Working as a heavy machine operator is a varied career, every new site or project is different, not just in surroundings, but the machines that you can be operating. When we think about the different machines that are found in today’s industry, there are huge differences in size and ability, but what do they all do?

Skid Steers

Although they come in several sizes, skid steer loaders are some of the smaller machines you regularly see on sites. Extremely popular, these multi-use machines are primarily used for loading material onto trucks, with the bucket able to be lifted high over the operator’s cab. Today there are dozens of attachments available for these machines, including forklifts, planers, augers, and so on, meaning that these small but versatile machines are found on nearly every site you will visit today. For rough or muddy conditions, you will often see tracked versions, the track loader, used in similar ways.

Excavators

Whether a standard, large excavator, or the smaller compact type, excavators, or track-hoes, are perhaps the most recognizable heavy machinery around, and on most sites, a full-size excavator will be one of the largest machines in use. With its long arm and bucket, the tracked vehicle is designed to lift or dig material, and transport it to another point, be that a different area or loaded onto a truck. The tracks provide traction that makes them really suitable for rough terrain, and you will often find these machines fitted with tree shears or specialized grapples for removing trees on logging sites. The smaller, mini machines are very popular for small construction jobs, working in backyard plots or other restricted access areas.

Backhoe

Built to dig, carry and load material, the backhoe is a versatile machine common on almost any site. With a backhoe arm at the rear, essentially a smaller version of the excavator’s arm, and a loader bucket in the front, the backhoe can carry out the tasks of two other machines at once. In size, it is much bigger than the skid steer loaders and can carry larger loads, but smaller than an excavator, although this makes it more maneuverable for precise excavation work. As a do-it-all machine, a backhoe is one you will find on almost any construction site in the country.

Dozers

Tracked for the ultimate versatility in any conditions, dozers are designed to move soil or rock, by pushing it. Size depends on horsepower, some dozers can be extremely large, depending on the amount of material that is needed to be moved and the site itself. Dozers can often be fitted with extra equipment in addition to the blade at the front that is used to push the soil and rocks, with a ripper attachment at the rear used for moving rocks that are embedded into the ground, and often a winch, which can be used for removing stumps or other obstructions.

MSHA, or Mine Safety and Health Administration, certification is the proof of training or retraining within the mining industry as outlined by the Administration, which is required for various jobs within the mining industry.

The most common mining training is found under the Title 30 CFR – Part 46 regulations, which stipulates that new miners must complete a minimum of 24 hours of training in their first 90 days of employment, including 4 hours which must be completed before any new miner can work at a mine, whether they are surface miners or surface mining contractors.

In addition to that initial training, all surface miners and surface mining contractors working at a mining site are required to complete at least 8 hours of annual refresher training every year. The contents of that refresher training are also quite specific and must include changes at the mine that could adversely affect a miner’s health or safety and other health and safety subjects relevant to mining operations at the time. Other than the Part 46 courses, MSHA also has several other training initiatives, including Hazardous Chemicals, Emergency Spill Response, Electrical Hazards, and miners’ rights.

Training Requirements

MSHA training requirements do not just apply to miners themselves, but all surface mining contractors that work at a mining site. Because the regulations themselves define a miner as anyone who is engaged in “mining operations, which is:

• mine development
• drilling
• blasting
• extraction
• milling
• crushing
• screening or sizing of minerals at a mine
• maintenance and repair of equipment
• associated hauling of materials within the mine from these activities

That means heavy machinery operators and truck drivers who operate at a mining site need the MSHA certification just like the miners themselves.

Because Part 46 training is mandatory, anyone wanting to work at a surface mine has an interest in completing this course, this includes contractors and machinery operators, not only for legal compliance but to also have a good grounding in the dangers of mining sites and the safety protocols that provide workers with protection.

While those currently working at a mine must complete the MSHA training to comply with part 46 regulations, for any heavy machinery operator it can be beneficial to look into such certification for yourself, especially the 4 hours required before you can step on site. The reason for this is that it opens up another career avenue, with only qualified people being able to take on mining jobs, having that qualification in advance can help if you are looking to move into that sector.

It is no surprise the growth in construction and telecommunications throughout America has led to an increased need for directional drills to bury fiber optics, electrical lines, water pipes, sewer lines, etc. Further, the use of backhoes or excavators isn’t always practical, feasible, or economical, due to existing hazards or terrain. That leaves Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) as the most efficient option and the fastest-growing type of equipment for utilities, municipalities, contractors, and the communications industry. Associated Training Services has the knowledge, curricula, and instructional staff to deliver your organization the highest quality training for your directional drill operators.

Primary Objective:

Through a combination of classroom and field training sessions, participants will acquire the knowledge and skills required for operating a directional drill efficiently and safely.

