Bulldozers – here is some trivia for you. How did a bulldozer get its name? According to About.com,

“Around 1880, the common usage of ‘bull-dose’ in the United States meant administering a large and efficient dose of any sort of medicine or punishment. If you ‘bull-dosed’ someone, you gave him a severe whipping or coerced or intimidated him in some other way, such as by holding a gun to his head… In 1886, with a slight variation in spelling, a ‘bulldozer’ had come to mean both a large-caliber pistol and the person who wielded it… By the late 1800s, ‘bulldozing’ came to mean using brawny force to push over, or through, any obstacle.”

Technically, the term “bulldozer” only refers to the blade, not the powerhouse that pushes it around. These days we refer to the whole vehicle as a bulldozer and when they say it uses “brawny force to push over, or through, any obstacle”, they are not wrong. Pound for pound, bulldozers are one of the most powerful units of heavy equipment used and they have to be given the work they are required to do.

Because of the power and brute force required, bulldozers have long been a favorite of men (and women) of all ages. Little children start with a bulldozer in their sand pits and grow into adults playing in adult sand pits (well construction sites anyway). If you enjoyed playing with your bulldozer as a child, perhaps you should consider a career as a bulldozer operator.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can have you trained and ready for employment as a bulldozer operator in as little as three weeks. Bulldozers, they are big brutes that move mountains of earth and, just like the toys from our childhood, can be fun to work with. Contact us for more information on our heavy equipment training programs – you too could be a bulldozer operator.

With spring in the air, and on everyone’s footsteps, gardens everywhere are coming into bloom. At the same time, landscapers with their skid steer loaders are out preparing new gardens or rebuilding those that suffered through winter. Often considered toys, these small machines enable landscaping crews to complete jobs in a fraction of the time taken to do the job by hand.

Skid steer loaders are well suited to these smaller jobs, or jobs that need to be done in small areas. Driveways, new patios, areas that need re-turfing and of course large scale garden beds are areas where these little loaders work well. What most people don’t realize is that the skills required to operate a skid steer loader are similar to those required to operate larger heavy equipment. Similar but not the same.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools, many of our heavy equipment operator training programs include skid steer loader training. These mini loaders have a steering system that can see them turn 180 on the spot – similar to bulldozers and other tracked equipment. However, their bucket operations are very similar to that of a conventional loader.

Training on this equipment then is the perfect companion for those wanting to enter the heavy equipment industry. When work for larger machinery like loaders, bulldozers or backhoes is a little quiet, you can always find work with smaller equipment like the skid steer loader.

You can become proficient in a wide range of heavy equipment including skid steers in as little as three weeks through ATS – if this is a career option for you – contact us for more information.

If you’re a heavy equipment operator, or perhaps someone looking to move into the field of heavy equipment operations, you can undertake a GPS training program that adds these skills to your personal toolbox. GPS – or Global Positioning System, has been around for a long time in cars and other modes of transport. Airlines are now switching to GPS rather than radar when working with control towers. One of the reasons for this is the precise data that GPS can provide.

Building roads, bridges and tunnels all takes precision. These days, a construction crew can start at both ends of a tunnel, bridge or road and meet precisely in the middle – all thanks to the use of GPS. Of course, the technology used is the same as that used in vehicles, the big difference being the lack of a voice telling you when to turn and which roads to take to avoid traffic snarls. Instead, the GPS unit helps to direct the operator in the use of their equipment.

GPS use is a skill that is not common at present so any operator that does undertake training gains an advantage over everyone else. This can be a real bonus when times are a little hard and work is difficult to find. It also means that people who are employed often find themselves working on projects that are more challenging than normal.

ATS offers GPS training through our Ohio training school. If you’re interested in adding specialist skills to heavy equipment skills set, contact us to discuss how GPS training can help you in your heavy equipment career.

Across the nation right now you will find hundreds of backhoe operators hard at work digging out foundations for new buildings and new homes. Backhoes are one of the key tools used by builders to prepare the way for their construction gangs. When you think about it, backhoes are perfect for the job. They can clear the area using their front scoop then turn around and use their buckets to dig the required trenches.

Backhoe operators have one of the most varied jobs out of all the heavy equipment operators. They need to be able to work as a loader operator using the scoop and then turn around in their seat and to start working as an excavator operator. Like excavators, backhoes come with a range of attachments that can be used for all sorts of jobs.

