Looking for equipment operating ideas

My son is fresh out of high school. He wants to operate equipment, and if it was construction equipment I could get him started as I have considerable experience with excavating equipment. 

But he has a congenital heart defect which means heavy labouring is out. It would be very tough to find an excavating job where you don't spend a fair bit of time down in the trench with a shovel, at least while gaining experience. 

So I am trying to come up with other operating positions he could look at where the labor is not so strenuous. All I can really come up with is driving truck (not a good career move in my opinion), crane operator or long shoreman. Those last two are options, but I am sure there must be some other niches I am not thinking of. Any suggestions?

Forklift in a warehouse.

In reply to Appleseed :

I will add it to the list, but I do not see a lot of upward mobility.

Photographer via drone? 

John Welsh said:

Photographer via drone? 

Interestingly it looks like the Remote Pilot Certificate is aligned with Sport Pilot in "self medical certification" based on possession of a valid state driver's license.  ymmv

Crane operators require medical clearance. Not sure how a congenital heart condition would be treated in regard to a medical clearance.

secretariata said:

Crane operators require medical clearance. Not sure how a congenital heart condition would be treated in regard to a medical clearance.

My buddy operates cranes and the local union here got him from the lower spots.  Dirt scrapers, skid steers - might be a tough one.  

How about the parts counter or sales at the local CAT dealer or Vermeer, Ditch Witch?   He would be around the equipment all day long.  

Thanks for the ideas. I have a friend in the longshoreman union. Not a bad gig if you can stand the politics. I thought there must be lots of interesting well paying operator jobs but I am having trouble coming up with much outside the construction industry. 

bearmtnmartin said:

In reply to Appleseed :

I will add it to the list, but I do not see a lot of upward mobility.

You might be surprised. Most of the warehouse managers and shipping supervisors I've known started out driving a fork and worked their way up. And warehouse experience is always in demand.

I've known several people that run equipment in gravel pits that never get out of the cab. Running a loader or even a dump in a big gravel mine means never leaving company property. But as far as I know none of them had a heart defect.

I know a guy who tried being a longshoreman out here (west coast, same as the O.P.) He couldn't stomach all the sitting around and union politics.

The son of a fellow I used to work with is up North driving one of those dumptruck that's the size of your house in a mine somewhere. I don't think he spends a lot of time running a shovel.

I don’t know how far you are from Vancouver or if a heart issue would disqualify him but they have a number of positions open.  Generally driving a city bus pays pretty well and you get to bring home fun stories. Most transit operators promote from within so if he’s interested there’s often positions to move on to.

https://m.translink.ca/Mobile%20Careers/Bus%20Operators

In reply to Appleseed :

Every one in the warehouse Is required to pick up the odd case or six and put it on the pallet. That includes forklift operators. 

Now if you are speaking about construction forklifts, Telehandlers,  the operator is normally the carpenter . 

Now masons usually have a operator dedicated to driving the forklift at least on bigger projects.  But even he is often doing extreme physical work.  

In reply to ShawnG :

But climbing into the mine truck is very hard.  

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Sorry they are often called on to haul heavy parts to the counter

In reply to frenchyd :

Makes sense 

In reply to bearmtnmartin :

I’m sorry. I’ve reread all my postings and all I’ve done is explained difficulties. 

That’s wrong!  No one says that your son has to follow the standard. Find out what excites him, maybe watch operators use various equipment.  

Then figure out how he can overcome the limitations imposed on him.  

But first find out what excites him.  

I’d definitely look into crane operator. Not sure what the medical exam entails. 

Learn to write code...operate all the machines! 

In reply to ShawnG :

That is absolutely an option. He is interested in making big oil patch money. 

I like crane operator for some reason. We have discussed that. 

And to be clear, he can do limited work. In fact at the moment he is working on a dairy farm. But we are trying to avoid those situations where he might be called on to shovel a yard or two of compacted clay in a hurry under pressure. That sort of thing could do him serious damage, and he would not be smart enough to stop, just like most active teens. He would power through to make the boss happy. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Absolutely. We never discourage him from having a normal life. But I have worked in construction and excavating all my life and I kind of know the deal. I am just looking for a slightly safer entry into the industry. The main thing is that if you operate a machine that moves earth, you are always called on to move some of it with a shovel, especially when you are a rookie.  His cardiologist said no shovelling or labouring ever. 

Most equipment operators I've ever seen do not get off the machine except to eat or at the end of the day.  They will tell you very quickly they are not a laborer. 

In reply to spitfirebill :

That sounds like a Union. 

40 years in construction- that’s not my experience. Operators spend most of their time on the machine, but most definitely get off and do physical labor. 

What about getting in the service and sales side of the heavy equipment business?

There will be some physical work for some of the repairs, but could also provide opportunities to learn to operate the equipment to perform pick-up, deliveries, testing, and possibly customer training.