Most people think of a bulldozer as a big heavy earth moving machine that spends its time pushing dirt around. While that is its primary function, bulldozers are actually quite versatile, especially if you step around back. What many people don’t realize is that a bulldozer can be fitted with tools at the rear; for example, single or multiple shank rippers. These are used, as the name suggests, to rip into the ground.

A bulldozer’s ripper has multiple uses, however, its primary use is to break open very hard ground. The ripper can also be used to tear up rock, concrete or sealed roads. The front dozer blades can then push through the material clearing the way for further work. Another attachment that is similar to a ripper can be added that helps to break apart tree stumps, a common activity when land is being cleared.

It’s also common for bulldozers to have scrapers, winches and even heavy weights added to the rear. The heavy weights provide more stability and traction when the equipment is used to push dirt in difficult situations. When learning to operate a bulldozer, you should become as familiar with the rear area and the attachments available as you are with the front. Bulldozer operators are often required to rip open hard packed surfaces before bulldozing the top layer away, a difficult task if you have only familiarized yourself with the front end.

Heavy equipment training provided by a well respected training organization will include some instruction on what the rear section of a bulldozer is used for. Bulldozers don’t just push dirt around. They do have other uses, and to be a good bulldozer operator you need to learn as much as possible about those alternatives.

One option open to heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, and crane operators, is to seek opportunities overseas. One job listing in our Saturday job listing series required 80 crane operators for work in either Afghanistan and Kuwait. In fact, wherever the U.S. has had a military presence, you’ll find work for capable operators and drivers. You can also find work in many African nations where aid is helping to build roads, schools, hospitals and dams.

Before looking for work overseas, you will need to complete an appropriate training program. Crane operators generally need to be certified; truck drivers will need their commercial drivers license; and heavy equipment operators will need to have completed an approved heavy equipment training program. It will also help your cause if you can get six-twelve months of experience here in the U.S. before applying for international positions.

There is a high demand for experienced heavy equipment operators overseas. The pay is good, and, depending on where you work and who you work for, there are hefty tax concessions on your income. The downside is that you are working in remote areas a long way from home. You may even find you are working in somewhat hostile conditions and in areas that are quite primitive compared to what you enjoy at home right now. In some places, something as simple as running water is non-existent.

U.S. crane and heavy equipment operators (and truck drivers) are preferred in many locations, particularly where U.S. contractors are involved. They prefer to employ from home, fly suitable recruits to their work locations, and to fly them home again once their contracts have been fulfilled. These operators and drivers are generally offered new contracts to return after a short period R and R at home, often with bonuses for renewing those contracts. It does take a special type of person to work overseas under trying conditions, however, many enjoy the experience and continue to return year after year.

If you have a yearning to work overseas in remote and primitive locations, then perhaps heavy equipment operations, truck driving, or crane operations is worth considering.

There is a misconception amongst many in the community that heavy equipment careers are fairly itinerant by nature. This is far from the truth. Sure, there are major construction companies that move from project to project, taking their equipment and their operators with them. However, the majority of work for heavy equipment operators is local, with most operators home for dinner each night.

As for being a career for young single males – the majority of workers in this industry are over 40 and married, most with children. You can dispel the male only component as well, there are a lot of women who are now working as heavy equipment operators, and enjoying every minute of it. In reality, anyone can become a heavy equipment operator; all it takes is desire and an aptitude for operating equipment.

When it comes to employment opportunities, local construction leads the way while municipal councils run a close second. Private contractors are also big employers, offering equipment and operators for lease to farmers, developers and, on occasion, environmental groups wanting sensitive areas cleared of non-native vegetation. Even large construction companies, with their somewhat itinerant workforce, need to employ local operators to fill gaps in their ranks.

This means that most operators own their home, and work from their home base. These workers take the daily commute to and from their workplaces like everyone else, just a little earlier than most. A heavy equipment career is certainly not restricted to young single males (although the industry would love to see more of them join the ranks). A short heavy equipment training program is all that most people require to start successful careers as operators.

Some people seem to have natural abilities when it comes to operating machinery while others take time to develop those abilities. When it comes to heavy equipment, you don’t necessarily need a wide range of skills before undertaking training, however, you do need to be the type of person who can quickly develop those abilities. So what abilities does a good heavy equipment operator require?

