Some folks have been playing video games where they “operate” heavy equipment to build their own house or create a town. Others point to actual high-tech simulators built by manufacturers of heavy equipment for training purposes and wonder if it’s the same thing as the video game, only more expensive. Then there’s the old-fashioned guys saying, “ya gotta learn it by the seat of yer pants or it ain’t gonna work.”

The truth about simulators?

Well, a video game is going to be like a video game. You will get some head knowledge if it is created to be educational, and it has a value in that way. It’s also fun. If you like big machinery of course a game where you use it will be fun. But it won’t give you a sense of what you are actually doing when you get in the seat of that grader or backhoe.

Simulators built by the manufacturer are designed for training to use a specific type of equipment. You will be sitting at controls like the crane or whatever and be looking at a screen that shows you the effects of what you are doing with those controls. Some even will have a few effects like seat tilting. They are not designed to be entertainment; they are designed to be a safe and effective way to begin the training process so your mistakes don’t have real-life consequences.

In-the-seat training is best done after you have a good idea of what you are doing, just like it’s a good idea to know a lot about driving before you get on the road. And, like driving a car, you develop reactions that become automatic as you spend time in real life doing it. It takes time and experience out in the weather, in the seat, to really get the hang of operating heavy equipment.

At ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School, we make sure you are ready to be in the seat before you are expected to operate big machinery. Then you get that in-the-seat experience which only comes from operating many kinds of machinery in real life, and that gets you trained and certified to be a valuable employee worth hiring.

If you watch enough television or go to the movies, you are bound to have seen airplane flight simulators, but what about grader operators and other heavy equipment? They are around in various stages of technical design. Some are reasonably good, some are just plain terrible. What they all lack is the fresh air and the dirt under your feet. Sure, I could get a simulator, throw a bucket of dirt on the floor and put on the air conditioner, but it still isn’t the same.

Nothing will ever beat actually getting into a grader and working it over real dirt. Simulators can copy the effects quite well, but they are, well, simulations. The real thing brings with it real time problems, real rocks, and real people working around you. Simulations can take the reality out of the learning and turn it into a game.

Here at ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools we are proud to use real graders with real dirt. You learn to operate a grader with your hands on the controls, not you looking over an instructor’s shoulder as they do it all. You get to walk in the dirt and assess what type of soil it is, how hard packed it is, and how best to approach the job. Simulators can only go so far; you cannot bend down, pick up the dirt and look at it in a simulator.

If you’re interested in a career as a grader operator, or as an operator of heavy equipment in general, contact us at ATS and we will be happy to discuss what training options are available for you – using a real grader, not a simulator.