If you’re a former heavy equipment operator who has been out of the business for several years, you would be surprised at how many technological changes there have been. GPS and laser technology is used in some equipment whilst many others have converted to computerized controls, especially in equipment like graders where fine degrees of accuracy are required in blade placements. In many cases, an operator from ten years ago could still operate this equipment – for others, refreshing your skills certainly wouldn’t go astray.

Where former operators may struggle is in the current safety knowledge requirements. Twenty years ago, operating heavy equipment was virtually seat-of-the-pants stuff. If you knew of short cuts, you took them, irrespective of the dangers. Safety regulations are such that seat-of-the-pants operating styles are no longer tolerated on any work site – in fact, employers and employees could be fined heavily if caught in the act.

Heavy equipment technology has certain brought this machinery into the 21st Century. Operators are now highly skilled in this modern technology, and because of that, they are much safer operators. The field of heavy equipment is now well paid in comparison to many other careers, and could be a viable choice for anyone who has worked in this field before. A short three week heavy equipment training program can help you to renew your operational skills, introduce you to some of the latest technology, and provide you with the knowledge you need under workplace safety legislation.

If you were once a highly skilled and in demand heavy equipment operator, there is no reason why you can’t be again. Heavy equipment technology has advanced, but at the end of the day, heavy equipment is still doing that same old task – digging, pushing, and carrying dirt.

Have you seen those little excavators around your neighborhood? You can’t miss them, they fit on the back of a small trailer, towed by no more than a family wagon. If you ever see one in action, stop a moment and watch – for their size, they certainly pack a punch.

These mini excavators are generally used for digging trenches. They have a long arm so they can dig a fairly deep trench and with interchangeable shovels, they dig trenches from eight inches wide to two feet or more. It’s the power those little engines have that can be amazing. I noticed one mini excavator almost lifting its own cab and power plant off the ground – the only thing stopping it was the control of the operator.

Talking of cabs, they are tiny – just big enough for one person. Forget joining the operator as an observer to learn how to operate one. You will need to find a much bigger rig for that. Operating a mini excavator is not that different than operating a much larger excavator; it’s all a question of scale. Where many operators do go wrong is when they forget they are operating a much smaller piece of equipment.

Mini excavators, while small in size, still pack a decent punch when it comes to doing a day’s work. They are classed as part of the heavy equipment family so anyone trained to operate excavators through a heavy equipment training program can obviously operate a mini version of that equipment. Heavy equipment doesn’t necessarily mean ‘heavy’ equipment – even mini excavators qualify. They certainly look like a lot of fun – but then, it’s supposed to be work. I suppose you can have fun while you work.

A sad fact in today’s employment market is that employers are always looking for ways to cut costs. That can work to your advantage if you are prepared to take a few extra steps. Combining several related skills can make an individual a far more attractive employment option compared to someone with only the one skill. If you were to combine heavy equipment operations with a commercial drivers license, you are in effect opening options up for your employer.

An example of this a small business that only has a handful of equipment. They may have been asked to perform a task that will only take an hour or two to complete. Rather than sending out the heavy equipment with an operator and a truck with a driver, an operator with a CDL can take the equipment out, complete the job, and bring the equipment back (or on to the next job), thus saving the employer from paying for two people for the one job.

We live in an era where companies are forever competing with each other for work. This is often done via quotation or tendering process. If an employer knows he can reduce employee costs, then they can submit a lower tender or quote, and increase their chances of securing the work. The more work they can acquire, the bigger they will grow, and the more machinery and operators they will require.

ATS conducts both heavy equipment training programs and truck driver training programs. It is quite easy to complete one training program and to then move on to the second so that, within six weeks or so, you will have graduated from both training programs with skill sets that will make you far more employable. Provide employers with that complete package, and you will be surprised at how much easier it is to build a sustainable career.

How important is workplace safety to you? For many people, safety in the workplace is not something they really think about. For other people, workplace safety is something that is constantly on their mind. This is the situation with heavy equipment operators, their vehicles are large and powerful and one slip could cause a lot of havoc. For this reason, heavy equipment safety is one of the key components of any training program.

Over the years, legislators have slowly increased the requirements for operators, particularly where it comes to safety. Crane operators now require certification and it won’t be long and this will be extended to all heavy equipment operators. Why introduce certification? The certification process doesn’t just assess a person’s ability to operate heavy equipment. It also assesses their knowledge of safety when it comes to the operations and transport of their machinery.

The end result is that most construction sites are becoming safer. Certification is becoming the norm for most skilled areas on construction sites. If an individual is in charge of any aspect of a site that could prove to be dangerous, a recent example being those involved with rigging, then certification is becoming a requirement.

