There’s a reason that Tonka Trucks have been a number one selling toy: it’s because plenty of kids love imagining they are in control of dump trucks, cranes, and bulldozers. Naturally, when all those kids grow up they don’t become heavy equipment operators but for the few that do, they not only can make a decent living but they get to play in the dirt every day. And we all know how much fun that can be!
As the job title would imply, heavy equipment operators are those skilled labor workers who can handle the big machines. On a construction site, you first have to clear the ground which means operating a bulldozer, dump truck, backhoe and excavator. You’re essentially moving one pile of dirt and rumble into another pile that has to get hauled away. Ask any heavy equipment operator and they’ll tell you that as bulky as these machines are, it takes a level of finesse to operate them properly. That’s not to say a heavy equipment operator has to be “dainty” at the controls but you’ve certainly got to have solid hand eye coordination.
Once the ground is cleared and the building work begins there’s a whole new level of heavy equipment operators that come into play. Typically this will mean crane operators. You could be offloading equipment and supplies from the ground or from a crane built at the top of a skyscraper. Crane operators also come into play at the ports for unloading cargo. Think of that as a huge game of Tetris! The higher you go the more factors such as weather and weight distribution comes into play for crane operators. This means you can just hop into the cab of a crane and get cranking. You need to know the specifics of what you’ll be lifting. Ultimately, the “buck stops” with you as the operator with regard to safety.
Back on the ground, heavy equipment operators also come into play for road construction. Asphalt spreaders, rollers, pile drivers and backhoes (again!) are just a few of the vehicles used in this type of work. This is also the area where there seems the greater chance of finding work with local governments turning to more and more “shovel ready” projects. And by shovel ready, they really mean heavy equipment ready!
Most of the training for a heavy equipment operator is hands on. This can mean going to an accredited trade school for the experience or finding a patient mentor on the job site. Because a lot of these types of machinery work on similar engineering principles you should be able to adapt to a new piece of equipment fairly easily. However, for crane operators many states and cities require specific certification.
And don’t think that all you’ll be doing is moving stuff around as a heavy equipment operator. You should also have the basic knowledge of how this equipment works. You might not be called upon to fix it all the time but knowing when it’s not operating properly will go a long way towards insuring your value on a job site.
This is one of those jobs where you’ll be working mostly outdoors which means weather contingency need to be applied. Heavy equipment operators can begin training right out of high school and can expect to have a starting salary of around sixteen dollars an hour. Your base pay will increase with the amount of time on the job and various skills you pick up along the way. Bottom line: don’t let those formative years of pushing your toy dump truck around the sandbox to go to waste. Consider becoming a heavy equipment operator.
— Meyer
4 Comments
Very poignant ode to the dedicated Operator Mr. Meyer. From the time I was able to walk and follow my Dad and Grandpaw around, I wanted to be a heavy equipment operator (mostly Dozer and Hoe operator). My immediate family were mostly all tied to the logging industry in some fashion… from harvesting, to milling (lumber and paper) and to the final sale. My Dad and one brother were about the only ones that stepped outside the “family business” and went to work for the railroad, but they always helped my Grandpaw and a couple of my other Uncles in their spare time.
My Grandpaw had his own “Short wood” outfit and a small “Tie Mill” and custom lumber mill. I was running a skid tractor as soon as I could reach the clutch and steer at the same time. I was driving a pulp wood truck (or in the redneck vernacular… a “pupwood truck”) when I could see over the wheel. This just added fuel to my Tonka inspired fire!
I graduated High School with an almost free ride to college on academic scholarships in the top 5 of my class. I attended a 4 year college in the area for a almost 2 years slowly stagnating and going insane from being pent up inside listening to theory and conjecture from a teacher that couldn’t make it in the real world so they had to to teach to live.
I was saved from a life in purgatory by a high school friend that asked if I were interested in “goin pipelinin”. After girding my loins and gathering up my courage, I told my Mama I was quitting school and goin to work. After I rescucitated her and applied a cool compress, I patiently explained the madness to my method and told her in no uncertain terms that I could either flunk out of school on purpose to prove my point or quit now to go into a field I dearly dearly wanted to try. My Dad just smiled and told me in a whisper that this was goin to be a hard “row to hoe”, but that he always knew from the time I was 3 that I had diesel fuel in my vains. From there I never looked back. I was lucky enough to keep steady work in the pipeline fields for 2 years then saw the slowdown coming in the early 90’s and moved over to drill shaft foundations… I even did a stint as a railroad conductor for 2 years but was bored to the point of tears and went back to the foundation business…
I work for a smaller company that makes its money on doing the impossible in the Energy Transmission Industry. Every wonder how that huge transmission tower was built over a river, or deep in the swamps of South Louisiana or over the mountains of Tennessee… We have a rep for doing the impossible in an impossible time surmounting impossible odds.
While I do still operate, I moved over to welding and truck driving with the same company to keep my mind working and from stagnating myself. A note to your readers that the more you can do well, the more oppurtunities you have and the more you enjoy your chosen job. Not only can I operate anything that drinks diesel, I can haul it, work on it and rebuild it from the ground up if asked to. So to all my fellow “Operators” diversify and divide to conquer. Have fun and be safe always!
Hey, A.B., thanks for the comments and great story! If you haven’t yet, we’d love to have you join our tradesmen directory. Check it out over in the Tool Shed. We most certainly can benefit from a voice like yours around here! Thanks.
[...] Spotlight Oח Heavy Equipment Operators [...]
This means you girls too!!