There are apprentice training programs for earth moving equipment operators. The International Union of Operating Engineers' (IUOE) paid apprenticeships generally last three to four years or 6,000 hours minimum and 144 hours of classroom work annually. Apprentices are paid, where as students pay for instruction in formal school settings. The IUOE requires apprentices to demonstrate maturity, reliability and responsibility as well as an understanding that within the construction industry there are seasonal down-times and that some jobs require night or swing shifts.
National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) fights to maintain high standards and certifies qualified schools. NAHETS strives to keep fly-by-night operations in check by requiring that certified schools have a president or campus director, on-site admissions, financial aid and job placement directors as well a heavy equipment director and certified instructors. Additionally, the association requires a heavy equipment training site encompassing no less than 20 acres as well as at least two classrooms devoted exclusively for the instruction of heavy equipment operators. It is good policy for students to check on a school's certification before enrolling.
Associated Training Services (ATS) is licensed or accredited in 16 states and offers heavy equipment operators training for such earth moving equipment as bulldozers, road graders, scrapers, excavators and similar heavy equipment. The type of equipment used varies from school-to-school. In addition to operating equipment, students learn heavy equipment maintenance, site layouts, soils, grade reading, laser leveling and safety.
Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado offers both an Associate of Applied Science degree and a certificate in heavy equipment. Both the degree and certificate track teach the operation of the road grader, backhoe, hydraulic excavator, bulldozer and front end loader. Additionally, courses in preventative maintenance, grading and staking and basic principles of the engine and drive train are provided. The certificate is a 39-semester hour program and the degree is 66 semester hours. Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College has partnered with ATS for a 120-hour training program that teaches students to operate such earth moving equipment as off-road dump trucks, tractors, loaders and backhoes, bulldozers and front end loaders.
West Coast Training offers a 40-hours-a-week, eight-week course that prepares operators to handle such earth moving equipment as backhoes, bulldozers, scrapers and graders. Additionally, West Coast has a separate four-week course in crane operation that includes dragline and clamshell training for earth moving. The heavy equipment course is just under $7,700 and the crane operator course is about $6,000, as of July 2010.