As August rolls in there is one thing we know, winter is not that far away. Before you know it many of us will be knee deep in snow and grateful for the grader operators that are at least keeping our roads open. I also know one other thing, come winter, many areas will be calling for grader operators. It will be too late to start your training then, you have to prepare now for when that demand starts.

The counties in the north west are particularly vulnerable to road closures due to snow with most counties employing teams of grader operators to clear the roads. John Deere is one business that recognizes the importance of graders producing machines that specialize in snow clearing.

To be employed as a grader operator often required two things: recognized grader training and some experience in the field – not necessarily in snow, although it helps. By undertaking your grader training now, you will leave yourself with plenty of time to gain on-the-job experience operating a motor grader. There are ample opportunities in construction and road maintenance for new operators to gain experience – all that is missing is the training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can fill in that missing piece providing quality training in heavy equipment including motor graders. Many of our schools have motor graders – it’s simply a matter of contacting us to find out which school is closest to you.

You may think that work pushing snow is only limited to the coldest months of the year. That’s not true. Come the end of winter, demand for grader operators often increases as roads that were packed with snow during winter are cleared. This generally happens in spring as it all starts to melt and opens up roads previously only accessed by snowmobiles. In many cases, roads then need grading to repair the damage caused by ice and cold water. Graders can be in demand in some areas for up to five months each year with ongoing work then in highway construction and maintenance. The winter is calling – are you going to be one of our snow clearing grader operators?

There is a lot more to driving a dump truck than often meets the eye. One thing is for sure – a dump truck driver is not your average truck driver. Granted, a dump truck driver does need to know how to drive a truck. They do need to know the road rules and meet all the requirements of a general truck driver. It just doesn’t stop there.

If you consider the role of a dump truck driver, they are required to drive from point A to point B with a load, and dump it. Okay you say, a dump truck driver also needs to know how to operate the dump mechanism that tips the tray to dump the load. Whilst this is true, many dump truck drivers need added skills.

One of the most important skills that a dump truck driver requires is the ability to spread a load over a distance. This could be gravel that is evenly spread over a 100 yard stretch of newly formed road. You may have seen these drivers. They start the tilt on the dumper whilst driving at an even speed. The load is spread as the truck moves forward. The skill is knowing how fast to drive and how far to tip the tray.

These skills are developed during your training but it is on the job experience that hones those skills. In the hands of an expert dumper, that load of gravel can spread to the point it looks like a grader has gone over it to smooth it out.

Whilst dump truck driving is a specialist area of truck driving, undertaking truck driver training provides you with the skills and licensing that can open the doors to a wide variety of trucking jobs. These may be long distance haulage or local deliveries; hauling heavy equipment or driving that dumper. Either way, you will have a skill for life and a qualification that can provide employment nationwide.

There are times when a heavy equipment operator cannot work during daylight hours, they are forced to work at night due to a variety of reasons. One of the prime reasons is simply access.

Virginia is a prime example. The state is only 430 miles long by 200 miles wide, the 35th in size, and yet it has the third largest highway system in the country. You would think with all that highway that traffic would not be a problem – but it is. It is a big problem for road construction crews. The highways are so busy that any highway work cannot be done during the day – it can only be done overnight when the traffic has thinned out a little and is more controllable.

Is working overnight a big problem? Many construction workers prefer it, particularly in summer when the nights are cooler and working conditions a lot easier – of course, winter is then a different story. Heavy equipment operators at least have the comfort of their cabs.

Overnight road building is not restricted to one or two pieces of equipment. The whole range is in use from bulldozer through to excavators, loaders, graders and dump trucks. This is particularly true on roads where the old seal is being pulled up, the ground reworked ready for resealing. Other jobs include highway straightening where large bends are bypassed, on/off ramp construction and bridge repairs or rebuilding.

Working as a heavy equipment operator is a challenging and yet rewarding career. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools deliver accredited training on a wide variety of heavy equipment and provide the heavy equipment industry with well trained and work ready graduates. If you are ready to be one of those work ready graduates then contact us through our website for information on your heavy equipment training options.