Some folks have been playing video games where they “operate” heavy equipment to build their own house or create a town. Others point to actual high-tech simulators built by manufacturers of heavy equipment for training purposes and wonder if it’s the same thing as the video game, only more expensive. Then there’s the old-fashioned guys saying, “ya gotta learn it by the seat of yer pants or it ain’t gonna work.”

The truth about simulators?

Well, a video game is going to be like a video game. You will get some head knowledge if it is created to be educational, and it has a value in that way. It’s also fun. If you like big machinery of course a game where you use it will be fun. But it won’t give you a sense of what you are actually doing when you get in the seat of that grader or backhoe.

Simulators built by the manufacturer are designed for training to use a specific type of equipment. You will be sitting at controls like the crane or whatever and be looking at a screen that shows you the effects of what you are doing with those controls. Some even will have a few effects like seat tilting. They are not designed to be entertainment; they are designed to be a safe and effective way to begin the training process so your mistakes don’t have real-life consequences.

In-the-seat training is best done after you have a good idea of what you are doing, just like it’s a good idea to know a lot about driving before you get on the road. And, like driving a car, you develop reactions that become automatic as you spend time in real life doing it. It takes time and experience out in the weather, in the seat, to really get the hang of operating heavy equipment.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School, we make sure you are ready to be in the seat before you are expected to operate big machinery. Then you get that in-the-seat experience which only comes from operating many kinds of machinery in real life, and that gets you trained and certified to be a valuable employee worth hiring.

Technically, you do not need a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) to operate heavy equipment, it’s true. But if you have your CDL, you are going to be much more valuable to an employer, and it can make the difference between getting hired or getting a raise or staying home looking for work that pays the bills. Because of this, ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School includes short-term truck driver training for those who want to take their career to this higher level.

Driving a tractor-trailer to move heavy equipment to the next job site is necessary with anything that uses tracks instead of wheels. This equipment is slow, heavy, and often wide. To take it down the road would tie up traffic and probably mess up the surface. So a flatbed or lowboy trailer is used; the equipment is driven up a ramp, tied down, and moved by towing the trailer. If you can show a CDL and a training certificate from ATS (a respected school in this business), you are ahead of the rest.

In four weeks at the most, you will be prepared to take the CDL road test. You’ll know Department of Transportation rules & regulations, how to drive heavy equipment on roads, how to back heavy equipment, coupling, uncoupling, pre-trip inspections, and all the rest. ATS started out in truck driver training, so we know the value of this skill.

Employers know that value too and are willing to pay more for an employee who can operate heavy equipment plus drive any of the trucks that may be needed to transport it. The more skills you have, the more valuable you are as an employee. Check into our CDL Truck Driving Program and see how you can be the one who gets the job because you have the right training.

The best way to get started in the heavy equipment industry is to attend a training school and get trained and certified. There are specific types of equipment that require specific types of certifications, such as the crane. And then there is specialized training like rigging/signalperson training. And you can get a commercial drivers license, which will put you at the forefront of the construction work site.

One thing is for sure: Heavy equipment operators who are trained and certified are much more valuable than those who aren’t.

If you’ve dreamed of operating a crane, a bulldozer, or a dump truck on the construction site, then now is your chance. Sign up for heavy equipment training and after the first of the year you’ll be set and ready to go. Four weeks of training is all you need to be ready to start your career.

So what types of heavy equipment can you train on? Here’s a short list:

• All types of cranes
• Dump trucks and other commercial trucks
• Bulldozers
• Backhoes
• Skid steer loaders
• Front end loaders
• Graders and scrapers
• Excavators
• Wheel loaders
• All-terrain forklifts
• And many more

Virtually any type of heavy equipment you’ll find on a construction site can be operated by new and veteran equipment operators. If there’s a need for it, you can be trained on it. Once fully trained and certified, you can start looking for a job.

Heavy equipment careers are some of the most rewarding blue-collar careers today. If you are trained on one or more types of heavy equipment, you’ll have job security – and you could get paid an above-average salary for your expertise. Do you need training?

