Backhoe operators have one of the most varied careers when it comes heavy equipment. One moment they are excavator operators and the next, loader operators. Because of their versatility, they are also used in a wide variety of situations. Home building, landscaping, construction of services such as water and sewage, forestry and road constructions are just a few areas where you will find a backhoe. As an operator, you could find yourself working in any one of those places – everyday it may be different.

When it comes to owning an earth moving business, backhoes are often the first choice because of that versatility. As an owner operator, backhoes can do some of the work of an excavator or a loader. This means owner operators can offer their services to a wider range of clients.

As a career, backhoe operators are well sought after, particularly those that have a wide range of experience. The only way to gain that experience is by starting at the bottom and working your way up. Starting at the bottom means finding a good backhoe or heavy equipment training provider – one that will train you to industry standards so that you are employable from the day you graduate.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools have a long history of providing proficient operators to industry. We also have a very effective career services department that may be able to help you secure that first job. As industry leaders in heavy equipment training, we pride ourselves on the reputation gained with employers across the country. Are you looking for a career that takes you outdoors, is varied and, at times, challenging then consider a career as a backhoe operator.

The best heavy equipment training in the world is useless if you can’t find employment following your training. This is where a good career services component can make a huge difference between a successful heavy equipment career and sitting at home wondering why you spent all that money on training. Let’s be honest, heavy equipment training is not exactly cheap. I wouldn’t call it expensive either, especially when you consider the pay packet that successful operators receive.

Career services come in many different formats. There are private agencies that will charge you (and the employer) when a successful placement is made. The problems with these services is that they are paid for successful placements, not the right placements, so their focus is on getting people into work, any work. The best career services providers are those attached to training bodies. Their focus is on getting the right people into the right jobs.

Why are they different? Career services attached to training providers don’t rely on placements for income – it is all part of the training service. At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, our career services department spends its time working on two fronts – first, working with students to prepare them for work in the field of heavy equipment. The second front is equally important – this is time spent developing relationships with employers.

That second front is very important. By developing relationships with employers and employer groups we have our fingers on the pulse of what is important to them, what skills and what personal attributes they are looking for. We can take that information and factor it into our training programs thus providing employers with graduates that are going to be productive from day one.

If you are considering a career in heavy equipment then talk to us about your options. We not only provide industry leading training, we also provide career services that help you to get a start and to convert your training into a successful career as a heavy equipment operator.

With oil slicks threatening the beaches in the south there is a good chance that loader operators will be called in to help alleviate some of the problems. One of the easiest ways to handle polluted beaches is to simply move the affected areas away for decontamination. Doing it in situ can be difficult, especially if harsh chemicals are required to clean the pollutant.

Loader operators can often be found on beaches after huge storms, working to either replace or reposition sand that has been affected by the storms. In some areas, wild storms have been known to strip beaches of the sand while at other times to bring in tons of sand. With the summer rapidly approaching, our beaches are one the strongest drawcards when it comes to tourism – having them fit for swimmers and surfers is a must.

Operating a loader on a beach can be tricky with the sand often moving beneath the loader’s wheels. Some of the smaller loaders are ideal for this work as their weight doesn’t cause any difficulties, or do any further damage. Operators that are skilled at working in sandy conditions are always in demand when these events occur.

Becoming a loader operator is actually a fairly simple task. Heavy equipment often overwhelms people, yet if they could see how simple some of this equipment was to operate, they would be surprised. Loaders are certainly not complicated machinery and most individuals can become proficient in a range of heavy equipment in as little as three weeks. Contact us for more information on loaders and heavy equipment training – your first step to a heavy equipment career starts with a good training program and that’s where we can help.

Think excavators and you probably think ditches. However, the modern excavator does far more than just dig ditches. You will find excavators at work on rivers doing dredging work, in forestry plantations, in the mining industry, in road and rail construction and in general construction. Wherever there is earth moving involved, you’re likely to find an excavator or it’s cousin, the backhoe.

Excavator training is not really a difficult course to get through. They may look like technically complex machines, and from an engineering point of view, they are. From an operators point of view, operating an excavator is only a matter of learning what the levers and pedals actually do – get a grasp of that and you’re halfway there. Of course, you also need to learn other components such as safety, basic maintenance and how an excavator performs in different soil types.

