Heavy Equipment Operator
- Clean, maintain, operate and store heavy equipment
- Check equipment daily to maintain a clean and safe work environment
- Work with crew members to coordinate machine actions
- Follow regulations to ensure that the job is done safely
- Work with computers and other technology to increase efficiency
- Communicate with train dispatchers to help them plan routes
- Make repairs or report problems
- Complete a production report at the end of the day
I get to work at 6:30 a.m. and begin my day with reading the safety rules. From there, I brief my manager on the tasks for the day and figure out what we are going to be doing for the day. Before 10 a.m., I have to send in a curfew request and a signal report ticket to the train dispatcher for the next day’s work so they can start planning their routes around our crew. For the rest of the day, I communicate with the dispatchers to see the times we will be able to work on the track. After working on the track, at the end of the day, I complete our production report."
I like that there is something new every day, and I also enjoy that I am able to work outside."