Top Careers You Can Get After Graduating from a Heavy Equipment Trade School

There are various reasons to consider alternatives to traditional college paths: expenses, time requirements, career prospects, and more. Choosing a heavy equipment trade school like PTS can lead to a variety of rewarding opportunities that can help you and your family thrive. Heavy equipment operation is in high demand and offers competitive salaries and benefits. With opportunities across various industries, heavy equipment operation is perfect for people who dislike desk jobs and want to experience hands-on, outdoor work. Let’s take a look at some of these top career options and how our school supports students in landing them. 

Premium Jobs After Graduating from a Heavy Equipment Trade School

Construction

Probably the most well-known industry for heavy equipment operation, construction is an in-demand sector that is full of infrastructure projects, including roads, buildings, and utilities projects. Here, heavy equipment operators move earth and materials, pour foundations, excavate, backfill, and more. Attending a heavy equipment trade school is ideal for finding a construction job, and it will prepare you to operate different types of equipment and adapt to different tasks. According to the NCCER 2024 Construction Craft Salary Survey results, heavy equipment operators typically earn an average of nearly $71,000 per year. 

Landfill

In the landfill industry, operators move, spread, cover and compact waste using various machines, including wheel loaders, scrapers, and dozers. They also move dirt and soil, and maintain landfill roads. Some duties also involve ensuring that hazardous or prohibited materials are not dumped improperly. Heavy equipment trade programs will prepare you for this position, which, depending on location, can earn an average of $77,654 per year. 

Forestry / Logging

In this industry, operators use specialized forestry equipment, such as skidders, loaders, and harvesters to fell trees, transport logs, or clear land. Operators will also be expected to cut trees, sort logs, and load them onto trucks. Safety training is especially important in this job, because operators must avoid falling trees, so heavy equipment trade schools can prepare them for success. Experienced logging operators can earn upwards of $60,000 per year.

Quarry

In this industry, operators extract stone, gravel, sand and rock using heavy machinery such as loaders, graders, and dozers. They also move material and maintain roads and other surfaces. Since they may be required to deal with blasting operations, uneven terrain, flying fragments, or other hazards, proper trade school education is necessary in this career. Experienced workers earn higher wages, and in 2024 the top 10% of operators earned a salary of over $99,000.

Mining 

Mining can refer to surface mining, underground mining, or specialty mining. Here, operators utilize earth-moving equipment, such as dozers, excavators, and graders. They also assist in blasting operations and transport material safely. Formal safety training from a heavy equipment trade school is ideal for this industry as work can be hazardous if not performed by a professional. Mining operators can make an average of $62,000 per year. 

PTS Can Prepare You For a Variety of Careers

At PTS, we provide you with hands-on training with real machinery so you are exposed to multiple equipment types that will leave you prepared for a multitude of careers as a heavy equipment operator. 

In our Heavy Equipment Operator 1 Course, you’ll learn how to operate skid steers, wheel loaders, compactors, backhoes, and articulated off-road dump truck operators. In this three-week course, you’ll learn about basic operational techniques, equipment safety, earthmoving, and preventative maintenance. 

In our Heavy Equipment Operator 2 Course, you’ll learn how to operate bulldozers, scrapers, excavators, and motor graders. You’ll learn how to interpret civil drawings, excavation math, site work, and more.  Our heavy equipment trade school will prepare you to find entry-level employment within a variety of industries. 

In just three weeks, you can find yourself ready to jumpstart your new career. With the right training at PTS, you can start earning fast. Are you ready to launch your career? Connect with our team or schedule a facility tour to earn a $500 tuition reduction scholarship.