Summer is over and it may only be Fall, but that means winter is not far off and with winter comes snow. Heavy equipment operators should now be preparing their equipment for snow clearing and part of that preparation will include examining what heavy equipment technology is now available for their machinery.

There are now more than 50 snow removal attachments, with the list including snow blowers, blades, buckets and pushers. The equipment used in snow removal ranges from the small skid steer loaders upwards to include graders, bulldozers and even trucks fitted with snow clearing blades. Each does a job and each can be more effective than the others under different circumstances.

It’s not unusual to see two or three vehicles working together to clear snow covered highways or airport runways. When these vehicles work together, they clear a runway, for instance, extremehttp://www.heavyequipmentschool.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1616ly quickly. It is generally the larger bulldozers using a range of heavy equipment technology that work as part of team to clear these large areas.

Snow clearing starts well before the snow falls, particularly in areas that require difficult access. These include mountain roads and trails. By working on these roads now the operators ensure easy access when snow clearing is required. Their work won’t end at the end of winter either. Once the snows melt the roads often need to be leveled again with pot holes filled. It’s a non stop year-round job.

Heavy equipment technology has been improving snow clearing attachments to make snow clearing quick and effective. This ensures that access is available along most roads and highways even through the toughest winters. If you want to be a part of this winter exercise then now is the time to get your heavy equipment training started. Winter is not that far off – get the skills now ready for the big chill.

There is one job that is a real challenge to bulldozer operators and that is the work involved with wildfires. The wildfire itself is a danger. With flying embers everywhere, bulldozer operators try to create firebreaks – wide areas cleared of any fuel – in the hope it will stop, or at least slow the wildfire.

Firefighters have to be amongst the toughest workers around and bulldozer operators are right up alongside them when it comes to fighting fires. The recent California wildfires saw heavy equipment operators alongside firefighters trying to save properties and trying to prevent loss of life. It’s not just during wildfires that bulldozers work to prevent property damage.

In the cooler months, it is the bulldozer operators that are at work constantly trying to keep fire breaks and fire trails open. If vegetation overgrows either of these two, there can be real problems. Fire trails allow access to firefighting vehicles in the event of an outbreak. If the fire trail is overgrown – there is no access, which means firefighters cannot fight the fires. Keeping them clear and open is essential.

Fire breaks work a little differently. They are often used to access deep into timbered areas, however, their main role is to put a wide break in the amount of fuel that is available on the ground. Fires can and do jump fire breaks, but generally speaking, fire breaks do slow down a wild fire giving firefighters a chance of gaining the upper hand.

Do you have what it takes to operate a bulldozer with wild fires burning all around you? If so, a career as a bulldozer operator may be for you. Heavy equipment training includes learning how to operate a bulldozer. If you’re ready for the challenge – train now and gain the skills before next year’s wildfires begin.

One of the biggest obstacles to taking up heavy equipment training is money – or the lack thereof. It doesn’t have to be a problem as there are a range of options available to help you fund your training. There are some individuals who may qualify for ‘free’ training – these are the ones that meet certain guidelines. If you’re out of work at present, it may pay to check on what criteria is required to have the government pay for some or all of your training. Some of these grants include:

• Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
• Department of Workforce Development
• Trade Adjustment Act (TAA)
• Displaced Workers
• Displaced Farmers
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Tribal Education (BIA)
• Veteran’s Benefits (VA)

If you are not covered by a government grant, there are other options. You can either seek out private finance through one of the many financial institutions that are around, or you can fill in one of our online application forms and we may be able to help you with finance.

Heavy equipment training does cost. Not a fortune, but it is not dirt cheap either. It is a significant investment on your part in both time and money. However, the rewards you gain on completion far outweigh any of the costs. In fact, you should be able to pay back any education loans fairly soon after starting work.

The cost of your training is an investment. However, fully trained heavy equipment operators are well paid – the investment soon pays off. If you are keen to get a start in the industry, but money has been holding you back, talk to us – if you don’t ask, you will never know what financial aid could be available.

You may not be aware of it but if you have a local football stadium, hockey fields or even soccer grounds then you can be sure a motor grader has had an integral role in the creation of those playing areas. In fact, when you look around at most recreation centers, if they are flat, or built on a flat piece of ground, then a motor grader had a role.

