There are a lot of highly skilled workers who spend their days driving trucks for a living. A commercial drivers license opens up many opportunities and if heavy equipment skills are added the opportunities get even wider.

One of the jobs that many truck drivers undertake is the pick up and delivery of heavy equipment. Truck drivers normally arrive at the pick up point, wait for someone to load the heavy equipment onto the truck then transport it to its destination. Once again they may be forced to wait until someone arrives to unload the equipment.

It’s a straight forward enough job for the truck driver – apart from the waiting. It would be far more more convenient if the truck driver could arrive at the pickup point and load the heavy equipment onto his truck himself. Likewise, once he gets to the end of his journey, then unloading the heavy equipment and moving on to the next job.

It makes sense and many truck drivers do undertake heavy equipment training to augment their work. They also find themselves in big demand with employers recognizing the value of employing multi-skilled workers. Being multi-skilled, you do of course open the door to a great many employment opportunities, the chief of which is the transportation of heavy equipment.

If you have a commercial drivers license and you are looking to add skills to your repertoire – consider training to become a heavy equipment operator. There is work available across the nation as both heavy equipment operators and as truck drivers. There is also a lot of work available for those who can do both.

If you have ever visited or worked on a construction site you may have noticed one piece of equipment that seems to be everywhere. Chances are, it will be a wheel loader. They certainly are busy bees although others may refer to them as the ‘gopher’ of the heavy equipment team.

Gopher’s they are too. They dig holes, move dirt, carry pipes, remove rubbish and debris and do any other type of lifting and carrying that is required. About the only piece of heavy equipment that does more in the way of lifting than a loader is a crane, and that’s only because they have a longer arm. In fact, when it comes to working on a construction site, a loader operator has to be skilled enough to quickly switch from one mode, say loading dirt into a truck, to another such as carrying pipes and gently lowering them into a trench.

Wheel loaders not only do a wide variety of tasks with their scoop, they have a wide range of attachments that can be added. The list of attachments these days is almost endless. If you can think of a task, there will be an attachment of some description for a loader.

As I mentioned, loader operators require a range of skills. One of the best training programs available is one that provides experience on several different pieces of heavy equipment. If you can gain some experience in operating a bulldozer, excavator and backhoe, you will find that these skills can be blended and actually complement those of a loader operator.

Find a training program for loader operators that has this combination of skills and you will be set to enter the workplace ready to tackle most jobs. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools provide training on a variety of heavy equipment and can have you work ready in as little as three weeks. Not only will they have you work ready, their employment assistance program can help you find that first job. What are you waiting for? – the construction industry needs operators now.

That is the call I am seeing these days – not experienced bulldozer operators – no, they are asking for reliable bulldozer operators. One of the problems many construction crews are now finding is a general approach of apathy when it come to travel. With a lot of highway construction being undertaken now, there are times when operators need to travel 40-50 minutes to get to the construction site.

Because of this apathy to travel, employers are looking for operators that are reliable. If the job is forty miles down the highway and work starts at 6am, you’re there, on time, every day that you’re required. Are you reliable or do you fit into the ‘apathy’ class? If you’re reliable, there is work available and it’s increasing by the day.

Some argue that the cost of gas is making this sort of work uneconomical. However, smart crews are car pooling to share expenses. There are employers around that provide transport to and from these sites, it’s just a matter of being at the construction yard on time to take advantage of that transport.

If you fit into the reliable class but don’t have any bulldozer operator training, that’s easily fixed. Heavy equipment training programs can have you in the workplace operating a bulldozer within a month of starting the training program. Read that carefully, within a month of starting, not within a month of completing.

The opportunities are there. If you’re reliable, keen to learn and willing to undertake a few weeks of intense training, both in a classroom and behind the wheel, then you can take advantage of these opportunities. The work is there – will you be?

Heavy equipment careers are not quite the same as many other careers. Sure, most careers offer a lifetime of employment opportunities. Many also offer advancement opportunities, sometimes to the very top of a business empire. A career in heavy equipment does offer a lifetime of employment opportunities, but it goes far beyond that.

For starters, qualified and experienced heavy equipment operators can work just about anywhere in the world. You may have to learn some of the local safety aspect, but otherwise, heavy equipment is heavy equipment.

Many operators decide that rather than relying on someone else for employment, they will buy their own equipment and start working for themselves. This can be particularly lucrative if you start out with one of the smaller machines like a bobcat or small backhoe.