• Control – Heavy equipment operators are required to quickly and repeatedly adjust controls of their equipment, often to very precise positions, and these adjustments are often very small, yet may have a large impact on the finished work.
• Coordination – One of the most important abilities is that of coordination between hand, legs and eyes. Sometimes it’s not as easy as it looks, however, operators very quickly learn how to coordinate their limbs to control their equipment’s actions.
• Steadiness – This ability is required in conjunction with coordination and control. Keeping a hand or foot very steady on a control while moving other controls, or moving over rough terrain, can be difficult. Being able to make very minor adjustments (control) ensures you maintain the accuracy of the work your equipment is completing.
• Dexterity – This ability is used in conjunction with coordination, however, it often requires different limbs to be doing reverse operations; for example, one hand pushing forward while another pulls back.
• Reaction – Being able to react quickly is important, however, being able to react and make the right corrective movement is even more important, and sometimes, that movement may feel unnatural. This is a skill that can take time to learn, however, for safety reasons, it is one that should be developed as quickly as possible.

You can liken some of these abilities to those of a car driver. For example, being able to make fine adjustments to the steering as you drive at speed down the highway; the ability to change gear while breaking or accelerating in a vehicle with a manual gear box; and reversing with a trailer attached (this requires opposite movements to what comes naturally). Attending a heavy equipment training program that gives you in the seat operator practice on a range of heavy equipment will help you to develop these abilities quickly. Get them right, and that’s half the battle to becoming a great heavy equipment operator. Fortunately, with a good training regime, these abilities become second nature and you hardly ever need to consciously think about them – a bit like driving a car really.

Christmas can be a lot of fun for many people, especially children. Heavy equipment operators, crane operators and truck drivers often get in on the act as well, playing their roll in bringing joy to tens of thousands. Every town seems to have a Christmas parade of some description, and truck drivers are often busy driving floats, for the lucky few, driving the truck that has Santa in his festive seat. Backhoes are interesting additions to many parades, their peculiar shape offering a lot of opportunities for those with a little imagination.

Backhoes are those machines you see in construction sites that look a little like a scorpion ready to strike. The ‘hoe’ part of the vehicle can often be dressed for a variety of effects while the loader at the front makes a great ‘mouth’, especially with a few well painted teeth added. Being wheeled vehicles, they operate over roads with ease and they are generally not as loud as other heavy equipment.

Of course, truck drivers and backhoes are not the only heavy equipment to make it into a Christmas parade. Front loaders are also popular – last year we witnessed a front loader following Santa’s truck, with the loader proudly carrying all the gifts that were to be handed out to children. It was certainly a different role to that normally undertaken by its operator.

Heavy equipment operators are only selected to appear in parades if they are well experienced and have safe working histories. Heavy equipment is dangerous, and parades are very dangerous areas, especially where excitable children are present – and after all, that’s normally why we have parades, to amuse the children (or the child in us).

In order to participate in a parade like those we see at Christmas, heavy equipment operators need to good skills, the kind of skills that are developed after a good heavy equipment training program. We can’t promise you’ll ever appear in a parade, but we can promise to deliver the best heavy equipment training in the country, and that’s a good start.

If you work as a heavy equipment operator, then there’s a very simple reality about today’s workplace – you can’t have too many skills. Employers, when listing job vacancies, are now looking for operators with a range of talents. The most common is the wide range of heavy equipment that an operator has experience with. Other skills often requested include CDL licenses with experience on dump trucks or heavy equipment haulage. Employers are also looking for individuals who have had training and experience as a signal person and/or crane operator.

You don’t need to go to the expense of adding too many skills. If you start by learning as much as possible across a range of heavy equipment, you’ll meet an employer’s major requirement. Over time, however, it has been shown time and again that the addition of a commercial drivers license has added value to an individual’s career opportunities.

Modern machinery has changed to the point that some jobs can now be done in far less time. Rather than having an operator idle while awaiting their next task, employers are now wanting to move them onto alternative machinery. It’s understandable – an idle worker is not productive, yet the employer still needs to pay their wage.

If you are considering a heavy equipment training program, then be sure to gain as much experience across a range of equipment as possible. If you are already skilled as a heavy equipment operator, consider adding a commercial drivers license or a crane operators certificate to your skills list. You will open up more employment opportunities and add a lot more variety to your career.

If you have experience on a range of heavy equipment, then there are plenty of jobs on offer around the nation. We have one employer this week who is looking to fill up to 20 positions with operators who can work on multiple machinery. If any of these vacancies appeal, or if you want to see which other jobs are still available, then visit our job site – your next job could be just waiting for your application.

Multiple Construction Equipment Ops – Onawa, IA
16-20 positions. Successful candidates will participate in project completion through operation of medium duty heavy equipment e.g. loaders, backhoes, trackhoes, forklifts, etc. and assistance to the site managers on lesser tasks.

Construction Positions – Milford, CT
Now accepting applications/resumes for…Asbestos/Lead Supervisor
Must have own transportation. Heavy Equipment Operator
Demolition experience a plus.

