I will start off by saying what a great forum this has been for me so far.... My name is Tim, am 37 and have been a forklift operator in the auto manufacturing industry for 8 years, untill last month when 750 people lost there jobs for good{my wife as well}. I have been blessed that I was accepted into a gov program here called "second career" to gain funding for skill upgrading. I grew up in the counrty around lots of equipment and LOVED playing around on the farm but choose a different direction as I grew up. Now I have the opportunity of a life time to be able to take HEO constuction and transportation trainning {12 week course}through Ontario truck driving school. Coarse will consist of 72 hours class time, 90 hours feild and lab, and 190 hours one on one seat time. I will be obtainning my AZ licence as well so that I may be more employable{I hope} to a company. I thought that I should take addvantage of all the money that was offered to me{ I do not have to pay it back and the coarse is 20 grand} and get as many certificates I can. I am starting March 7th and I am soooo pumped! I would like to ask your opinions on what you guys think about the school idea, have you heard of them, are there enough hours in seat class and lab to be a good program, and is the AZ endorsment a good thing. Like I said I have 8 safe years with no accidents on my foklift in the plant, but I dont know if this works for me as operating experience? I will be trained on escavator,dozer,grader,rock truck,wheel loader and skid steer,dump box and packer. I have many more question but I will save them for my next post. What do you guys think. have a great day.
well 13 views but no replys? dont be shy folks I have brod shoulders and can take some criticism if need be.:beatsme
I say take what comes your way cobra! and best of luck with it all... CPS
That works for me as experience. :yup Any seat time on any plant has got to give you an understanding of risk, danger and responsibility. As long as you appreciate that you will then have a long learning curve to be productive on any of these pieces of equipment. Dont let me dampen your fire, take every oppertunity you get to advance your employability. But be aware that getting on a machine once trained can be extremely difficult depending on the prospects where you live. Very good luck in your venture.
It will be interesting to hear how your course goes. Often at some of these places the instructors don't have as much seat time as I would like to see. Good luck and keep us up to date on how you are doing!
Oh yes friend I will not be expecting anything, just asking for a chance to learn the ropes and showcase my skills. I have confidence that I will be able to drive the machines and Transports fine, but the job site knowledge grades, filling, digging and so on is what I would like to know about, so that once I get a job I will not be too green for the boss when he tells me to do something. { thats were you guys are great} I really hope that obtainning Az endorcment was not a bad idea {dont want to get stuck only driving transport} but I thought it would help to get me a job operating. Thank you Rob, cheers!
I know what you mean, I spent quit a bit researching schools{had to because the government is paying for the coarse and want the best school for me} and found alot of bbbbaaaaddd stories out there. This school is very reputable in the area. http://www.otds.com/ I will post my progress for sure, as long as peeps dont get bugged out or board by my posting stuff that is old hat to them. peace!
thank you for the wish of luck bro.
cobraguy i did all my training for a Hoisting engineer and AZ license ..amongst other's in Ontario ... What's is HEO ?
Hi Liebherr, HEO is Heavy Equipment Operator..... is that what you are asking?
Ya ..thats in Oshawa right..?
sarnia,london,chatham,windsor,niagra on the lake is the locations. No oshawa, but are you referring to the Operating engineers trainning institute? if so they have a long wait to get into the school for HEO and the "crane operator" school is even longer, but aparently they are one of the worlds best trainning facilities for crane ops. I dont have time to sit around and wait for a class at the OETI being that I was just layed off and have 4 kids.lol I am confident that the school I did choose is a good one and not a fly by night kind of deal........................... Tim waits to see if he gets a job after school.lol
That is where on site experience really counts. It doesnt matter if it was with uncle Bill in his truck as a kid delivering to site or with dad on the wing of a tractor, it is quite suprising the things you pick up without realising it, hence the expression to a junior, "keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut" A very good mate who is now a lot further up the food chain than I am :notworthy doesnt like to be reminded of his first day on a major site. Having left the forces he drove a truck hauling stone products for a time then got some seat time on different machines with his fathers machines but as is often the case that wasnt going to work long time. Finally he managed to get a seat on a 30t exc on a motorway muckshift. He got the start through contacts ( nothing wrong with that ) but it puts you under a bit of pressure when a mate has pulled a few strings and told a few pork pies ( lies)you dont want to let them down by looking stupid The forman mounted him up, made sure he was comfortable and knew the controls, as he jumped down he said to my mate with a wave of his arm, "head down there and load those arisings I'll see you in a while" jumped in his 4x4 and was gone. My mate didnt have a clue what " arisings " were but was too embarrased to ask :Banghead so started tracking while frantically trying to imagine what the hell he was supposed to be doing. arisings = the spoils from the drainage trench.
^^^^ thats some great advice Rob, and I now know what they mean when they say arisings.lol thanx friend...... you do mean all the dirt/rock/clay that was dug in the process of making the trench has to be loaded into a truck. correct?
:yup you got it. :thumbsup I expect there are a dozen other names for it but its one of those little things that a certain friend has to be reminded of when hes on a " I goin to sack that usless piece of **** that thinks hes an operator " rant
lol gotcha.
i am also a forklift operator (crown reach truck) for loblaw compaines limited and am now moving into HEO. what is the school name your attending? im going to Transport Traning Center Of Canada. im also from SW ontario so just wqoundering if i missed looking at a school along the way!
http://www.otds.com/courses/courses.html
thanks!