Backhoes Are Out Of The Construction Yards Ready For The Silly Season

Christmas can be a lot of fun for many people, especially children. Heavy equipment operators, crane operators and truck drivers often get in on the act as well, playing their roll in bringing joy to tens of thousands. Every town seems to have a Christmas parade of some description, and truck drivers are often busy driving floats, for the lucky few, driving the truck that has Santa in his festive seat. Backhoes are interesting additions to many parades, their peculiar shape offering a lot of opportunities for those with a little imagination.

Backhoes are those machines you see in construction sites that look a little like a scorpion ready to strike. The ‘hoe’ part of the vehicle can often be dressed for a variety of effects while the loader at the front makes a great ‘mouth’, especially with a few well painted teeth added. Being wheeled vehicles, they operate over roads with ease and they are generally not as loud as other heavy equipment.

Of course, truck drivers and backhoes are not the only heavy equipment to make it into a Christmas parade. Front loaders are also popular – last year we witnessed a front loader following Santa’s truck, with the loader proudly carrying all the gifts that were to be handed out to children. It was certainly a different role to that normally undertaken by its operator.

Heavy equipment operators are only selected to appear in parades if they are well experienced and have safe working histories. Heavy equipment is dangerous, and parades are very dangerous areas, especially where excitable children are present – and after all, that’s normally why we have parades, to amuse the children (or the child in us).

In order to participate in a parade like those we see at Christmas, heavy equipment operators need to good skills, the kind of skills that are developed after a good heavy equipment training program. We can’t promise you’ll ever appear in a parade, but we can promise to deliver the best heavy equipment training in the country, and that’s a good start.