These days, the motor grader can do almost all the work involved in creating sporting grounds. From carving out the top of native soil to smoothing and leveling the base materials used. Sports such as hockey use an artificial surface, a form of synthetic grass, to play on. These artificial surfaces require perfectly flat terrain before they can be laid. Motor graders, particularly those equipped with laser guidance and/or GPS systems are capable of preparing a flat and even surface of the size required.

Of course, as a grader operator you won’t be working on sports grounds too often unless you’re employed by a professional sports ground construction business. However, this is one example of the variety of work that grader operators do on a regular basis.

What professional grader operators do have in common is a background that includes a heavy equipment operator training through an accredited training organization. This ensures their training credentials are recognized throughout the nation and that the training has been designed to meet a minimum set of standards. Fancy working on the next major football stadium, perhaps an Olympic stadium? If so, start your training now – you won’t regret it.

You may wonder what a search engine like Google and heavy equipment job placement have in common. Not a lot really, except one: Google, is becoming a fairly reliable tool when it comes to trends and statistics.

As a predictor of the economy, a lot of experts are now taking note of what is happening within the search engines. It makes sense too. At present, Google is reporting a drop in the number of searches related to finding employment. That is one area that does relate to job placement. If job searches are down it may indicate a drop in competitiveness in job applications – in other words, if a heavy equipment operator vacancy is advertised, there will be fewer applicants for the position.

There is a second more important set of statistics that is coming out of Google and these stats really do relate to construction in general and to heavy equipment operations by association. Google has reported a marked increase in real estate and property searches. They have also reported an increase in searches related to building new properties.

If you put these figures together, a drop in the number of people looking for work and an increase in the demand for new buildings, there is only one conclusion – opportunities for new heavy equipment operators will steadily increase. We already have the situation where many states are fast tracking construction projects. This has already started to put a strain on heavy equipment operator numbers. If Google’s statistics are right, we are going to see an increase in new home building which will, over time, lead to a severe shortage of heavy equipment operators.

For anyone looking for a change of career, completing a heavy equipment operator training program now could see them perfectly placed to advantage of this shortfall. There are good careers awaiting those who act now, job placement is getting easier – just ask Google – the new world economic trend statistician.

If you were to place a bulldozer and road grader side-by-side you would have to admit they were completely different machines. About the only similarity between the two is they both have blades. The bulldozer’s blade is front and center whilst the road grader’s blade is somewhat smaller in height, often wider, and slung under the machine. Looking at them, you would imagine they would do completely different types of work.

That was true several years ago. The bulldozer was the ‘bull’ of a construction site. Its job was to virtually tear everything up and leave the area relatively flat. The grader’s job was then to come in and do all the fine work to exact measurements.

As Bob Dylan once sang, ‘times they are a changing’. With the inception of modern technology such as GPS and laser leveling, bulldozers can now do many of the tasks often left to the road graders. Modern technology can now do wonders – in this case, taking a big powerful brute of a machine and turning it into a gentle machine that do a lot of the fine tuning once the domain of a road grader.

This doesn’t mean that road graders are now defunct. One of the reasons that laser leveling was introduced was to ease the load on road graders. They can now be left to perform the final finishing touches to a new road – the real ‘grading’ needed before the hard surface is laid.

What does this mean when it comes to employment opportunities and training? First, it reinforces the need to undertake training that includes experience on a variety of equipment. Secondly, it lifts the skill levels of operators. Bulldozer operators need to learn to use laser leveling and the art of grading using a dozer blade, whilst road grader operators need to hone their skills in the area of fine or finishing grading. It all comes back to training. Your heavy equipment training should include experience on both bulldozers and road graders – that will set you up to perform either role with ease.

Heavy equipment safety is at the forefront of all training these days and with just cause. Over the years there have been hundreds of deaths or serious injuries caused by heavy equipment. In most cases, it is not the operator who is injured, it is those working around the equipment.

Of course, not all accidents can be attributed to the heavy equipment operator. After all, no one is psychic. Yet, with a little common sense, many accidents could have been avoided. No one can teach ‘common sense’, however, you can be trained in basic safety aspects when using heavy equipment. There are common situations that every operator can adhere to.

Safety starts with knowing your equipment and its limitations. It also includes knowing your own limitations. Once you get to know your equipment, you will sense when things are ‘not quite right’. Believe it or not, many accidents are caused, not by operational errors, but by equipment failures. Knowing your equipment can help you assess whether or not it is safe to operate.

