American Heavy Equipment Training

Heavy-Duty
Job Skills

Alan Gorr of Indianapolis operated a dump truck.

Instructor Kevin Elam, left, tutored Bradley Hill in driving an excavator.

A student operating a tracked loader, at right, backed away from an articulated dump truck to scoop another load of dirt during a class session.

Brooks school adds heavy-equipment classes

By MISSY BAXTER
Special to The Courier-Journal

     Students enrolled in Truck America Training School's new heavy-equipment program get tons of hands-on experience.
     They operate backhoes, dump trucks and other machinery, learning skills that help them get jobs with excavating companies, landscaping firms and other businesses that use heavy equipment.
     "This gives them a chance to get good-paying, entry-level jobs," said Jim Carter, one of the school's owners. "For companies that use heavy equipment, it's too expensive ... to train employees on site. We give students the training they need to get apprenticeship positions."
     Truck America, which opened in Brooks in 2001, launched its heavy equipment program this spring. Since April, about 35 students have graduated. Several women have completed the training, including Kim Hall, a Hikes Point resident and former school bus driver for Jefferson County Public Schools, and Kim Keller of Illinois.
     "I got tired of low-paying jobs," said Keller, who had worked factory and office jobs through a temporary agency.

Bob Johnson, master instructor for Truck America's heavy-equipment program in Bullitt County, showed students how to use a laser leveler.

Before the training, she said, the largest vehicle she had driven was a Lincoln Continental. Now Keller, a 32-year-old mother of three, can handle a 30-ton dump truck. "It's my favorite thing to drive," she said.
There are only a handful of similar training schools in the region, so Truck America attracts students from throughout Kentucky and nearby states, including Tennessee and Indiana.
The school has 20 trainers and about 10 other employees. The school, on Ferguson Lane near Interstate 65, also trains tractor-trailor drivers seeking a commercial driver's license.

More than 2,000 big-rig drivers have completed the company's commercial-driving program since it began.
     Carter, a former truck driver who opened the school with his wife, Debby, said Truck America added heavy-equipment training in response to demand. The school also started forklift training last year.
     The school bought more than $2.5 million worth of equipment, expanded its staff and leased 40 more acres on Ferguson Lane to start the heavy-equipment program. The land, adjacent to the school, is used as a driving course.
     In four weeks, students get 200 hours of instruction, including at least 72 hours of driving time.
     "Each student learns to operate skid steerers, dozers, track excavators, back hoes, wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks," said Eric Hester, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant who oversaw a heavy-equipment training school in the military. Enrollment in the program is limited to 10 students a month so each person gets individual instruction, the Carters said.
     Tuition is $8,995 for the heavy-equipment program and $5,995 for the commercial-driving course.

Andy Hall, an instructor at Truck America's heavy-equipment course, signaled to a student operating a wheeled loader at the school.

     Truck America is certified by the Kentucky and Indiana State Board for Proprietary Educators and belongs to several professional organizations, including the Commercial Vehicle Training Association and the Better Business Bureau.
     The Carters have two new partners at Truck America - Don Keller, a finance specialist, and Terry Myhre, a businessman who operates the Minnesota School of Business, Globe College and other educational firms.
     The school works with state agencies such as Career Resources in Shepherdsville to recruit students.

Debby Carter said some students can qualify for tuition help through state programs. Truck America also offers loans.
Jim Carter and other school officials said the average income for beginning truck drivers is $35,000 to $40,000. Some companies offer more than $50,000 to experienced drivers, Carter said.
The commercial driving course takes less time than the heavy-equipment program. Trucking students undergo a 160-hour, three-week course. Along with earning a commercial driver's license, students also can get a certificate allowing them to haul hazardous materials.

The school's placement director works with more than 25 trucking companies and other businesses to find job for graduates. The Carters said the school's placement rate is good because there is a demand for trained drivers. About 95 percent of the students have at least one job offer before they leave, Debby Carter said.
Augustus Kappelmann, a 27-year-old St. Louis native, is set to graduate this month from the commercial-driving program and has a job waiting with Warner Transportation, a national trucking firm.