Training Subjects:

Standard training subjects are as follows:

• HDD Safety
• General Maintenance of Equipment
• Pre-Planning
• Field Operation
• Tracking Electronics
• Drilling Fluids
• Maintenance
• Locator Equipment / Operations
• Downhole Tools

When you get your training at Associated Training Services (ATS), you increase your value as an employee. Our Heavy Equipment Operator programs are recognized by employers all over the excavation, earth-moving, and construction industries. That means graduates of ATS are already respected because they have been proven to be up to the professional standards these industries require.

Comprehensive Training Programs

Students of ATS get more than a knowledge of the machine. They learn how to read grades, use laser levels, identify soils, understand site layouts, maintain their equipment, and operate safely on the job site.

The classes use a curriculum developed by the industry and instructors have national certification. That means the standards of training have the respect of employers everywhere because ATS graduates meet the standards their insurance companies demand. It also means they get employees who know their stuff.

Multiple Types of Heavy Equipment Experience

ATS training starts out in the classroom but does not stop there. After a thorough grounding in the head knowledge you need to operate heavy equipment safely, there’s the in-the-seat operation of many types of heavy equipment.

This practical, whole-body training means ATS grads have experience with real heavy equipment. They sit in the driver’s seat of backhoes, wheel loaders, scrapers, excavators, bulldozers, graders, skid steers, articulated haul trucks, and all-terrain forklifts. They run the machines, feel the way it tilts or shudders on uneven ground, and learn to operate in the types of job sites the future holds.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Programs are the reason our graduates are more valuable to potential employers and the reason they get hired.

Heavy equipment operators are all around you, earning good money in stable careers. A few of those operators learned on the job, but there are gaps in their knowledge because they didn’t actually go through professional training. Selecting a nationally-known school like ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Programs gives you the advantage of superior safety, increased versatility, and enhanced hiring ability.

Superior Safety

The classes and materials at ATS are developed by the industry with the goal of producing operators who can do the job. Construction, earthmoving, and other heavy equipment jobs are dangerous but necessary. The job won’t get done when people are getting hurt, so it is in a company’s best interest to have workers operate in safe conditions. Professional training includes both classroom instruction and being at the controls of a variety of heavy equipment so the student is fully prepared for the job.

Increased Versatility

When you know how to operate more types of heavy equipment, you have increased versatility on the job. A site may need someone who can use a backhoe or a wheel loader. Often there are excavators, bulldozers, or graders. Being able to run these along with skid steers or all-terrain forklifts means they don’t need to hire somebody else to do it. Since grade reading, laser levels, soils, site layouts, and heavy equipment maintenance are also taught, graduates of ATS are versatile professionals able to do more than just one thing, and that increased versatility means enhanced hire ability.

Enhanced Hireability

Employers look for professionally trained heavy equipment operators because they want to profit in their business. Hiring a heavy equipment operator who only knows how to operate one type of machine and doesn’t know how to do that safely is like asking for costly accidents on the job. ATS graduates are sought after because they have the skills and knowledge employers need.

If you want a long-lasting career that pays well, try heavy equipment operations. You can learn to operate virtually any type of heavy equipment in use today on construction sites all around the world. The most popular and rewarding type of heavy equipment can be learned in one course. Here are 7 types of heavy equipment you can learn in one training class at Associated Training Services:

1. Backhoes – A backhoe is used for excavation. It consists of a bucket on the back end of an articulating boom. You’ll often see them on construction sites and are used for digging ditches and trenches. If you want bigger holes, use an excavator.
2. Wheel loaders – Wheel loaders are large pieces of equipment with bigger buckets than backhoes and are used to carry material from one end of the construction site to another. They are close cousins to front-end loaders.
3. Bulldozers – The bulldozer is the workhorse of the construction site. It consists of a large blade and is used for pushing dirt, soil, sand, rock, rubble, and other debris around the worksite. When you just want it out of the way, use a bulldozer.
4. Excavators – When you really need a big hole dug, use an excavator. See how an excavator compares with a backhoe in the video below.

1. Road graders – A road grader has a long blade on it and is used to flatten surfaces, such as gravel roads and construction sites.
2. Dump trucks – When you have a lot of dirt, soil, rock, and other substances to move, use a dump truck.
3. Skid steers – A skid steer, also called a skid steer loader, is a small piece of equipment that allows you to add different attachments to the front for hauling, moving, and lifting things. Watch this fun video of a skid steer in action.

Heavy equipment operations are one of the most rewarding careers on the planet. Don’t believe me? Here are five solid reasons you should enroll in a heavy equipment operations training course right now.