A career in heavy equipment goes beyond all of that. Being part of a construction team is a little like being in the military. You develop a strong sense of camaraderie – you’re prepared to go into battle for one another. Construction teams develop these strong bonds as they work together day-in and day-out, often in potentially dangerous situations, and become well oiled units that complete projects with little problems.

Even when a team splits up, for instance, when a project finishes, those bonds remain. You can see it, even years down the track when they meet up again on a new job. You can see the effect these teams have when you watch a new arrival – particularly a young person. As they become a part of the team, their confidence grows and with it their ability to get a job done well.

Heavy equipment careers are not just careers for life. Heavy equipment careers become your life – but not in a negative or overpowering way. For the tens of thousands of operators out there, the life of a heavy equipment operator is second to none. They love the work, they love the hours, and they love their work team. There are not many people in careers who can say that – for the whole career.

Take on training to become an excavator operator and you have the potential to get into the control cab of one of the best machines around. Heavy equipment that is used in mining and construction come in many different configurations but nothing that beats the brute power of a giant excavator.

Most of the excavators you see working on building sites, on the side of the road excavating channels, or scarping a new road bed range in size of 5-60 tons. Their buckets can carry as much as a ton or two and their digging power is immense.

Take that image and multiply it a little – alright – multiply it a lot. Imagine a machine that weighs around 800 tons and the amount of material collected in a bucket is around the 75 ton mark. In fact, with those statistics, imagine a beast with a bucket and the strength to lift two or more of its little brothers.

Most excavator operators only get to dream of operating a huge monster like that. They do exist, though, predominantly in the mining industry, but also on some construction sites where excavating large holes is called for. A good example is where they include a multi-level underground car park. The excavator’s job is to dig that hole and it needs to be dug exactly to specifications.

One of the benefits of excavator operator training is that you are taught to operate a wide variety of machines. Once you have completed your training you can then go on to specialize on a particular type of machine ranging from backhoe to bulldozer and on to an excavator. Get a few years experience on an excavator and you can try to find your way through to one of those giants. Can you imagine the power that sits in that engine room? Many of those giants have not one, but two large diesel powered engines, each delivering as much as 2000HP – now that is what I call a monster machine.

You would be surprised at some wages being offered these days. Whilst there has been a period of doom and gloom coming through most media outlets, some employment sectors seem to have become deaf to it all. Construction is one industry that now fits that bill. Grader operators, particularly experienced operators with knowledge of GPS and other IT based grader enhancements, can command very high wages.

If you take a look at employment prospects in an area like New York, the outlook looks promising. They are predicting demand to increase by 150 new operators every year through to 2016. When it comes to wages, the mean is around $36,000, but get this: the top paid workers are commanding over $75,000 each year. (NYCareerZone.org)

It’s not just New York either! Illinois is another area where employment growth has been steady. Projections are for that to continue at around 7% per annum. If you don’t like percentages, that is around 300 new operators each year. How much do you get paid in Illinois? The median there is just over $38,000 with the best operators receiving around $73,000. That’s a bit lower than NY but I think you get the message. Skilled and experienced operators can command high wages. Starting wages are around double the minimum wage – not a bad place to start. (Illinois WorkNet.com)

Operating a grader is a little more difficult than operating a bulldozer or loader and it can take up to five years to achieve the level of skills required to command the highest wages. However, once you learn to operate a grader you will have the skills for a lifetime of employment.

Grader operators prepare the foundations for many of our major constructions, particularly roads and large buildings. Budding operators should have a passing knowledge of physics and be comfortable around large heavy equipment. The ability to work to plans and as part of a team are particularly important. As you can see, the outlook for grader operators is looking good and the wages – well they are certainly nothing to sneeze at!

California is one of the largest states when it comes to construction and public highways. Believe it or not, current employment levels in the construction industry are down around 4% compared to last year – however, there are still almost 700,000 people employed in that one industry sector. You have also got to take into account the budget problems that Big Arnie is having so many of the projects forecast to start this year are still on the drawing board. This means of course that the demand for heavy equipment operators has not reached its peak yet, and probably won’t until the end of summer.

If demand is still growing then now is the time to consider your future. Have you had passing thoughts of working as a heavy equipment operator? Have you ever stopped and watched in awe as bulldozers of front end loaders ply their trade? They can certainly move a lot of earth in fairly short time.