Heavy equipment training through ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools prepares students for work as backhoe operators. Not only do you gain experience and training using a backhoe, you also gain experience and training using front end loaders, excavators and bulldozers and that is just to name a few. This provides graduates with a broad range of skills and for backhoe operators, prepares the well for the workplace.

If you are looking for a change of pace, a change in careers, and to get out into the great outdoors then a career as a heavy equipment operator could be just the ticket. Training only requires three weeks of your time – three weeks that will set you on the path to a brand new career.

Heavy equipment safety is important these days and as the title suggests, it does keep you employed. However, that can seen from a couple of different angles – the employers, the governments and from the employee’s perspective.

Employers and Heavy Equipment Safety

Employers are now recognizing many of the benefits of workplace safety, particularly when it comes to heavy equipment safety. Accidents cause stoppages and stoppages cost money. That’s the bottom line for big business – money. Of course, accidents cause damage, which is another cost and could result in fines from government agencies – more money. However, stoppages also affect a businesses reputation. If they cannot complete projects on time, they will soon find that contracts are hard to come by. Are employers interested in heavy equipment safety? If they care about their bottom line they most definitely do, so these days they only employ those that have had the training.

Governments and Heavy Equipment Safety

Governments have a particular interest in heavy equipment safety for a number of reasons. Pressure, particularly from lobby groups, always raises its head whenever there is a workplace incident that costs lives. Governments also see it as their duty to interfere wherever possible (in this case with positive results) so having employers work to certain regulations, and then fining them when they fail, is the result. I may sound a little cynical, but governments never seem to act until there is an incident. However, all that aside, there are strict regulations in place that do include safety training. Fail to meet those regulations and the fines can be huge. In some states, allowing a worker on site who hasn’t completed an accredited workplace safety training program is illegal.

Heavy Equipment Safety and the Operator

I could put this very simply – heavy equipment safety training helps to keep you safe and alive. If you’re injured or dead, you won’t be employed. It does go beyond this, however. If you enter a worksite with no workplace safety training and your negligence results in serious injury or death of another, there is no guarantee you won’t face criminal charges. Workplace health and safety is serious business these days so don’t ignore it if you want to keep your job.

The bottom line is very simple. When undertaking a heavy equipment training program, be sure it is accredited and includes workplace safety components. ATS has long been an advocate of safe workplaces. Our heavy equipment training programs all include workplace safety components designed to ensure you can not only secure a job, but also ensure you can keep your job.

Excavators used be rather boring machines. Their role predominantly was to dig trenches for pipelines and there is nothing worse than doing the same thing day after day. Today’s excavators are very different to those old machines and a career as an excavator operator can be rather interesting.

Don’t get me wrong, an excavator’s main job is still to dig trenches. However, with new tools that can be attached to an excavator, there can many different tasks. I recently saw video footage of an excavator with a grabber attached – these are like a three fingered hand that opens and shut. The excavator tore apart a recently retired war plane. Within an hour, that plane had been reduced to a pile of scrap. By the way, I am not talking about a small fighter, I am talking about a large reinforced army transporter.

That is the power that an excavator operator has at their disposal. Imagine what sort of damage it could do as part of a demolition team, or breaking up concrete or rock! The range off attachments is broad and includes augers and jack hammers, just to name a few.

To be a successful excavator operator you need two components. You need good solid training in the basics that then provides a platform to build on. You then need a job where you can develop those skills and learn the intricacies of some the attachments.

We at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can help you to lay that solid platform to build on. Our heavy equipment training is comprehensive and undertaken over three weeks. This includes both in the cab and in the classroom training. As for a job, there is plenty of work available for heavy equipment operators at present. When you start your training, consult our career services department for advice on how and where to apply for that first job – we are all there to help you start your career.

Grader operators are amongst the best paid when it comes to heavy equipment operators. Their average pay checks are ahead of excavator operators with bulldozer operators coming in third. All three work in positions that demand a high level of precision when it comes to a finished job. Grader operators are probably recognized as having a tougher task when it comes to precision earth moving and that is reflected in their pay checks.

Wages for grader operators can be anything from $30,000 to $80,000 depending on the skills, years of experience, job requirements and job location. Excavator operators have an earning potential of between $30,000 and $70,000, again dependent on those attributes. However, excavator operators that advance to the giant mining excavators can earn even more.

For a career that starts with just three weeks of training, you have to admit those wages are a fairly good return on your investment. When looking at fees for career courses, that is how you should assess them – they are an investment (along with your time) and like all investments, you need to look at the return. I don’t know many investments that could return those dividends.