This is where common sense can play a big role. A walk-around inspection prior to starting a job is the first task. Common sense should dictate that if something doesn’t quite look right, it should be looked at more thoroughly by an inspector. For example, a mechanic. The same is true if things don’t ‘feel right’ whilst operating the equipment.

Safety is important in the workplace now. There is a lot equipment being used at once. There are often a lot of people either working in the same area, or passing by. When enrolling in a heavy equipment training course, you can now expect to receive intense training in heavy equipment training. Employers expect it, the government insists on it, and your work colleagues rely on it.

Going to a heavy equipment training school to undertake excavator training can provide you with a really good skills base. However, once you get out into the workplace, your training continues. Learning by doing is certainly one of the best options, however, sitting back and just watching the experienced operators at work can be a big lesson in itself.

It’s not restricted to excavators either. Just watch the experienced hands at work on bulldozers, graders or any other heavy equipment. The reason I picked on excavators today is because I took a little time yesterday to watch an excavator at work. They may be large cumbersome beasts, but there are a few little tricks that some operators pick up with experience.

The excavator I was watching had almost finished digging a large trench. It had about 10 feet left but was really cramped for any room to move. It certainly had difficulties extending its arm. One option was to send the excavator home and get either a smaller unit in or perhaps a backhoe. Of course, that takes time and you know what they say, ‘time is money’.

Here is where the experience of the operator came to the fore. He set about building a mound, only five or six feet high. Once completed, he navigated his excavator to the top of the mound. From an increased height of only five or six feet, he had the extra room to extend the excavator’s arm and complete the trench, the last part being only a few feet in front of the mound he had built. Where it would have taken a couple of hours to swap equipment, he had the job completed.

Of course, without a solid training base you will never come to appreciate the little tips that experienced operators can demonstrate. Excavator training by a quality heavy equipment training organization is a must if you ever hope to be in a position where your experience can be passed on to the next generation. You have to get the basics right before you can learn the more advanced processes.

That is the call I am seeing these days – not experienced bulldozer operators – no, they are asking for reliable bulldozer operators. One of the problems many construction crews are now finding is a general approach of apathy when it come to travel. With a lot of highway construction being undertaken now, there are times when operators need to travel 40-50 minutes to get to the construction site.

Because of this apathy to travel, employers are looking for operators that are reliable. If the job is forty miles down the highway and work starts at 6am, you’re there, on time, every day that you’re required. Are you reliable or do you fit into the ‘apathy’ class? If you’re reliable, there is work available and it’s increasing by the day.

Some argue that the cost of gas is making this sort of work uneconomical. However, smart crews are car pooling to share expenses. There are employers around that provide transport to and from these sites, it’s just a matter of being at the construction yard on time to take advantage of that transport.

If you fit into the reliable class but don’t have any bulldozer operator training, that’s easily fixed. Heavy equipment training programs can have you in the workplace operating a bulldozer within a month of starting the training program. Read that carefully, within a month of starting, not within a month of completing.

The opportunities are there. If you’re reliable, keen to learn and willing to undertake a few weeks of intense training, both in a classroom and behind the wheel, then you can take advantage of these opportunities. The work is there – will you be?

Financial aid comes in many formats, one being that of a career loan. There are many financial institutions that approve career loans, but what are they exactly?SallieMae has a good definition for their career loans:

The Career Training Loan is a private, credit-based student loan for technical training or trade school, online courses, and other education programs.

Now that is fairly broad. It’s a loan so you would assume it is credit based. The type of training providing under a career loan is fairly broad as well. SallieMae goes on to say:

The institution you are attending must be licensed or accredited by the department of education in the states where they do business.

Now you have a more definitive answer. It is not so much the type of training you do as it is who provides the training. If the training organization is licensed in the state where you are going to do the training then there is a reasonable assumption that a career loan could be available. There are of course other factors such as credit worthiness to be taken into consideration.

To put this into some sort of perspective, ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is registered in 18 states. They are also currently certified as an eligible training provider under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in most states.

If you are seeking a career loan for heavy equipment training, your first step should be to talk to one of the staff members at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools. Alternatively, you could fill in one of their online financial assistance for heavy equipment training application forms.