No one likes to see more and more legislation regulating our working lives. However, if accidents continue, then the cost to the community grows, not to mention the devastating effects these accidents can have on families. When it comes to heavy equipment training, you owe it to yourself, and more importantly, you owe it to your family and the families of those who will be working around you to ensure the safety training meets the minimum requirements for employment in your state. There is an easy way to check this. Ask the training company of they know what the safety requirements are, either locally or federally. If they don’t, look for another training provider. If you are looking for a career in heavy equipment, then you can help to build a safer workplace by undertaking training that includes heavy equipment safety.

If you’re looking for a job that is interesting, demanding, and often involves working with heavy equipment in tight spots, then consider a career as a heavy equipment operator in the field of landscape gardening. If there has been one boom area in the last five years, then it has to be landscape gardening and re-vegetation programs. It may seem a strange mix, heavy gas guzzling equipment working on environmental programs, but is shouldn’t be given the technology now available, and the type of work involved.

Businesses, whether they are factories or commercial office buildings, are all trying to find ways to become environmentally friendly. For many, it has been the conversion of empty space around their buildings into well manicured landscape gardens. This can take a lot of work, and this is where heavy equipment plays a vital role. Backhoes in particular can be particularly useful, breaking up the ground, removing excess unusable soil, then back filling with quality soil ready to grow plants. In recent years, smaller units like bobcats and skid steer loaders have also found their way into these roles, especially with smaller contractors.

In other areas, re-vegetation has become an important issue. The banks of rivers and streams, tracts of land where buildings once stood, and inner city precincts where land has been reclaimed are all the subject of re-vegetation. Heavy equipment is again often called in to remove sour soil and to replace this with topsoil that has been prepared for these areas. Removing sour soil also removes the non-native vegetation that has been growing in that area.

These are interesting careers as you often work closely with those heavily involved in environmental issues. They are also experts at land care and the types of vegetation best suited to different areas. You don’t necessarily need skills in landscaping or the environment to work in these fields. You do, however, should have the skills and some experience operating the equipment in use. Heavy equipment training can prepare you well for operating backhoes, bobcats, and skid steer loaders. Interested? Contact ATS for information on our next heavy equipment training program – there could be a career in the landscaping or environmental industry just waiting for someone like you.

The field of heavy equipment operations is huge and the range of equipment in use extremely varied. You have excavators that are small enough to be transported on a small trailer towed behind a family car. You also have excavators that are so large they need to be dismantled to be moved any great distance – there is no tractor-trailer big enough, or strong enough, to move them. So how do you develop a long term career as a heavy equipment operator?

A career is not just a job. It is a field of work where you are constantly learning, and where there are opportunities for advancement. Heavy equipment certainly fits that bill, especially when it comes to learning. But then, that is what lies at the very foundation of a successful career – your initial training. This is where many prospective operators go wrong, they underestimate the value of that basic training. If you learn the right skills to begin with, you have a solid base to build upon.

That is the second part of a successful career, building on your basic skills. Having completed a heavy equipment training program, graduates are ready for entry level employment. Remember that phrase – entry level employment. You are not going to be employed in a position that requires a lot of experience – you just don’t have it, yet. Entry level employment does not mean you are left to do the more menial tasks – you will still be challenged, and that is how you will build your experience. As you answer each challenge, your employer will automatically offer you more challenging roles. Over time, you will have developed those basic skills into an advanced set of skills and will be in a position to call yourself an experienced heavy equipment operator.

Are there opportunities for advancement? As with all careers, there is always some advancement available. You could be placed in charge of a team of operators working on a project; you may also find yourself in a role teaching others. There is also the opportunity of one day owning your own heavy equipment. Of course, that is taking a career and turning it into a business.

Most heavy equipment machinery in today’s workplace are multi-tasking vehicles. That is fairly obvious when it comes to machinery like backhoes, but they are not alone. Excavators play various roles in our society ranging from mining to river dredging, and a whole lot more in between. Traditionally, we probably view excavators as trench diggers since that is where we see them most often employed. However, digging trenches is only the tip of the iceberg.

Like backhoes, excavators have a wide range of tools (known as attachments) that can be used in place of the traditional shovel. These tools can do a range of jobs including breaking up slabs of concrete and rock, to drilling holes rather than digging them. In the mines, excavators can be huge machines with buckets the size of large cars. But then, if you think the buckets are big, you should see the size of the dump trucks they are filling.