Here are 5 reasons why you should look into heavy equipment training today.

1. Heavy equipment jobs aren’t going away. There will always be a need for heavy machine operators. Federal, state, and local governments are always hiring heavy equipment operators for road and bridge projects while private and public companies need operators for their building projects.
2. Fully trained, you can expect a high paying career. You may have to start out on the bottom rung, but after a couple of years you can command top pay for your heavy equipment skills.
3. Crane operators are top dogs. You can get a heavy equipment certification that will qualify you to work anywhere in the states, but if you have a crane operator’s certification, then you’ll get paid more and you have more employment opportunities.
4. CDL operators get paid more. Just think, if you were certified as a heavy equipment operator, a crane operator, and had your CDL certification, you’d be set for life. CDL operators are in high demand.
5. Any job certification you get is a feather in your cap. It proves that you are willing to do what it takes to succeed. If you get your heavy equipment certification, you’ll be qualified to work anywhere.

Find out more about getting trained as a heavy equipment operator today.

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.

If you’re going to be a success in your heavy equipment career, then you should seek formal training as soon as possible. The more equipment you are trained on, the more employable you’ll be in love with the money you’ll make. Associated Training Services (ATS) offers prospective heavy equipment operators several types of equipment training. Here are 5 types of heavy equipment training you can enroll in right now, today.

1. Mobile Crane Operator Training – This includes lattice boom cranes, hydraulic cranes, fixed and swing cab trains, and articulated cranes. Get your National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) certification today and start making more money.
2. Commercial Truck Drivers Training – You can get your CDL license through ATS. Train to take the test or train to improve your skills.
3. Rigger / Signalperson Training – Get 12 full hours of OSHA-compliant training in one of the most important specialties of the heavy equipment industry.
4. Bulldozers – Learn to operate a bulldozer the right way. Construction sites always need a good bulldozer operator. You can start your career in heavy equipment easily if you can operate one of these machines.
5. Loaders – There are all kinds of loaders – front end loaders, skid steer loaders, and much more. You can learn to operate a wide variety of loaders, making you a more versatile heavy equipment operator. You can start right away.

The best heavy equipment operators on the workforce are those who have some type of formal training. Join the ranks. Start today.

Whilst some heavy equipment operators work by themselves, most are part of a team, and being a team player is of vital importance. Employers are really interested in one thing – getting the job done on time. If possible, they want the job to finish ahead of schedule, more so if there are contract bonuses for early completion. What they don’t want is to get behind schedule since this could lead to contract penalties. Construction companies generally engage project managers, and it is their job to work with everyone else to ensure that a project is completed as quickly as possible. As a heavy equipment operator, your role in any project is to work as part of the team to meet anytime goals.

Construction projects are quite complex. There are a lot of factors that go into scheduling each goal – for example, costs, location (how far the construction site is from raw materials such as cement suppliers, bitumen suppliers and quarries), and how much time is required to complete each step.

As a heavy equipment operator, you will need to work in conjunction with other heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, and other factors such as weather. If you’re not a team player, then the project could grind to a halt whilst they are waiting for you to complete your role. Having idle workers is dead money for any employer and will often result in a project falling behind time.

Employers then are looking for heavy equipment operators who are skilled in what they do, can get it right first time (every time), and who can work as part of that overall team. There is no longer a place for mavericks who want to do things their way, especially if safety factors are also ignored. Your work ethic in this regard starts with your heavy equipment operator training. Ideally, your heavy equipment training should be in a class environment where other students are also learning to operate heavy equipment. By learning to work together, you are laying the foundation for a successful career in heavy equipment operations.

If you’re interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, you have a number of choices. You can learn to operate heavy equipment through friends or family, or you can learn as a part of a group – today’s successful operators learn their craft through recognized schools as part of a group of students since they also gain those all important team player skills.

Operating heavy equipment is the dream of many children, yet there is only a small percentage of the adult workforce who actually go to the trouble of training to become an operator. It was a satisfying play toy as a child, and for many, it’s a very satisfying career – the dreams of their childhood being fully realized. Whilst the thought of training may seem daunting, it shouldn’t. It doesn’t take months to learn to be a heavy equipment operator – it takes weeks, and only a few of them as well.

