There are many people who look at motor graders driving up and down a stretch of what will soon be a road or highway and think, “that looks so easy.” In a way, for an experienced operator, it is. However, it takes good basic training and a lot of experience before you can say “it’s easy.” The reality is, a motor grader’s job is quite involved and it certainly involves more than just “driving up and down.”

Part of the training that is essential to motor graders is the theoretical, or classroom-based, training. This covers subjects such as:

• grade reading
• grade stakes
• laser levels
• site plans
• site layout
• soils and
• safety

Being able to read site plans is important since a grader operator’s role is to work to precise measurements. This brings in skills such as grade reading and laser levels. If you think about a stretch of road, particularly highways, they are not completely flat. They built with a small amount of slope to them – this is to enable water to flow from the center to either side rather than just pooling in the middle of the road. Corners have a camber to them that makes them safer to drive on at highway speeds.

It takes a lot of skill to get these slopes and cambers just right and that comes back to a grader operator’s ability to read plans, and to work to those precise measurements. Training followed by on-the-job experience is the only reliable way to build these skills. Being a grader operator is not as easy as some people may think. However, with the right heavy equipment training behind you, it’s not that difficult either.

I am noticing a steady increase in the number of vacancies for motor grader operators these days. In fact, there is an overall increase in advertised vacancies for heavy equipment operators. I have seen several ads that read – operators required for roller, front end loader, mini excavator, street sweeper tractor (mower), motor grader, asphalt lay down machine, oil distributor and chip seal machine. Smack in the middle, hidden away was the motor grader.

The increase in demand for all heavy equipment operators is due in no part to the federal stimulus spending packages. Motor grader operators are in demand because a lot of that money is going into new roads – heavy users of motor graders.

In the past, many businesses could get away with using one or two operators across a range of equipment. They would use a bulldozer to clear the way, the motor grader to prepare the surface and a front end loader to remove the debris. At the moment, there is so much work on their books they need operators for each of these machines. They are going from two or three operators to five or six – a doubling of operator numbers.

For those who have wanted a career in heavy equipment, particularly as motor grader operators, now is the time to act. Employment numbers are forecast to rise over the the next 5-6 years and this increase in demand will start to put pressure on operator training schools. At present, you can enroll and start your training almost immediately. The same will not be true in the months to come. By this time next year, the demand may be such you will have to wait several months for the next training vacancy.

Act now and undertake your motor grader operator training. The demand is there for new operators – will you be one of them?