In a lot of ways, a graduate of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School has got hard skills and soft skills. Knowing how to identify soil, read a grade, understand site layout management, etc. while competently maintaining and safely operating a wide variety of heavy equipment is the stuff you will be doing every day for the life of your job. That’s hard, but that’s why training is important. The “hard” skills are the ones you use on the job.

But in order to actually get that job, you need some “soft” skills. These are things you won’t necessarily be doing on the job so it is easy to overlook them in preparing for a career. But ATS doesn’t overlook those soft skills; they are included in your training. Our Career Services office starts working with students from the beginning, helping to create a plan for what happens after your training is complete. Part of that plan is going to involve these three “soft” skills:

• application procedures
• networking methods
• interviewing techniques

You will probably appreciate the value of the second, networking, throughout your career because it is always going to be important to stay connected to people. But in the job-search sense, it is a soft skill because you don’t use it all the time while doing your job. You won’t be applying for a job every day, either, or interviewing. But each of these skills can get you hired.

They get you hired because they help you get through the filters an employer uses to narrow down who will be interviewed, and then they help you give a good impression of your abilities when you interview. If your application isn’t submitted properly, the computer will reject it before a person ever sees it. If the references on your resume aren’t so great (networking), then you might not get called in for the interview. And if you are not able to show how you will be an asset to the company at the interview, you probably won’t get hired.

So our Career Services works with you as part of the training, helping you develop those soft skills while you are learning the hard skills that will keep you employed as a successful professional heavy equipment operator.

Finish graders apply the finicky final touches to a surface to get it perfect. That smooth runway and carefully cambered road is due to the skill of an experienced finish grader. The bulldozer started the job, but the grader will finish it and get it ready for asphalt or whatever comes next. It’s an important step in the construction process and you aren’t going to be able to do that job right out of training school because it takes more than a few weeks to get the skill to do it to the precise angles on the engineer’s plan.

It used to be harder for a finish grader to get it perfect but now there’s additional tools like GPS and laser leveling to help them do their job. It still takes that seat-of-the-pants skill, though, that no amount of tech tools can replace. Graders are in demand for roadwork, leveling ground at construction sites, and even snow removal, so the paycheck can go into the winter months.

If a grader operator has been poorly trained, the foundation is pretty shaky for their skill building. It isn’t that perfect, level surface that you need to do the next step. You could think of it this way; getting your heavy equipment training at ATS is like the final leveling of a finish grader clearing the way for the next process to be done on the project. You get the training and the certifications that prove you know your stuff, then an entry level job will allow you to build up those skills to become the grader operator the boss looks for when perfection is required.

A lot of our students come through the program with help from one of the many sources of financial aid. Since Associated Training Services (ATS) is accredited, our heavy equipment operator training is eligible for a number of programs, but you won’t know what will work for you until you contact our Financial Assistance service and talk to us.

Career Loans can be applied to training school tuition, rent, and other living expenses. Military benefits programs recognize ATS so you can use any of the GI Bills, TAP, or state military programs to get trained and start a new career. Vets get hiring preference, so a trained vet has the best chance out there to land a job.

If you are on unemployment, you could qualify for a state or federal grant. In fact, there’s a lot of state and federal programs that we work with: Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Department of Workforce Development, Trade Adjustment Act (TAA), Displaced Workers, Displaced Farmers, Vocational Rehabilitation, Tribal Education (BIA) and Veterans Benefits (VA) are all on the list.

One of the best things about using financial help to get heavy equipment operator training is the fact that you have so many job opportunities once you graduate. You get trained in a lot of different kinds of equipment, too, so you are going to be very valuable as a skilled professional. Talk to Financial Assistance and see what you qualify for, and what kind of a debt load you will graduate with. Then take a look at the job site and see what kind of a wage you can expect. We bet you will see the real possibility that you can pay off school quickly and have a good, solid career ahead of you.

Accidents happen in every job and being an heavy equipment operator is a big responsibility because the machines are big. The size and weight of all the metal, along with moving parts, changing ground conditions on the site, and people not paying attention all add up to a potential for accidents you don’t find at a desk job. But without the skill of heavy equipment operators, very little would get done in a lot of industries. Here’s a short list of possibilities:

1. People moving through the work area. 
2. Unstable ground conditions causing tipping.
3. Overhead obstructions, like tree limbs or power lines.
4. Operator doesn’t have a sense of where the machine’s parts are, so blades or corners collide with things or people.
5. Poor maintenance causing equipment failure or hazardous conditions like a greasy step.

