Heavy Equipment Careers To Benefit From Green Construction

If there is one general trend in our society at present it is to go ‘green’ and heavy equipment careers look set to be one of the biggest beneficiaries. When I say going green, I am of course referring to environmental issues. One of President Obama’s aims is to create 5 million new green construction jobs over the next ten years. That equates to half a million jobs each year.

Green machines have been developed in the past. Fork trucks often run on LPG rather than liquid fuels like diesel. Diesel itself is slightly better for the environment than petrol, even the unleaded version. But that is the heavy equipment itself.

What President Obama is looking at is the building of zero emission power stations, roads that shorten journeys and prevent gridlock – a huge cause of pollution and green house gases. Other projects are likely to include dam building and hydroelectricity, wind farms and the demolition of old buildings – replacing them with green earth projects.

This will create a demand for operators of heavy equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, graders and cranes. There will also be an increase in the demand for truck drivers, not only for transporting heavy equipment around the country, but also for the transportation of building materials.

As we move forward with controls on green house gas emissions, demand for skilled operators will increase. Operators who have received heavy equipment training through professional training bodies will be the ones most sought after. Their heavy equipment careers will blossom whilst those from a generation ago that trained “on-the-job” may find that refresher and safety training courses are required.

Heavy equipment careers look set to travel in one direction only – upwards. The demand is already growing with some states now trying to influence school leavers into exploring a heavy equipment career. There has never been a better time than now to investigate a career as a heavy equipment operator.