The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) was designed to get Americans trained and on the job. It's one of many legislative efforts to give practical help to specific types of workers. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School has gone…
I was speaking to a young man who recently accquired more training and hired at a company that has three branches of operations. I asked him what he'd be doing, and he told me he'd be working in the construction…
In a lot of ways, a graduate of ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School has got hard skills and soft skills. Knowing how to identify soil, read a grade, understand site layout management, etc. while competently maintaining and safely operating…
Do you remember the car-swallowing sinkhole that opened up inside the National Corvette Museum in February? Early one morning, the ground beneath the Skydome area started caving in. By the end, there was a cavern about 40 feet across and…
Finish graders apply the finicky final touches to a surface to get it perfect. That smooth runway and carefully cambered road is due to the skill of an experienced finish grader. The bulldozer started the job, but the grader will…
A lot of our students come through the program with help from one of the many sources of financial aid. Since Associated Training Services (ATS) is accredited, our heavy equipment operator training is eligible for a number of programs, but…
Accidents happen in every job and being an heavy equipment operator is a big responsibility because the machines are big. The size and weight of all the metal, along with moving parts, changing ground conditions on the site, and people…
"Slow down to go fast" is a wise statement used in a lot of different settings. Pretty much, it means that trying to go fast usually messes things up. In a field like heavy equipment, "slow down to go fast"…
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook for the US Department of Labor, construction equipment operators have a good chance to stay employed. They project a 19% increase in construction equipment operator jobs from 2012 to 2022, and that is faster…
A lot of times you might hear someone say they just don't have the time to go through a long training process because they have bills to pay. But you really shouldn't say things like that without knowing how long…