Excavators are multi-tasking tools and because of this, experienced operators are always in demand. The only way to gain experience as an operator is by gaining entry level employment where you can continue to learn your craft. In today’s workplace, employers will only take on entry level workers if they have received training through a well established and recognized training school.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools conduct regular training programs for those looking at careers in heavy equipment. Training programs are delivered full time over three weeks with students who successfully graduate eligible for entry level employment. Are we well established and recognized? With over forty years experience in the training industry, I guess you could call us established. Are we recognized? We have a database full of employers who have employed our graduates – our employment success speaks for itself. If you’re looking for a career as an excavator operator, consider our heavy equipment operator training program – others have, with great success.

It really doesn’t matter where you live these days, bulldozers and experienced bulldozer operators are needed everywhere. A bulldozer really is an all-purpose vehicle when it comes to dealing with the effects of mother nature. Every time there is a major event, bulldozers and their operators are called in to clean up the mess. They also generally employed to try and avert future problems. Consider some of these situations:

Snow and blizzards – Clearing snow from roads is a primary concern for almost every city, whether it’s here in the States or in Europe. Snow plows, graders, loaders, and yes, bulldozers are all called in to help clear the way.

Hurricanes, tornadoes and fierce storms – All three of these events create havoc. Beaches are heavily eroded and need bulldozing back into some semblance of a decent beach. Homes are destroyed and require bulldozing in order for a new home to be built.

Fire – Like storms, fire does immense damage, especially to property. In almost all serious house fires, the home needs to be bulldozed to make way for a new home. Bulldozers are also used to help create firebreaks and fire trails before the fire season starts.

Floods – Events like those in Australia (where an area the size of Texas is now underwater) bring home the danger and devastation of something as simple as rain. Bulldozers are working now to build levees and large embankments in an effort to prevent further flood damage. All over the world, bulldozers work to build dams and levees in the hope they can control mother nature.

Many of those activities occur after the event. Of course, bulldozers work on more mundane projects like building our highways, clearing land for farms and housing, and in general construction. It’s no wonder that bulldozers are one of the most popular vehicles in a heavy equipment fleet. There is one thing that all experienced operators have today – and that’s a heavy equipment training course that helped them get a start in the industry. Without that training, employers won’t even consider you now. Are you interested in a career that offers a lot of variety – bulldozer operations has it all – and it’s in demand worldwide.

Today’s heavy equipment technology actually has more processing power than the first Apollo missions that went into space. The improvements to electronics, pneumatics, hydraulics, transmissions, engines, along with the introduction of on board computer systems, lasers, and GPS have turned what was once a very heavy and hard-to-handle machine into an extremely powerful yet easy-to-operate piece of machinery.

Manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Kamatsu, John Deer, Volvo, and Case are all competing for markets where productivity is a primary issue. With today’s heavy equipment now capable of doing many tasks in half the time compared to 30-40 years ago, the push is on for even more improvements. When people talk about cutting edge technology, heavy equipment should be held up as a prime example. How easy have these machines become? You can operate many of the controls with a simple joy stick – it’s almost kids play.

Learning to operate heavy equipment has become the easy part. The difficult part has become learning how to read site maps, use the computer-aided technologies, and to understand soils – the latter really only coming with on-the-job experience. Safety issues are another area where good training has become paramount to a successful career in this industry.

We are reaching a stage where it is hard to know where improvements can now be made. There is new technology at work throughout heavy equipment, even to the point of making the latest machinery very ‘green’ friendly. Heavy equipment training using the latest machinery could put some operators at a disadvantage these days. There are still plenty of businesses using older equipment – those trained solely on modern computerized heavy equipment may struggle to operate some of those older machines. Still, we are moving on as a society and new technology is everywhere – even in heavy equipment.

Obtaining finance for heavy equipment training has never really been difficult for those who have reasonable credit histories. For people who are out of work or disadvantaged in other ways, there have been government-funded programs to pay for training. There are even training benefits available for the service personnel and their families. As with every society, there are probably individuals who have fallen between the cracks, not eligible for government-funded programs, and not having a sound credit history.

Credit is becoming a little easier and financial institutions are again realizing the worth of career loans, especially those that lead to viable employment relatively quickly. That is one of the benefits of training in areas like truck driving, heavy equipment, and crane operations – the training can be completed in as little as three weeks and graduates ready for entry level employment almost immediately. For lenders, the sooner the lender is in the workplace earning, the sooner the loan is repaid.

If you may be worried that your credit history could make a loan difficult, you have a number of options. The first is to request a copy of your credit history – with that in hand you can verify its accuracy and perhaps determine whether or not there are negative reports. Your second option is to fill in our application for credit – we will have an answer back to you within 48 hours (perhaps a little longer over the holiday period).

Financing heavy equipment training is not that difficult. We at ATS endeavor to do as much as possible to make your funding options easier so talk to us if you have any concerns.