Heavy equipment operators generally work as part of a larger team. However, bulldozer operators are often the one member of that larger team that have the freedom to work alone. While they need to work to set plans, they generally don’t require other heavy equipment to complete their task – that equipment generally takes over once a bulldozer has moved on.

For some freelance operators, working alone is what makes the job appealing. They can be hired to prepare a dam on a farm one day, be out bulldozing a road following winter’s snow damage another day, then out on a construction site preparing the ground for a new building. There is variety. There is often a real test of an operator’s knowledge of soils and vegetation, and that freedom that many crave.

Bulldozer operators learn many of their skills on the job. It takes experience to really gain an understanding of what soils will do under the power of a bulldozer’s blade, and they do react very differently. One of the components of any heavy equipment training program is a module that deals with soils and how to identify them. Sandy soils, for example, will fall back at the edges while real heavy clay soils can be peeled away – and that’s just a small observation of soils.

If the freedom of life as a bulldozer operator sounds appealing, then here’s an invitation to check out what heavy equipment training can offer you. You can be working as a bulldozer operator within a few weeks of starting your training and within months you’ll operating that bulldozer like an old hand.

The only way to build a career as a heavy equipment operator is by gaining employment that will continue to build on your initial training. There is work available for heavy equipment operators. In fact, we are now entering one of the busiest times for construction and that builds demand for operators. We also have an aging workforce with baby boomers now entering retirement age.

There are two essential requirements to developing heavy equipment careers – training and employment. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are masters at both. We have over forty years experience in training individuals for work as truck drivers, crane operators, and heavy equipment operators. What really works to kick start a career is our Career Services program.

When a student commences their training at ATS, a member of the Career Services department will work with that student to determine the field of work they are interested in, and the regional area they would prefer to work in. They are then provided with a career package that includes potential employers that match their requirements.

For students, the Career Services Coordinator is available each day to help with tasks such as applications, refining resumes, or providing advice on how to approach employers. Students are also provided with soft skills training in areas such as application procedures, interviewing techniques, and networking methods.

Current and former students also have access to a database of potential employers and a dedicated employment site at http://www.the-job-site.com/. Job seekers can leave their resume on this site while employers can list vacancies and peruse the resumes of suitable job seekers. ATS Heavy Equipment Training Services don’t just train students, we also offer as much assistance as possible to complete that all important second set – getting their first job in the industry.

Backhoes are one of the strangest looking vehicles in a construction yard. They always remind me a little of a scorpion, sitting there with a stinger folded back behind them. What a backhoe offers to an operator is the combined capabilities of a front-end loader and an excavator – all in the one vehicle.

For operators who have been trained in the right environment, there is a good chance they will be skilled in all three machines. This adds a broader range of machinery to their employment options and can make a difference between being in work and having days or weeks between jobs. Being multi-skilled can make a huge difference to an operator’s career.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools offer students experience in a variety of heavy equipment including backhoes, loaders, and excavators. When a student graduates, they can choose whichever path best suits their skills (and ideals) – or they can choose to follow the multi-skilled path operating a variety of equipment.

Longer term, the two most popular vehicles chosen by operators when starting their own business is the backhoe and the loader. Of course, cost plays a big role in this decision with these two vehicles often being the lowest price in the heavy equipment field. However, bulldozers come in a close third, and they are not exactly inexpensive to acquire.

Backhoes really do bring together the best of loaders and excavators. At the same time, backhoes have challenges of their own for operators to navigate. The next time you look at a backhoe, don’t look at it as being a cut down version of a loader and excavator. They are vehicles that have a real life of their own – and in today’s construction industry, a very important role.

A trick question to start today’s post. How long does it take to gain a commercial drivers license (CDL)? Now I know the title says you can gain one within a month, however, the real answer is even simpler – it takes as long as you need to pass the relevant commercial drivers license tests. If you have never driven a truck before, then it could take you years to gain a truck license. Of course, you can cut that back considerably by learning how to drive a truck.

ATS CDL Schools offer three week full-time training programs that cover all the essential requirements for passing your commercial drivers license tests. This includes road rules and truck driver safety, CDL regulations including topics such as log books, along with pre-trip inspections and coupling and un-coupling techniques.

In the cab is where you will learn to actually drive – and you’ll be the one driving, not an instruction with you alongside to watch. Learning to drive a truck is far different than learning to drive a car. A fully laden truck can take up to 200 yards to come to a stop, and that’s in an emergency. Reversing is different to a car, however, if you have had experience reversing with a car and trailer then you have a good start.

Truck driving is a career that has you constantly out on the roads mixing it with the general public. Truck safety is paramount for a number of reasons – obviously no one want to see any loss of life, and trucking companies don’t want to lose trucks or their important loads. This is why truck safety is such an important issue.

If you attend ATS CDL Schools, you can complete your CDL training in three weeks and be ready to pass those all important CDL tests. Pass them and you’ll be the proud owner of a truck drivers license and ready to work in the industry. Now, how quickly can you arrange to sit those CDL tests?

Employment-related training is rarely free these days. However, for certain sections of the community, most if not all of the cost could be covered by one or more government programs. These days there seems to be state or federal programs related to every sector of our community, and if you meet the requirements for just one of those programs you could be attending a heavy equipment training program at no cost and on your way to a lucrative career as a heavy equipment operator.

Some of the government programs include:

• Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
• Department of Workforce Development
• Trade Adjustment Act (TAA)
• Displaced Workers
• Displaced Farmers
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Tribal Education (BIA)
• Veteran’s Benefits (VA)
• Active Service Personnel
• Guard and Reserve Members

These programs are changing all the time so you will need to check with the relevant bodies to determine your eligibility and the size of the grant. If you are eligible, you may be surprised at how much is available for employment-related training.

In some cases, you may not be eligible for a grant in the normal sense. For example, you may not be a veteran, but there are some benefits that are available to the spouses and children of veterans or currently serving personnel. This is why it is important to look closely at what benefits are available right now.

If you are eligible for a tuition grant, talk to one of our admissions staff members about how you can enroll into one of training programs using that grant. Heavy equipment is a career where demand is on the increase and new operators always welcome.

Have you ever seen a skid steer loader hard at work? From a distance it looks like a bee darting about everywhere. Some people question whether or not a skid steer loader, or any of the other smaller earth moving machinery, really are classified as heavy equipment. In reality, the term is “heavy earth moving equipment,” so the term refers to their ability to move a lot of earth, not their physical size.

With that definition, skid steer loaders are definitely in the heavy equipment classification. They can and do move a lot of earth each day, but what makes them special is their size – they can get into areas where other equipment wouldn’t fit. Just as importantly, they can work in areas where larger equipment could do a lot of damage to the ground. Landscape gardening is an area where skid steers and similar small equipment are able to work while doing minimal damage.

While skid steer loaders may be small beasts, they still require a skilled operator to get the most out of them. Skid steer loaders work on a similar principle to larger loaders, just on a smaller scale. That doesn’t mean you can jump from a loader to a skid steer if you haven’t had any prior experience, and that’s where a training body like ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools comes in handy.

The heavy equipment training program at ATS includes a range of heavy equipment amongst which are loaders and skid steers. Attend their training program and you will receive experience across the full range of heavy equipment – this means you can then swap between large loaders and skid steers whenever you need to.

One of the most popular vehicles in any municipal fleet is the grader – or should I say graders. This is especially so in northern regions where winter snow is an annual occurrence. Graders aren’t as versatile as many other vehicles in the heavy equipment department, but they are certainly the best machinery when it comes to snow and snow damage.

If you ever drive through mountainous country, especially some of the county backroads, one feature will stand out – there are a lot of sections that are made using gravel. There’s a good reason for this – gravel allows free drainage of water, doesn’t get muddy, and vehicles rarely get bogged down in it.

Winter snow and ice can do a lot of damage to roads, however, once the thaw sets in, gravel roads can be returned to full use fairly quickly by just having a grader level them out again. In winter, those same graders will be seen working as snow plows to clear the roads of snow and ice.