Associated Training Services have two training establishments in California, one in Victorville and one in Eldorado Hills. Bulldozer training is undertaken as part of a heavy equipment training program where you also receive instruction on other earth moving equipment such as front end loaders and excavators.

Demand for suitably qualified heavy equipment operators is on the rise across the nation. When California hits its peak and starts looking for operators, they will not be able to rely on those coming from interstate as they have in the past – they are too busy on the projects underway in their home states. We are going to need freshly trained and qualified operators, preferably with a little experience behind them, even if it is for only a month or two.

Start and complete your heavy equipment training now and make use of the growing demand to gain experience for those big projects when they start. You may never get a better opportunity to enter this well paid sector of the work force.

Some construction sites that use heavy equipment can be real eye openers if you take the time to look at what is going on and how it affects the community. Often, the construction itself will become a historical item.

Take the Christopher S. Bond Bridge in Kansas City. This bridge, when completed in 2011, will become the first cable-stayed vehicle bridge ever constructed across the Missouri River. Without heavy equipment, that bridge would take another twenty years to complete.

Two barge-mounted heavy cranes were used to lift and position each of the 11-foot-diameter, 85,000-pound steel pipes that line the drill shafts. Once the pipes were in place 48 pieces of 85-foot-long rebar were lifted and positioned inside each pipe. Cranes will also be used to lift each of the 40 cables that will be anchored to the pylon.

Whilst the cranes are busy putting the huge jigsaw puzzle together, bulldozers, graders and loaders are busy preparing the approaches, the on and off ramps along with almost 5 miles of highway that will be reconstructed or rehabilitated.

There are 1100 people working on that project and it has another two years to run – and it is only one of many thousands of projects being worked on around the country right now – with more to come. They will not all be as interesting bridge building – however, if you’re prepared to look a little closer, you will always find something interesting about them.

Heavy equipment could help build roads or bridges without carefully trained operators to control the equipment. You can join the heavy equipment workforce by undertaking a training program that has been accredited by industry – the people who do the hiring the firing. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools are accredited to deliver training and can help you get your career as a heavy equipment operator off to a flying start.

Winter can be slow going for many heavy equipment operators. Now it’s February and while officially it is the last month of winter, some places it feels like it has just started. The end of winter of course heralds the start of spring and for many construction companies and land developers, the time to start preparing for major building developments. In some areas, ice, snow and rain make construction a difficult task.

Heavy equipment, particularly those that run on tracks as opposed to wheels, can start preparing sites even if they are still a little slushy under foot. Tracks enable these beasts to operate over slushy ground where wheels will often sink and trap a vehicle.

For operators affected by winter slowdowns, now is the time to get your maintenance over and done with. Time to make sure everything is working and in good shape. Heavy equipment, particularly when used in very conditions, often requires extra maintenance and inspection to check on possible damage done due to the temperature extremes. Even steel can crack and become brittle due to cold weather.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools late winter and early spring is when heavy equipment owners and businesses come looking for new recruits to their workplaces. ATS has such a good reputation amongst industry that rather than using traditional advertising outlets for operators, they contact us first.

If you have a desire to work in the heavy equipment industry then now is the time to commence your training so that when spring arrives, and with it employers with vacancies, you are trained and ready to fill those vacancies.

Can you operate a backhoe? If not, why not learn?

Associated Training Services is the largest heavy equipment training school online. You can get a certification to operate the biggest, baddest heavy equipment on the planet, including backhoes, dump trucks, loaders, graders, and coming soon: Cranes! You’ll be the envy the dirt movers when you strut your stuff on top of the biggest heavy equipment in the construction industry. You’ll be the backhoe king.

ATS offers three levels of training for all equipment. The backhoe training includes:

• Introduction to Blueprints and Heavy Equipment, Trade Orientation, Safety, and Basic Rigging and Operational Techniques
• Scrapers, Rollers, Bulldozers, Graders, Earth Moving Basics, and Civil Blueprint Reading
• Soils, Excavators, Motor Graders, Heavy Equipment Operator Leadership, Grading and Finishing, and Advanced Operational Techniques

Learn everything there is to know about operating a backhoe and get a job in the construction industry. Work your way to the top!

You’ll more than you’ll ever want to know about backhoes, tractors, graders, loaders, dump trucks, and all the heavy equipment. Learn more about heavy equipment training programs right now.