license (CDL) to your list of skills could be a wise decision. If you ever hope to become an owner-operator, then you will most likely need to have one anyway. In the meantime, being in a position to haul your equipment to a work site yourself could be an added bonus to any future employees.

For many construction companies, having separate truck drivers and heavy equipment operators makes sense. The truck drivers spend their day carting heavy equipment from job to job. Heavy equipment operators spend their day operating that equipment. For smaller companies, they often cannot afford the luxury of having two operators, one for the truck and one for the heavy equipment. Having an operator that can do both saves them time and money and so makes that operator more valuable to the business.

The reverse is also true, of course. If you’re a truck driver, then adding heavy equipment operations to your list of skills should broaden your range of employment options. In either case, training can be completed in a few weeks with those undertaking truck driver training only needing to pass the CDL tests to obtain their license.

We live in an era where employers are looking for multi-skilled employees. Being able to operate a range of heavy equipment and drive the transporting truck is a good example. One of the benefits to you is that you can decide to specialize at any time, yet revert to either when times are tough and the economy struggling. Being mult-skilled opens up employment opportunities and helps to keep you in work – and multi-skilled operators are often the last to lose their job when there’s little work around.

If you are experienced as a heavy equipment operator, then consider undertaking CDL training – if you’re a truck driver, then consider undertaking heavy equipment training – in both cases, you’re suddenly going to be more employable.

Our society has become far more sophisticated over the last fifty years and this is reflected in the way employers recruit personnel for their workplaces. Governments are also legislating to make some employment criteria compulsory for employers. If you add to this the pressure that comes from other interests such as insurance bodies, employers have had to refine how and who they recruit. This has been particularly evident in the construction industry, especially when it comes to areas such as heavy equipment operations.

Today, when an employer requires operators for their heavy equipment, they have a list of requirements that job seeker must meet before their application is even considered. Some of these requirements include:

• Proof that the applicant can operate heavy equipment
• Proof that the applicant has completed safety training
• Proof that the applicant has completed heavy equipment training

There is one word that stand out in that list – proof. For experienced heavy equipment operators, they can point to previous employers and an employment history to prove their abilities. For new entrants into the industry, they require documentation from a training organization.

If the job applicant has received their training through a well recognized professional training organization, the employer is quite likely to at least consider that person’s application. If the job applicant comes to them without any proof of their abilities, the employer will most likely reject the application without a second look.

While there are a lot of vacancies for heavy equipment operators, that doesn’t mean employers are becoming desperate to fill them. The last thing any employer needs in today’s economy is a large lawsuit after an incident that claims, amongst other things, that they were negligent when employing poorly trained heavy equipment operators. If safety training is missing, then there could be legal ramifications under state or federal law as well.

Professional heavy equipment training will ensure that your job application is at least looked at. The better credentialed that training body is, the more likely you are to land that job. If you’re considering undertaking heavy equipment training, be sure your training provider is well respected and that their training is comprehensive – your future career could depend on it.

Technology has changed the lives of just about everyone in our society. Whether it’s in the kitchen at home, in the office, driving your car, or operating machinery such as heavy equipment, technology has made huge changes over the last 20 years. Changes in heavy equipment technology has occurred on several fronts – in the cab, in the equipment, and on the ground.

Inside the cab of most heavy equipment, you’re likely to be confronted with digital gauges, fingertip sensitive controls, and perhaps even small computer screens connected to ground-based units. In the equipment itself, hydraulics and fuel mixing is now often controlled by computer components while on the ground. The use of lasers and computer technology is now replacing tasks such as measuring and grade reading.

GPS has found its way into heavy technology both as a security measure and as an aid to fine tuning an operator’s work. Operators from 20-30 years ago would be astounded to see the changes that have occurred. 30-40 years ago, operators required physical strength to operate their equipment. Today, a child could almost manage the task. That’s not to say that heavy equipment operations is child’s play. It’s still far from it.

While changes have been rapid when measured over time, they have still been incremental, unlike office workers that went from a typewriter to a computer – that was a huge change. Despite the changes in heavy equipment technology, students can still complete heavy equipment training in just a few weeks. Following training, graduates are ready for entry level employment where they can fine tune their skills on the job. Technology is changing our lives everywhere, and heavy equipment operations is no different.

If you have a commercial drivers license, then you’re well on the way to becoming a mobile crane operator, or at least adding that option to your truck driving repertoire. Operating a mobile crane has three very distinct components: driving, stabilizing, and lifting. Driving is done in a traditional truck drivers cab and this is why you need that all important commercial drivers license. From there, you will need specific training to complete the next two tasks.

As the name suggests, stabilizing is ensuring your mobile crane is stable and won’t move during the crane’s operations. Just as importantly, being able to return the mobile crane to a driving state is also important. Stabilizing a crane is normally done from outside the crane using feet that lift the whole unit so the wheels clear the ground – this ensures a level base and no rolling.

Crane operations are done from a separate cab that is attached to the crane. This has standard crane controls for lifting and lowering the cable, raising and lowering the boom, and swinging the cab from side to side. While that sounds easy, crane operations can be quite involved. The operator needs to assess the weight of the object to be lifted, the lifting conditions (for example, wind), and the destination of the object to be lifted. That assessment will determine how the lift will be undertaken.

Upon completion of the crane’s work, the crane operator will also need to learn how to return the crane to a safe position for transport to the next location. Mobile crane operations are well suited to those who enjoy variety and who like to use their brain to solve problems. If you have a commercial drivers license, all you need is three weeks of mobile crane operator training to complete the requirements.

Everyone wants to work in a safe environment. When it comes to construction, there are a lot of safety issues to consider. What we do know is that too many people have been injured, some seriously, or even killed through accidents that could have been prevented. Heavy equipment safety is particularly important because when they cause accidents they are often spectacular and often lead to a lot of people being injured.

Governments at both state and federal level have, over the years, introduced safety legislation with varying degrees of success. The most successful has been the certification of crane operators and the requirement for all employers to provide some form of safety training for their employees.

This has led to employers in general relying on training providers to include comprehensive safety training in their overall training programs. Heavy equipment training is one area that now has a significant safety aspect. While specific safety issues are handled as a heavy equipment safety module in training programs, good training providers include safety aspects at every opportunity, especially when it comes to the in-the-cab training component.

If you are considering a career as a heavy equipment operator, you should ensure that the training provider you select includes a well documented and nationally recognized safety component. Employers are now expecting new operators to have this training and, without it, new entrants will find it difficult to find employment. Employers are not interested in hiring new operators, and then having to deliver that heavy equipment safety. Do yourself a big favor, undertake that training as part of your heavy equipment training program – you’ll be immediately employable.