Gratitude For Grit: Celebrating Workers in Construction

1 / 1

Construction work can often be difficult and demanding. Some builders and machine operators say they are in it strictly for the financial gain—that the hard work is generally met with good pay, especially for machine operators who have very specialized skills. Others like the satisfaction of mastering complex tasks and the sense of accomplishment when those tasks are completed. In fact, in a comment on social media, one heavy equipment operator said that it’s kind of like “playing with Tonka toys as an adult.” 

We want to know what motivates equipment operators and construction crews to do the things they do, especially when it comes to extreme outdoor conditions and tough projects. Here is what the workforce has to say when it comes to life in the industry.

Find more new and used heavy equipment for sale online.

All In The Family

The Facebook group ConstructionDad posed a simple question, “What made you want to operate heavy equipment” to their followers. Many responded they entered the field because they were following a family member or friend’s legacy. These are the reasons and inspiration to pursue the career:

• “[It’s] in my blood…and now my daughter’s.”

• “The short story: My mother didn’t want to deal with me as a toddler, so she’d talk my dad into taking me to work with him. I spent years watching him dig foundations and grade projects. I’d hold the dummy end of the tape to do layouts and the storey pole to shoot elevations. The good old days.”

• “Growing up around it and spending lots of time in the seat with my father as a young fellow.”

• “I was tired, bored of being a stay-at-home mom and wife. The old man had been doing it for more than 20 years. He got me hired and threw me out there.”

• “My dad and grandpa were heavy equipment guys. Now, since I am unable to produce sons, my daughters are both heavy-equipment girls.”

• “I started playing with Tonka toys as a kid. Then when I was 5, my neighbor had a Ford Backhoe, and he used to let me drive and operate it. From there my obsession went wild. It really came true in 2002 when I got a job at a local coal mine as a surface operator, operating the big machines. That was awesome!”

• “My grandfather owned a couple of gravel plants, so I was able to learn to run equipment at age 12.”
  

• “I was raised by several generations of heavy equipment operators.”

The Right Place At The Right Time

Some members of the workforce fell into heavy equipment operations just out of luck, and others because of financial circumstances and family needs:

• “I was working as a construction worker at 20 years old and was asked if I could cover for an excavator operator. I was really wet behind the ears then, but I still remember the power and awesome sound of that old Cat 325 engine and turbo. I haven’t really been able to get away from machines since, and now it’s been 12 years. On top of that, I live in a rural area and experienced operators are hard to come by, so I tend to fill in for other companies from time to time, too. I have been on telescopic forklifts, wheeled and tracked excavators, material handlers, graders, dozers…backhoe loaders, and wheel loaders. I also drive trucks from time to time, heavy equipment hauling, hauling rock and gravel, and have also worked plow trucks.”

• “I was a single mom desperate to pursue a job that helps me keep a roof over my head, with food in my kids’ bellies, to keep the lights on and the water running. I knew what the stakes were to pull this off, staying and remaining in this field takes a lot on the mental. And I don’t care what other women say, it is an exhausting job. I started off as a roller hand. I had a good grasp on it. Not even a week later, I was shoved into a dozer and found that I have a real talent for dozer work. [I] remained in the dozer office for a little more than four years. [I] grabbed at other machines: loaders, scrapers, skid steers, and a bit with an excavator. From oil fields to road construction, data centers [to] all on the dirt side. I’ve moved my way up to production engineering, keeping my head up, not allowing others to get to me or put me down. Now I’m moving into the safety side and continuing my college career. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to support my children.”

Marketplace Inventory

1 / 8

Used 2017 CATERPILLAR D8T

$475,000

Used CATERPILLAR 300 KW

$24,000

Used 2011 CATERPILLAR CP-44

$75,000

Used 2008 CATERPILLAR D8T

$128,000

Used 2006 CATERPILLAR AP-1000D

$36,000

Used 2003 CATERPILLAR 315CL

$57,500

Used CATERPILLAR Attachment

$4,900

Used 2023 CATERPILLAR 289D3

$62,500

Used 1998 Caterpillar 315BL

$29,900

Used 2019 CATERPILLAR 302.7D

$28,900

Used 2021 CATERPILLAR 310-07

$158,000

Used 2020 CATERPILLAR 308 CR

$74,500

Used 2006 CATERPILLAR D3G XL

$33,900

Used CAT Lift Trucks 2C3000

$9,788

Used 1972 CATERPILLAR 955K

$8,500

Used 2022 CATERPILLAR 315 GC

$140,000

Used 2023 CATERPILLAR 815

$585,000

Used 1987 CATERPILLAR 963

$38,500

Used 2015 CATERPILLAR 259D

$43,500

Used CATERPILLAR Attachment

$4,900

Used 2020 CATERPILLAR 299D3 XE

$78,000

Used 2021 CATERPILLAR 725

$225,000

Used 2024 CATERPILLAR 306CR

$86,000

Used 2016 CAT Lift Trucks GC70K

$87,988

View all CATERPILLAR 325 for sale

Feel The Power

One responder put it all together in one very succinct message:

• “I’ll probably get mocked for this, but I have thought about why I like heavy equipment so much…
  • Power – powerful machines
  • Precision – being able to do very precise work
  • Control – being able to control something that can do so much work easily
  • Productivity – we build very cool stuff”

But no matter why you work in construction, Equipment Trader thanks you for the contributions you make.

Barrett Baker

Barrett Baker is a freelance writer with more than 40 years of writing experience. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Energy, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and a variety of advertising and marketing firms throughout his career. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, cooking, and working with animal rescues.

See author's work