Heavy Equipment Excavation Schools

Georgia School of Construction

Georgia School of Construction opened in 2006 and started out offering three levels of heavy equipment training and operations. The school, located in Conyers, Georgia, earned accredited training and sponsorship in the National Center for Construction Education. As of March 2011, the school has applied for accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and expects approval in early 2012. Committed to providing learning experiences that result in demonstrated competencies for the operation of heavy equipment, the certificate training programs prepare students for entry level employment. Degree programs provide necessary entry-level operator skills and a degree diploma for those desiring to enter the management side of the business.

Located in Orange Park, Florida, the National Heavy Equipment Operators School, also known as Earth Movers School, offers complete and fully accredited training programs for heavy equipment operators starting at the entry level. Students train on equipment like excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and backhoes used for clearing land, excavation, creating culverts and ditches for laying pipe. Open since 1978, this school has 7,000 square feet of classroom space and a 300-acre training ground, which allow students the opportunity to learn in the classroom and go out to the training grounds to practice.

Performance Training Services has schools in Columbus, Ohio, and Rockdale, Texas. Performance Training Services offers certification by the National Center for Construction Education and Research and heavy equipment training for most construction equipment, including excavators, scrapers, backhoes, road graders, bulldozers and wheel loaders. Recognized by national employers in the excavation, earth-moving and construction industries, the school's industry-developed, comprehensive training programs offer the knowledge to operate heavy equipment on construction projects anywhere in the U.S.

A training facility for those apprentice and journey-level members wanting to improve or advance their existing heavy equipment skills, the International Union of Operating Engineers provides more than 1,000 instructors and hundreds of classrooms, shops, and labs across the U.S. and Canada. This organization also works with the U.S. departments of Labor and Agriculture in administering and teaching pre-apprentice training programs that help young people ages 16 to 24 in Job Corps training centers across the U.S.