Heavy Equipment Operator – Fairfax, VA
Multiple positions located in Lorton, Virginia. Under general supervision, operates a variety of heavy construction-type equipment to include rubber tire loader, track machines, backhoe, and road grader. Also drives a semi-tractor trailer truck. Performs pre-operational inspections, and preventive maintenance.

Crane Operators – IA, Forest City

Heavy Equipment Operators – Mass

If you don’t have training on a wide range of heavy equipment, then you need to review your training. All students in our heavy equipment training program get the opportunity to train on equipment such as loaders, bulldozers, graders and excavators, and that’s just a small list. Our graduates are ready to operate a wide range of machinery – perfectly suited to some of those positions advertised above.

Winter may be approaching, but it seems the amount of work available for heavy equipment operators is not easing. In fact, demand for operators in this sector is steadily on the increase. According to a quick search on Indeed.com, as of today, there are almost 4,500 positions available waiting for operators. While 4,500 may not sound like a lot, it is up from this time last year where there were just over 3,800 vacancies listed on Indeed.com.

Job vacancies are across a range of industries including construction, forestry, mining, conservation, land clearing, reclamation, landscaping, utilities and the army. The latter is an interesting option – the army prefers to recruit heavy equipment operators that have already undertaken their equipment training, and who have a reasonable amount of experience on that equipment. The army will train operators to use their specific equipment, however, they still need that core base of skills to work with.

Today’s employer is looking for one key factor – quality training. Heavy equipment is expensive with some machinery costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is no way an employer is going to allow an untrained operator to use their equipment when they have invested so much money in them. OSHA guidelines also insist that operators are qualified in some way, and that they have completed safety training designed for heavy equipment operators.

The work is there, the job advertisements clearly show that. Even as winter approaches, employers are still recruiting, and while new recruits do find it a little tougher initially, those that have undertaken their training through a reputable heavy equipment training school are finding their first jobs. That’s all takes – good training and that first job, from there, you can build a long and successful career.

While many construction sites slow down their activities over winter, other industries ramp up their activities. Landscape gardening is one area that is not thought of as a user of heavy equipment, yet in many cases, heavy equipment is the only machinery suited to a job. Frozen ground is no fun to dig in by hand, yet excavators and backhoes can often work with little effort.

So what sort of jobs would heavy equipment be used in landscape gardening. One of the more frequent tasks is the movement of whole trees. Winter, or the dormant season, is the best time to move a tree. Excavators and backhoes are perfectly designed for this type of work, including cutting through excess root systems. Mobile cranes are often used to lift the tree, root ball and all, into a truck ready for transport.

Before trees are transplanted, an excavator or backhoe will dig a large hole. A mobile crane is then used to lower the root ball into the hole, and to hold the tree upright while the soil is then back-filled into the hole. Backhoes are a handy tool for this job – the shovel can dig the hole while the loader can be used as a bulldozer to push the soil. In some cases, one of those nimble little skid-steer loaders is used to back-fill and compress the soil.

Whether you’re operating a mobile crane, excavator, backhoe or skid-steer loader, precision and caution is most important. For a large tree to be transplanted successfully, the tree needs to be moved quickly and with as little damage as possible. The skill of landscape gardeners and heavy equipment operators manage this on an almost daily basis – and those trees, some of them giants, survive the experience. If you’re interested in landscape gardening and heavy equipment operations, the two do go hand-in-hand – moving trees is just one of many jobs. For landscape gardeners, undertaking heavy equipment training could be what you need to further progress in the industry.

Heavy equipment operations is a viable career option for many people who are currently out of work. As an eligible training provider for many government programs, we know that we can help many of these out of work individuals start new careers. We even offer a free one-day training workshop that interested people can attend, just to see if they are suited to a heavy equipment career. The good news is that one-day event is totally free.

This may be of interest to those in employment agencies whose responsibility it is to help people find work. If your clients are eligible for one of the government programs, you can send them to the one day program to see if they are interested in and suited to this industry. This is an ideal way of ensuring that government grants are allocated to individuals who will get the most benefit from them.

Associated Training Services has a long and successful history of working with agencies to help people commence new careers. This is built on a long and successful history of training in the heavy equipment, truck driving, and crane operating fields. We have worked successfully with departments of workforce development, Workforce Investment Act (WIA), dislocated worker re-training programs, Trade Adjustment Act (TAA), vocational rehabilitation, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), state Departments of Veterans Affairs, Federal Veterans Administration.

Our eligible training program is available to anyone, not just individuals referred through employment agencies. If you are interested in a career as a heavy equipment operator, then contact our admissions staff for more information on this offer, along with any other offers available. A career as a heavy equipment operator is both interesting and lucrative, and the demand for new operators is steadily growing.