To train for a career as an operating engineer, you typically participate in an apprenticeship program that may last 3 to 5 years. During this time, you gain experience on all types of heavy equipment. In addition to learning to operate the heavy equipment, your training may include mechanical training so you can work on repairs for heavy equipment. Once you receive training on the many pieces of heavy equipment, you may opt to specialize in the operation of one or two pieces such as bulldozers or cranes. You would then take additional training in operating those pieces of equipment. You may take more advanced classes within your specialty such as tower crane or mobile crane operations.
As you look at a vocational school for heavy equipment operator training, choose one that places its graduates in jobs. The school should offer ample hands-on training on a wide variety of heavy equipment pieces. Your training should also include the operation of the trucks typically used in the hauling of the pieces of equipment from one job site to the other. The median income for heavy equipment operators in May 2008 was $18.88 with the range between $12.00 and $35.00 per hour.
When you choose to become a heavy equipment operator, your career path may lead to road construction. A paving equipment operator uses a variety of machines to put down asphalt or concrete. Not only is the paving equipment operator responsible for the finished road surface, this job requires a lot of preparatory work as well. This includes using earthmovers and levelers to prepare the roadbed, setting up forms and putting down rebar, tamping and rolling the surface and operating heavy dump trucks. The training for paving equipment operator may be above and beyond basic heavy equipment operator training. You may need to take specialized courses or receive specific on-the-job training. Paving equipment operators averaged $16.00 per hour with an hourly range between $10.00 and $26.00.
Another advanced training opportunity within the heavy equipment operating industry is as a pile driver operator. This person operates special equipment that drives large pieces of metal or wood into the ground to form bridges and building supports. Another subspecialty within this field involves working on offshore oil rigs. You can find pile driver operator training courses offered as vocational courses as well as apprenticeships. Pile driver operators averaged $23.01 with a range between $14.25 and $38.01.