1. You’ll learn how to operate all of the most important heavy equipment you see on any job site. This includes backhoes, wheel loaders, scrapers, excavators, bulldozers, graders, skid steers, and forklifts.
2. You can acquire your mobile crane operator certificate and be one of the best-trained and paid professionals on the job site no matter where you live.
3. Heavy equipment operators with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are highly sought after and paid well above their peers on the job site. With a CDL, you’ll have the first pick in jobs because you’re flexible and able to handle the most important tasks every employer needs.
4. Riggers and signalpersons are some of the most important people on the job site. If you get your certification for rigging/signalpersons, then you can set the workflow for your company on the job site. Riggers and signalpersons are regulated by OSHA. When you meet the standard, you’ll know that you are one of the most important people on the job site.
5. Associated Training Services also trains you in the soft skills you need to find the perfect job. You learn how to prepare a resume, how to interview successfully, gain networking skills, and more. But we don’t just train you and leave you. We also give you a mentor to help you, and you get a free lifetime membership to our job board.

There are more than enough heavy equipment jobs to go around, but you have to be trained if you want to get one. From Dallas, Texas to Whitewater, Wisconsin, here are this week’s heavy equipment job listings.

• DALLAS, TX, Hiring mobile crane operators.
• KAUKAUNA, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• HARTFORD, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• BEAUMONT, TX Hiring heavy equipment operators.
• BRIDGEVILLE, PA Hiring mobile crane operators.
• DECATUR, IL Hiring mobile crane operators.
• JUNCTION CITY, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• GREEN BAY, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• HATLEY, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• CRIVITZ, WI Hiring heavy equipment operators.
• CHARLESTON, SC Hiring heavy equipment operators.
• MARATHON, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.
• ATLANTA, GA Hiring heavy equipment operators.
• SAGINAW, MI Hiring mobile crane operators.
• WHITEWATER, WI Hiring Class-A CDL truck drivers.

Do you see a trend here? Demand for Class-A CDL truck drivers is picking up. There’s also a respectable number of heavy equipment operator jobs available. You’ll see a ton more job opportunities like these at the Total Resources Network job board.

Access to Total Resources Network is free to all graduates of the Associated Training Services Heavy Equipment School. You’ll be comped a membership for life because we want you to be successful–not just today, but tomorrow too. So, sign up for the heavy equipment training class you need and get started on your rewarding heavy equipment career today. Baby Boomers are retiring. It’s time for you younger folks to step up.

If you’ve ever imagined yourself sitting high up in one of those buckets steering a backhoe or a front-end loader from one end of a construction site to another, then this post is for you. It doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. It can be a reality, starting right now. Here are five reasons you should enroll in heavy equipment training and become a member of one of the best careers in the world.

1. Heavy equipment jobs are always in demand – It’s true. As long as people are driving automobiles, there will be a need for roads and bridges. And as long as there are roads and bridges, will need heavy equipment operators. Even if there weren’t any roads and bridges, as long as people are building things — homes, schools, churches, skyscrapers — there will be a need for heavy equipment operators.
2. The pay is great – Okay, so some heavy equipment operators don’t make a lot of money starting out. But all you have to do to make yourself more in demand and to earn the best pay on the job site is to acquire multiple certifications.
3. There is room for advancement – Heavy equipment operators become job site foremen and safety officers. The opportunity is ripe for advancement within the ranks of heavy equipment operators.
4. Baby Boomers are retiring – Older members of the profession are retiring in droves, and they will continue to retire for the next 20 years. That means there is plenty of opportunities right now for younger people to start their careers in heavy equipment.
5. Heavy equipment operators are admired – Every kid in the world looks up to and admires the men and women steering these huge machines. Even many adults see the benefit of heavy equipment operators because of the high value of what they do. It’s one of the most respected professions in the world.

If you want a skill that will always be in demand and that will lead to a rewarding career, then heavy equipment operations are for you.

A lot of people who want a career in heavy equipment ask if they need to be trained or if on-the-job training (OJT) is available for heavy equipment operators. The short answer is, yes, heavy equipment operations training would be beneficial to your career. The longer answer is a bit more nuanced.

There are still some employers who offer OJT for heavy equipment operators, but not all of them. If your goal is to become a forklift operator, there are plenty of small companies that will train you and certify you on their premises. However, long-term, your career would benefit by attending a training school that is certified and that meets OSHA’s standards for training and certification.

When it comes to large heavy equipment like mobile cranes and backhoes, you are much better off seeking a career training school with a solid reputation.

Even among employers who train on-site, a lot of them use training schools like Associated Training Services to administer the training and certification programs. In that case, you are getting your training through your employer, but it’s not necessarily by your employer. That’s still a recommended path. Large heavy equipment and industrial employers come out ahead by training and certifying many new hires at once rather than paying travel expenses, housing, and training costs for each one.

In short, the best heavy equipment training schools will take individual students and perform on-site training and certification for large employers. Either way, your career is in good hands. Take OJT training from a small employer and you may end up having to boost your career with your own training anyway.