It only takes three weeks to complete a heavy equipment training program that includes excavator operator training. At the completion of the three weeks of training, you should be proficient in a number of machines including bulldozers, graders, loaders and excavators. Once you have completed your training, the most important part of your career begins – on-the-job training – and that lasts a lifetime.

Does operating an excavator sound like a career for you? If so, contact ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools for details on our next training course and the location of the nearest training school to you. Excavator operators are well paid in today’s workforce and their careers are interesting and involve a lot of variety – the one thing you won’t be doing is digging ditches all the time.

Bulldozer training – you can actually find bulldozer training facilities all over the place. Some training schools are better than others, but then that’s true of every industry across the nation. If you are looking to enter the heavy equipment industry there are several things to beware of.

Mavericks – check the credentials of anyone who offers to provide training on heavy equipment like bulldozers. Because of the popularity of the industry at present, operators and former operators often sell themselves as heavy equipment trainers. They can be expensive, especially if you have to hire the equipment to undertake training. Good training operators have their own range of equipment and properly set up training schools – not some out of the way empty paddock.

Bad Habits – poorly trained individuals often pick up bad habits from their trainers. Employers will soon spot those bad habits and, if short cuts and safety become issues, soon show you the door. Your training should be setting good habits from day one.

False Paperwork – it’s nothing short of fraud, but by the time you find out they have gone (and so has your money). Again, it comes back to checking on the credentials of your training school.

The easy solution is to find a heavy equipment training provider that has been around for a long time. They are recognized within the industry, have a proven track record that can easily be verified (just talk to potential employers), and provide you with recognized paper work at the conclusion of your training. Heavy equipment training is not ‘cheap’ – if it is there is something wrong with the training. There is a strong demand for bulldozer operators at present – be sure your training is delivered by a training school that will help you into the workplace, not one that will teach you bad habits and keep you out of the industry.

For many, a backhoe is weird look vehicle that has a bucket at one end and a scoop at the other. The bucket digs trenches like an excavator does while the scoop acts in pretty much the same manner as a traditional loader. In reality, operating a backhoe is far more complex. When it comes to buckets, there are a range of sizes that are interchangeable. This can range from a narrow 12 inch wide bucket to a fairly decent 40 inches – but interchangeable buckets are just the start.

The range of attachments is fairly broad. In fact, think of a device used in construction, logging or mining and their is most likely an attachment available for a backhoe that does the same job. Jackhammers, augers or drills, grapple hooks, logging tools – you name it, there is a tool available for the job.

As a backhoe operator, you will be expected to know how to change attachments. It would also help if you knew how to use each attachment. The latter is not so hard since the controls remain the same – change attachment, take five to get a feel for it, and away you go. Professional heavy equipment training is the key to understanding how to change attachments and to use many of them.

You can find professional training through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools. You can complete your training in as little as three weeks and be on your way to a career as a professional heavy equipment operator in next to no time – backhoes included.

There is strong demand for heavy equipment operators at present but what does a heavy equipment career offer for new operators? In the short term, there is plenty of work available and there are opportunities for all new operators to not only gain a start in the industry, but to also bring home a healthy pay check. The long term outlook is much harder to predict.

When it comes to the future, there are never any guarantees. We don’t know where the economy is headed, whether or not the bleak conditions in Europe will affect us, or how fast we can bounce back to a healthy economy. We can however look at history and what has happened in the past.

History shows that economies are always bouncing around going from highs to lows before climbing back to highs again. There is one other factor that needs to be considered when looking at any career, particularly those in construction and heavy equipment. This is the aging of our population. To some, there is real concern that, rather than having an over supply of operators, we will be left with severe shortages.

If you look around most building sites, the one thing you will rarely see is sixty year olds at work, even in the cab of heavy equipment. Most construction workers seem to get to around fifty, perhaps fifty-five and then give the game away and look for employment that is a little less physical, a little less dependent on young fit bodies. Heavy equipment careers are a little different in that age is not a strong factor when it comes to being capable – but after 30 or more years as an operator, many are still ready to call it quits when they hit their fifties.