This list isn’t the only reason accidents happen, it’s just some of the most common reasons that accidents happen around heavy equipment. The operator can reduce the chance for an accident simply by paying attention to the safety procedures that were a part of the training in an accredited school. It’s one thing to have been trained to do the job safely, but if you aren’t going to actually do the job safely, you are asking for trouble.

Employers look for accreditation in the training of heavy equipment operators because it gives them an idea of the quality of the training. Associated Training Services (ATS) is proud to be an Accredited Sponsor through the National Center for Construction Education & Research. We even helped them develop training programs and textbooks. ATS is also licensed by the boards of education in six states and certified for funding assistance programs like the Workforce Investment Act and military benefits.

If you are interested in showing an employer credentials from one of the top heavy equipment training schools in the country, our online application is a good place to start.

Associated Training Services offers housing assistance at the Water Tower Residence Inn as part of the financial help you can get when you come to our heavy equipment and crane operator training programs. We have been in the business long enough to know that it’s a good idea to stay near your classes while you go through the program. Here’s why:

1. You will be learning a lot of new information and it will take some time, possibly even some evening re-reading of the material, to get it firmly in your head. Staying nearby in a comfortable, safe room gives you the downtime you need to process your classes and get ready for the next day.
2. Many of our students come from other parts of the country and will need a place to stay in any case. Even the students who live close by find that it helps to stay at school instead of commuting. Why spend all that money on gas and a random motel room?
3. We have established housing with the Water Tower Residence Inn, just a few miles from the school. It is a short walk to restaurants, stores, and local attractions. The rooms have cable TV, air conditioning, and small refrigerators for your favorite snacks. There’s also access to laundry facilities and a game room/social area where you can connect with fellow students. 

Because we believe available housing will help you get the most out of training, we make housing assistance part of the financial aid we offer. We will reserve a room for you at the Water Tower Residence Inn for the length of your training. Ask about it when you call us and get ready for a solid future career in heavy equipment and crane operation.

Heavy equipment is a good field to get into; the operation of heavy equipment is essential for laying the foundation of everything that is built on top of it. Without a good foundation, it really doesn’t matter how well a bridge or building is constructed because the shifting base will counteract that construction. Your career should be like that well-built bridge, built on a good foundation. For heavy equipment operation, training is the base of everything.

Build your career on the best foundation in the business, one that has a history you can research and results you can see. Associated Training Services (ATS) has that history and those results. Since 1959, we’ve been family-owned and operated with the motto of Quality, Integrity, & Pride – and that motto is taken seriously. It shows in the results, too — our graduates have been successful operators throughout the years. We have one customer base, our students, and that is who we focus on.

As the industry has changed, the type of operator needed for running the equipment has changed, and so has the training. We’ve kept up with the changes in our curriculum and equipment so our graduates continue to start their careers from the solid foundation they need. Green construction jobs require a workforce trained in new equipment, new initiatives, and new practices. With ATS, we’ve got that covered.

But the foundation is laid with more than hands-on training and knowledge standards. We provide career assistance. Our Career Services Department gives personal career counseling, soft skills training like resume and interview skills, and job leads with an exclusive website our graduates can always come back to.

The ATS foundation is solid – one your heavy equipment career can be built on to last a lifetime.

Robert Klabacka, in 1963, had a vision and followed it. He founded the Diesel Truck Driver Training School in 1963 near Madison, Wisconsin.

In 1996, Associated Training Services was born out of the same values that inspired the truck driving school. Those values are Quality, Integrity, and Pride.

This is not just some empty phrase or a string of words thrown together. Robert believed in them and so do we.

For years, the Klabacka family has been committed to providing quality truck driving and heavy equipment training for individuals wishing to seek a career in the backbone services of the country. There isn’t a thing all across America that hasn’t been touched by a truck driver or heavy equipment operator. Roads, bridges, stores, high rises, virtually every bit of infrastructure in the land at some point had to be transported or moved by an industry worker. Our job is to train them for their careers, and we do that well.

It takes integrity to maintain a business like ours. We believe in treating people right. If we help others succeed, then we’ll succeed. We believe it and we live it.

On these two pillars stands the element of pride. We don’t just have family pride. We also have professional pride. We believe in the power of people at a fundamental level. We believe that if you give people the tools to succeed, then they’ll outpace your expectations. Our students have proven it time and time again.

When you enroll in ATS, you aren’t just starting a career. You’re also joining a family. And that’s something to be proud of.

