Do you remember the car-swallowing sinkhole that opened up inside the National Corvette Museum in February? Early one morning, the ground beneath the Skydome area started caving in. By the end, there was a cavern about 40 feet across and 20-30 feet deep with eight Corvettes inside. You can watch assorted footage of the whole timeline, from collapse to final recovery of the cars, here. There’s even a few with ‘crane-cam’ footage.

You know who the stars of the show are? Heavy equipment operators. The Corvettes just sat there needing to be rescued from the predicament they were in, but cranes and other heavy equipment saved the day. It was a tricky operation, too, because the situation had to be carefully evaluated and stabilized before any Corvette could be moved. The Museum is in the middle of a geological area known for developing sinkholes, so area crane operators probably have a lot of experience with this type of thing. Still, this particular rescue operation was pretty special.

It would be safe to assume that any heavy equipment operator brought in for this project was both skilled and certified. Those Corvettes are worth a good bit of money and the owners were not going to entrust them to someone who isn’t qualified to do the best job in a delicate situation that could change quickly. I’m pretty sure they were picky about finding the best crane operators for the job.

The best crane operators are trained at fully accredited schools like ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School. Our Certified Crane Operator Program gives students a lot of options in choosing the best program for their particular need but every one of those options is going to result in a graduate who is qualified for the job.

“Slow down to go fast” is a wise statement used in a lot of different settings. Pretty much, it means that trying to go fast usually messes things up. In a field like heavy equipment, “slow down to go fast” is a good thing to keep saying over and over again.

During training, slowing down to do every day’s classwork and not worry about the next is a good idea because it breaks a huge pile of information into bite-size pieces, kind of like eating an elephant one bite at a time. It isn’t your job to worry about knowing the whole thing when you are in training. It’s your job to chew on the day’s lessons and digest them. That’s why ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School offers housing assistance, so you don’t have to worry about anything but classes. Experts have figured out that we learn best when we get a little bit of a break in between stuffing our heads with knowledge. Somehow, the break puts the facts into our heads better.

When you are actually on the machine, slowing down is good, too. Accidents happen when people get impatient and skip safety steps or push equipment past where it is ready to go. Jerky bursts of angry speed are out of control emotionally and can quickly become out of control on the work site because the momentum of heavy equipment keeps a motion going until something physically stops it. Bad stuff can happen quickly if an operator in a hurry misses an important detail in the conditions on site. By the end of the day, a steady, slower pace actually gets more work done. The work is better, too.

Slowing down to go fast is one of the things you learn in heavy equipment operator training. It’s a good thing to remember all through life.