ATS Heavy Equipment Training Schools provide heavy equipment training that encompasses graders, excavators and bulldozers along with several other units of heavy equipment. Our courses are conducted over a three week period and include behind the controls and classroom instruction. Our aim is to have you ready to enter the workforce at the end of that three week training period. With potential earnings of over 50k, you must admit the return on your investment could be well worth the effort.

Bulldozers are fairly straightforward units of heavy equipment and an operator can be effective with fairly basic skill levels. However, being a competent operator goes beyond knowing which levers to push or pull and when – there are many others factors that are required. If you undertake a heavy equipment training program through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools, you can expect to learn how to operate:

• backhoes
• wheel loaders
• scrapers
• excavators
• bulldozers
• road graders
• rock trucks
• Skid Steers, and
• All-Terrain Forklifts

As you can see, bulldozers are included in the range of heavy equipment that you can learn to operate. This gives you more variety when it comes to employment opportunities in the future. Operating skills are only one part of what is needed to become an effective operator. Other skills required include:

• the ability to read and assess grades
• ability to use laser levels
• knowledge of different soils and soil structures
• understand and work to safety guidelines
• ability to read and understand site layouts
• knowledge and ability to carry out basic heavy equipment maintenance

These complementary skills are what separates average operators and good operators. This is particularly true of bulldozer operators who are often required to work on a construction site when it is still virgin bushland. Reading plans, understanding the soil, and working to a site plan are essential to achieving a finish ready for construction. Good operators will get the job done on time and leave a ‘clean’ building site. Cowboy operators will tear the area up but often leave it ‘dirty’ – by ‘dirty’ I mean an uneven finish with huge gouge marks and little piles of dirt everywhere.

If you want to be a bulldozer operator, or any type of heavy equipment operator, make sure you undertake your heavy equipment training through an accredited training body like ATS – you are then assured of quality training that prepares you for the workplace.

One of the benefits of undergoing heavy equipment training for machinery like backhoes is that it doesn’t discriminate on age, gender or ethnicity. What determines a good operator is skill. Of course, like all jobs, there are other attributes such as commitment, punctuality and reliability that are important. But skill is the most important attribute of them all.

When it comes to age, there are few barriers. In the workplace, the minimum age is 18 to work as a heavy equipment operator and here at ATS, our minimum age to enroll in a heavy equipment training program is 18. Maximum age? So long as you can pass a medical test, have good eyesight and hearing and can operate all the pedals and levers – there is no upper limit. Employers may balk a little at employing a ninety year old, but then again, if the operator is healthy and good at his job then age shouldn’t factor into the equation.

Backhoes are a popular starting point for many new operators. They can be tricky to begin with but it doesn’t take long to become proficient. The real tricky situations arise when it comes time to use one of the many attachments that can be fitted. Over the years we have also seen many women entering the field as heavy equipment operators. Bulldozers, backhoes and excavators are always popular equipment to gain a start in.

If you have recently left school, or perhaps in mid life and just been made redundant, you could consider a career as a heavy equipment operator. The pay is reasonably good, the conditions are good and, at present, jobs are available. Whether it is backhoes, bulldozers or any other unit of heavy equipment, age is not a barrier to most people – and that most likely includes you!

We often discuss some of the more unusual jobs that heavy equipment operators can be called upon to do at times. Excavators have a role that is important in our society, a role that most of us will require at some stage, yet a role we will not care about at the time. I am of course talking about our final resting place. Mini excavators are often the equipment of choice these days when it comes to digging burial plots.

It’s not a subject we all want to discuss – but then, it is a job that is required in our society and someone has to do it. If you have ever seen an empty burial plot, you will be struck by how precise they can be. Rectangular, straight walls and perfect corners. That actually takes precision work by a skilled operator to achieve that finish – skills that can take quite some time to fully develop.

When developing any skills in life, the end result will almost always depend on the platform that you are building those skills on. If your original training has been poor then no matter how much practice and experience you get, you are only reinforcing a poor skill set and bad habits. Quality training provides a solid platform from which you can build skills to a high level.

Employers know this already. When looking at resumes, or interviewing applicants for a vacancy, one of the questions they want answered is ‘where you did your training’. If your heavy equipment training provider has a poor reputation you can forget the job. If your training provider has a good reputation then your chances of securing the job increase dramatically.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have a solid reputation for delivering good quality operators that are ready for the workplace. Excavators get some of the interesting jobs – like digging burial plots. Are you interested in becoming an excavator operator? Contact us if you are.