Associated Training Services has some of the best students in the world. They are not only committed to the training they signed up for, but they are committed to being great heavy equipment operators. We have thousands of students all across the country who have graduated from one of our training classes and moved on to great careers in the industry of their choice.

Check out some of our testimonials and you will see how awesome our students really are.

See what Daniel from Ohio has to say:

I spent about 15 years at a scrap yard. I moved into management but didn’t like it. I wanted to get into heavy equipment and excavation and knew I needed more training thats when i found ATS in Ohio. I graduated in Aigust 2004 and got a job as an operator right away and the Training was a huge help. The classroom work was what i really needed because i had some equipment experience. The school was great and was just what I needed to start a great new career.

Dan –

Or how about this report from a former student who spent time in Iraq:

I was hired on as a crane operator for KBR. This photo was taken in Balad, Iraq. I was operating a 65 ton LinkBelt. I was picking up military vehicles, generators, Howitzers guns, containers and a lot of walls. I like the adventure except for the 140-degree heat.

Alex –

Here’s one from a former student named Nate:

Nate graduated from ATS December of 2009. Went to work for Iron Mountain Trap Rock Company later that spring. He Ran a 210M rigid frame haul truck and a Caterpillar 992 loader and works in an open pit mine.

Nate –

Not only are our students happy graduates, but they’re also successful heavy equipment operators. You can be too.

Associated Training Services is one of the oldest and largest trucking schools in the U.S. If you want to become a trucker – local or long haul – then you’ll need to be trained and certified. ATS can help you with that.

Here are six reasons you should choose ATS as your truck driving school:

1. Age – ATS is the oldest truck driving school in the nation. We have perfected the training model and put out some of the most successful truckers in the industry.
2. Size – We’re also the largest trucking school. We have more students, more instructors, and more room to maneuver your equipment on our training grounds. We’ve been doing it for so long that we continue to lead novice truckers into successful careers.
3. Quality – We’re not just stuck on quantity. How many students graduate from our training is not as important as the quality of training that we deliver. We focus on delivering the best truck driver training in the business.
4. Integrity – We go through a lot of trouble to stay true to our word.
5. Pride – We take pride in the ATS name, and we instill that pride in our students. When you graduate from ATS – whether you receive your CDL license, learn to operate a crane, or take our general heavy equipment training course – you can be proud that you were trained by the best.
6. Family-owned – ATS has been family owned since its inception. Started in 1959 by Robert Klabacka, ATS is now run and operated by his children. The current CEO and president is John Klabacka. We wouldn’t let each other down, and we’re not going to let you down.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training School is the oldest and largest training school in the nation, and we put out the best heavy equipment operators. Start your career with us.

We’ve got quite a few heavy equipment job listings for you this week. We hope you’ll find something you can dig your teeth into.

• A reputable foliage company is looking for drivers. A presentation will be held at ATS in Sun Prairie, WI. For more details, call 800-383-7364.
• A presentation will also be given in Sun Prairie, WI for job offers by a national transportation company. Call 800-383-7364 for details.
• Dump truck drivers needed in Hartford, WI.
• Employers are looking for local drivers in Kansas.
• A company in Hammond, IN are hiring heavy equipment and crane operators.
• Want to learn manual and computerized grading. If you live in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, you now have a great heavy equipment opportunity.
• A company in Waukesha, WI is looking for heavy equipment operators.
• If you are a boom truck operator with a CDL-A license, you have an opportunity to deliver and set trusses in Mill Hall, PA. You can be home every day.
• If you are an excavator operator who knows how to operate drill attachments or want to learn, you can apply in Dallas, TX.
• A dairy farm in Kewaskum, WI is looking for CDL-A drivers to make deliveries in Southeastern Wisconsin.
• Contact ATS for a driving opportunity in Sun Prairie, WI. Call 800-383-7364.
• Another CDL opportunity is available through ATS in Sun Prairie, WI. Call 800-383-7364.
• A petroleum services company in Williston, ND is seeking CDL-A drivers to deliver equipment to oil fields. Hourly pay with lots of work.
• A railroad services company is hiring book truck operators in Madison, WI.
• There are also overseas opportunities in Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK, Russia, China, New Zealand, and Scotland. These include a broad range of opportunities.
• A national home improvement chain is seeking delivery drivers in three locations: Delavan, WI; Franklin, WI; and Browndeer, WI. Be home every night with benefits.

Find more heavy equipment and truck driving jobs through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools.