Heavy Equipment – When Hands On Training Really Is Hands On

Learning to operate heavy equipment is not too difficult especially if you have good trainers with you. Hands on learning should be just that – hands on with you handling the controls. However there are sever different ways to undertake ‘hands on’ training.

In the ‘good old days’ hands on training was a case of, here are the keys, jump in and off you go. Some training establishment have a similar philosophy. The trainer stands on the ground yelling out instructions that you can hardly hear over the noise of the heavy equipment.

Other trainers will go through the basic controls in a classroom then expect you to remember them when you hop into the operators seat. Heavy equipment is more than just operating leavers. Where proficiency comes in is when you need to coordinate levers to maintain a smooth action.

The best trainers are the ones that hop into the cab with you and show you how to coordinate those levers. They watch and provide advice from alongside you. An experienced car driver can tell you a lot about the car and road, simply through the steering wheel and the foot pedals. The same is true of an experienced heavy equipment operator. They can tell you how hard the ground is; in fact some operators can tell you what type of earth you’re digging into from the feel of the controls.

Having one to one ‘hands on training’ provides the trainee with the best training experience possible. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools believe in providing their students with the best hands on experience possible. This includes having a qualified instructor in the cab with you to show you the way.

Don’t worry. Whilst having the instructor with you is a valuable training experience, you also get to fly solo, undertaking tasks using the skills developed to that time. If you are looking to be trained in heavy equipment then make sure the training is the very best possible, including guided and solo hands on training.