So what can you expect from a career as a heavy equipment operator apart from realizing your dreams? Operators nominate the following as some of the key benefits:

• Secure employment – even when times are tough, heavy equipment operators remain in demand, especially when governments decide to boost the economy by building roads and bridges. Of course, when times are good, the construction industry booms and so there’s never enough heavy equipment operators to go around.
• Great salary and benefits – compared to many other professions, heavy equipment operators are very well paid, and they receive a wide range of benefits, including pension schemes, health and disability insurance, and ongoing training.
• Sense of achievement – there’s nothing more satisfying than to drive on a road, cross a bridge, or travel past a building that you have helped construct.
• Not physically demanding – and this has opened the door to operators from all walks of life, including women. You don’t have to be a rough and tough male to work as a heavy equipment operator, even those with slight builds succeed.
• Short training period – it only takes three weeks to learn the skills and knowledge to start a career as a heavy equipment operator. Compare that time period and the benefits already listed to many other careers and heavy equipment operations comes out on top.

If you’re looking for a career that’s challenging, exciting and well paid, then talk to one of the experts at Associated Training Services (ATS). They can help you take the first steps to achieving that goal, and once you have taken those steps, continue to help you until you are working happily as a heavy equipment operator.

If you’re a construction worker and you feel you are stuck in rut, now could be a good time to get out of that rut by moving sidewise into a career as a heavy equipment operator. The future for operators is strong – in fact, there is real risk that operators will be in short supply in years to come. Changing careers is always risky, however, you are staying in construction, and your current skills will always be there should the need arise.

Many employers will appreciate your dual skills. They can employ you as a heavy equipment operator knowing they can use you in other areas should the need arise. If you’re currently employed, your employer may well find that additional skills such as heavy equipment operations are a bonus.

Heavy equipment operators earn a good deal more than general construction laborers. Training is a short three weeks to gain the basic skills, skills sufficient to get you into the workplace as an entry level operator. Undertaking your training through a recognized heavy equipment operator training organization is a must if you want your new skills recognized.

Don’t let costs hold you back. Financing is available, and the terms are very reasonable. Your current employer may welcome your new skills; if not, our career services department can help you locate a job that will give you the experience required to build your career. Get out of the rut and become a well-paid skilled construction worker in the field of heavy equipment operations. You won’t regret the change once you’re settled in.

I had the opportunity to sit in the operator’s seat of a brand new mini-excavator today – and I must say, it was impressive. One of the first things to strike me was the size of the cab. It may be a mini-excavator, but there was plenty of room in the cab – even for a large person. The seat was quite comfortable – I could imagine sitting in it for hours on end working away at a trench or demolition job.

The most impressive part of the cab was the view – 360 degrees of unobstructed view. Now I know many heavy equipment operators would say they have that already, however, I am talking about a fully enclosed air-conditioned cab – not an open air cab. It was all glassed in with narrow corner frames that didn’t obstruct the view at all. Air conditioning was comfortable to work in, and the unit also heated for those cold winter days.

When it comes to controls, they are almost child-friendly. If anything, they may have been oversensitive, however, it only takes a little time to adjust to the fast response of these controls. When it came to actually digging, this mini-excavator had plenty of power, literally carving through dirt bucket load by bucket load.

You’re probably wanting to know what make of excavator I was sitting in, however, I’m not here to advertise that mini-excavator. Rather, I am pointing to how easy it is to use modern heavy equipment and how comfortable working life is. You don’t need to be built like a professional wrestler to handle these machines. In fact, a pro wrestler would probably have too much strength.

No, modern equipment relies more on the subtle touch than the brute force, and the office you’re going to be working from is almost luxurious compared to those from a decade or so ago. The view from the operator’s seat of modern heavy equipment is great – perhaps you’ll get the chance to experience it one day. It takes a couple of weeks of heavy equipment training to have you ready.