Learning to become a grader operator requires two steps. The first step is to develop a basic set of skills through heavy equipment training. That enables you to take the second step, and that is to refine your skills on the job. Some careers require years of study before you are competent to begin work. Grader operators only require a couple of weeks of heavy equipment training. However, it then takes years to hone those skills with every job teaching you something new.

If your local region suffers from regular snow and ice in winter, then graders are most likely the most popular vehicle in your county’s fleet. In fact, they are probably out right now repairing roads damaged from winter snows.

You can go and learn to be a backhoe operator, or you can go and learn how to be a bulldozer operator, but what if I told you could learn to be both in one training program? In today’s world, being multi-skilled is a must. When it comes to heavy equipment, if you can operate a front end loader and an excavator, then you can most likely operate a backhoe as well.

What’s more important is that today’s world is changing quite quickly. Today, there may be a high demand for grader operators; next month, it could be excavator operators; in winter, the demand could be for bulldozer operators that can also handle a snow plow. What we do know is that demand for heavy equipment operators is growing – the demand for each type of machinery will depend largely on what direction new operators take. If you are a multi-skilled heavy equipment operator – you can follow the winds of change to what best suits you.

Rather than undertaking equipment-specific training, finding a training organization that delivers training across a range of heavy equipment makes logical long term sense. Your training provides the platform for you to become a general heavy equipment operator rather than the narrow single equipment operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools provide training on a range of equipment such as backhoes, graders, loaders, bulldozers, and excavators (just to name a few). Training includes both in-class theory and safety aspects along with in-the-cab actual operator experience of a range of equipment. This prepares you to either specialize in one area, if that’s your decision, or to become a general operator across a range of heavy equipment.

Dump trucks are an essential part of a construction team as they work to either bring in construction materials or to cart away unwanted material. The one thing that most dump trucks rely on is another piece of heavy equipment to fill their dumpers. In some cases, there are silos that can be used to fill dumper with sand, soil, or gravel that is required on a construction project.

When it comes to removing unwanted material from a site, dump trucks have to rely on the speed, skill, and accuracy of loader operators and backhoe operators to fill their dumpers. Most teams develop a communication system that even tells a dump truck driver when their dumper is full and ready to be driven away. It’s an interesting process to watch from a distance – a little like ants running around slowly filling that dumper.

Dump truck drivers that drive their vehicles on public roads will generally require a commercial drivers license (CDL) before they can be employed. Leaning to drive a dump truck can be completed in a few short weeks. With the current state of our construction industry, employment opportunities are opening up every day – and the demand is set to rise as spring turns to summer.

Is the job of a dump truck driver boring? Never. Driving on the open road is challenging these days, especially with a fully-laden dump truck. The work is varied with operators often required to spread their load rather than just dumping and running. Spreading takes considerable skill as the dumper’s gate is only opened enough to let a steady stream of material escape. The dump truck driver needs to drive at the right speed while raising the dumper to allow a smooth and even flow of material over the surface. If you are ever near a road building project, watch the dump trucks as they spread gravel along a stretch of newly forming road. With those skills, it’s never boring!

Crane operators are now required to obtain certification in most states before being allowed onto a jobsite to operate a crane. Certification is a process that verifies an operator’s ability to operate a crane, and their knowledge of safety issues surrounding the setup and operation of a crane. Crane operator certification has been introduced to try and reduce the number of accidents that occur each year, some resulting in the loss of life.

ATS Crane Operator Training Schools has a variety of training and certification programs available for new operators, existing operators, and most importantly, operators looking to return to the profession after a sojourn in other fields. Those operators looking to return should be looking for training programs that can refresh their existing knowledge while bringing them up to date with the latest in technology and safety aspects. These operators will most likely not have undertaken any certification process in the past, and for those who have, they will need to consider re-certification prior to seeking employment.

In most states, employers will not even consider employment for operators who are not currently certified. ATS offers certification through the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), one of the most highly respected certifications in the industry. NCCCO certification meets all federal and state safety requirements and is achieved through a specific assessment process.

If you are considering returning to work as a crane operator, or have been working as a crane operator, then ATS can help you achieve your certification as a crane operator. If you require more information on crane operator certification, then check out our web pages on the subject.