This exodus of labor from the industry is already starting to take affect. Many employers are trying hard to retain experienced operators well into their fifties, or using them to pass on their skills and knowledge to the next generation. Is there a bright future for heavy equipment operators? The next twenty years will undoubtedly see highs and lows, but if we don’t have an increase in the number of young people graduating from heavy equipment training programs, there is a real risk that we will have severe shortages in numbers, not an excess. Heavy equipment careers can still offer a reasonably stable future for new operators – we just need to encourage more into the industry.

One of the things you will notice about graders is that they tend to work on their own. This can be a little misleading because graders are really just one part of a large team – a very integral part of that team. Road making, for example, is done in stages with different heavy equipment handling each stage. A grader cannot commence until a bulldozer has finished its work; likewise, the hot-mix machines cannot commence until the grader has completed its work.

As part of a team, you will often see that roads are built in sections. A bulldozer will work on section one and, once completed, move onto section two. In the meantime, the grader sets to work on section one. When completed, it too moves on to section two. In a well oiled and efficient team, each piece of equipment finishes its job just in time for the next unit to come. They are all working as a team and before you know it, a new highway has been constructed.

Heavy equipment training at ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools offers students experience on a range of equipment. This is useful knowledge going into a work place since operators know what each unit of equipment is capable of. It all helps a team knit together over time – a factor you can see in a well oiled team that seems to complete jobs on time and with few problems.

If you enjoy working as both an individual and a team player then working as a heavy equipment operator could be an option. A grader is only one of the many options available, yet it can be one of the most challenging and exacting options in the heavy equipment range. Interested? Then contact us for more information on training dates and for the closest ATS school to you.

Excavators are used in a wide variety of industries and the job prospects for each industry is varied. Although the majority of operators tend to work in construction, there are other industries that also rely on competent operators. Some of the industries and their prospects include:

• Government – government, particularly local government can be reliable employers. The demand for heavy equipment operators can be in season. Prospects are still strong in this sector.
• Highway and Heavy Construction – prospects remain strong in this area.
• Mining – prospects fluctuate and although mining is a year round activity, vacancies can be seasonal.
• Logging – prospects are fairly weak in this industry. Excavators are not widely used and the competition for the few vacancies can be strong.
• Quarries – this is another industry where vacancies are few and competition strong.
• Water Management – vacancies in water management are moderate, however, employers in this sector tend to target operators with a lot of experience.

When you first look at that sort of scenario, you may feel that working as an excavator operator could be risky. However, it should be remembered that the two biggest users of excavator operators are the construction (including roads, bridges and highways) and government where almost 80% of all operators work. The mining industry uses excavator operators although they are often upskilled to more powerful and larger machinery.

Generally speaking, if you are looking at a career as a heavy equipment operator and the role of an excavator operator appeals, look to the general construction field first. Most other sectors demand operators with two or more years experience across a range of activities. Sectors like the logging industry also want operators that are highly proficient in the use of excavator attachments. It’s an interesting career working as an excavator operator, and one that can be well paid as well. Heavy equipment training is the key to opening the door to this career.

One of the major pushes in heavy equipment operations is that of safety and there is good reason for this – when heavy equipment is involved in an incident, it is normally something major; rarely is it a minor event. To achieve a safer workplace, heavy equipment safety training is becoming a mandatory factor when employing workers. If a prospective employee hasn’t had any workplace safety training, it is now up to the employer to ensure they receive it prior to commencing work – often at the employers expense.

For employers, the easy way around paying for workplace safety training is to only employ those individuals who have already completed some form of heavy equipment safety training. As a prospective heavy equipment student, the obvious course is to select a training organization that offers heavy equipment safety. Choose the right training organization, and your training should be to national standards. This means you don’t have to redo any training should you move interstate, or if you are coming from interstate to undertake training.

ATS has a number of training schools in a wide range of locations, each offering training in either truck driving, crane operations or heavy equipment operations – some of our schools will offer all three. Workplace safety is included in all training programs as part of the nationally accredited training program. It is not an expensive added extra – or expensive compulsory extra.

For heavy equipment, our training programs run for three weeks and includes both in-class and in-the-cab training. Heavy equipment training is not restricted to the classroom, it includes in-cab tuition and observations making the operator aware of everything that is happening around them. Heavy equipment training is designed to make the workplace safer for everyone, the operator included.