When most people think of heavy equipment, they think about the typical machines seen at a normal construction site. Some of these items might include cranes, bulldozers and backhoes, but there are some pieces of heavy equipment most people will never have the opportunity to see. One of these monster machines is the Rock Truck. These monstrosities are used on large construction sites, in mining operations and on other work sites that require the transport of a lot of material or very large materials. Here is a video of a rock truck in action:

Much like a dump truck, the rock truck is used in moving around dirt or rocks and to dump the load in a particular area. The main difference between a normal dump truck and a rock truck is their size. The rock truck is manufactured to carry usually between 100 and 300 tons of material. These mammoth vehicles are used extensively off the road because their enormous weight would damage the roads as they passed over them. This actually results in another issue: How are these humongous trucks transported? The answer to that question would be that they actually need to be disassembled into manageable pieces to be moved off the site to ensure no damage is done to the roads.

Due to the size and power of these monster trucks, additional training and certification needs to be performed prior to a heavy equipment operator being able to drive a rock truck. This training will include classroom work as well as behind the wheel hands on training. The heavy equipment operator will need to prove he can handle the rock truck on rough terrain. This rock truck training can truly add another dimension to any heavy equipment operator’s resume.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools have 10 training locations spread around the nation. Each training school offers heavy equipment training in a variety of equipment. Each training school is different and the range of equipment available at each one may vary.

Heavy equipment covers a very broad range of equipment. Small skid steer loaders are considered heavy equipment and the range goes up to include some of the super machinery used in mining. It is impossible to offer training in every type of machinery, however, by providing a cross section of equipment in training, students gain skills in the most common types in use. This equipment may include:

• Backhoes
• Wheel loaders
• Scrapers
• Excavators
• Bulldozers
• Road graders
• Rock trucks
• Skid Steers and
• All-Terrain Forklifts

Many of the skills are interchangeable to a certain extent. What most people don’t realize is that heavy equipment operation involves many different skills. For example, hand-eye coordination is important in most jobs. However, for some heavy equipment your hands may be going in different directions. A good example is an excavator where one hand is perhaps pushing the boom out, the other hand is opening the bucket to release the contents while the feet are controlling the swing of the entire unit. This coordination is a skill that is transferable to other machinery, even if the controls are unfamiliar at first.

If you are looking at a career in heavy equipment then ATS could be a smart choice when it comes to heavy equipment training. The wide range of equipment means you will gain a good grounding of skills. Add to this the in-class training in areas such as safety, soils and site layouts and you have the complete training package.

When most people talk about heavy equipment careers the mind conjures up images of a bulldozer, grader or perhaps an excavator. They are no doubt the big three when it comes to heavy equipment, but there is a range of other equipment that also provides for interesting and well paid careers. This equipment includes:

• backhoes,
• wheel loaders,
• scrapers,
• rock trucks,
• Skid Steers, and
• All-Terrain Forklifts.

And that is just a short list. We talk a lot about backhoes and occasionally about wheel loaders but Skid Steers, All-Terrain Forklifts, scrapers and rock trucks rarely get a mention. These machines provide valuable service in their niche and without them, we would have to resort to using hand tools of some description. Take the all-terrain forklift. This vehicle is similar to a standard forklift but it can safely transport loads over different terrains. Without it, we would be forced to break loads down to much smaller sizes to move them over the rough terrain.

Scrapers of course do just that. They scrape the surface in preparation for other equipment. Rock trucks help to remove large rocks from construction sites whilst the little skid steer is able to get into tight areas to work where no other vehicle can fit. This machines all offer interesting careers. The skid steer maybe a small machine in comparison to a bulldozer, but it is still a valuable part of the heavy machinery family.

One of the benefits of training through ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools is that students are introduced to a range of machinery. This provides each student with a broad set of skills and a better insight into how each piece of equipment fits into a construction team. Heavy equipment careers don’t sit solely with the big three – there are many other options available for you to look at.