In This Issue
- New Cat® Simulators Collaborative Worksite Training™ for Mining Package
- Celebrating the 2025 Cat Simulators Student Showdown Champions!
- Central Community College’s Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program Helps Students’ Dreams Come True
- Create a Construction Safety Plan Infographic
New Cat® Simulators Collaborative Worksite Training™ for Mining Package Teaches Operators to Work Together
We are excited to announce the release of the new Cat® Simulators Collaborative Worksite Training™ for Mining package. The training package teaches learners to collaborate virtually while operating a mining truck and hydraulic mining shovel.
In a simulated mine site, learners work as a team to gain real-life experience in tasks such as truck spotting, loading, hauling materials, face cleaning and spillage cleanup. They can practice and collaborate without the risk of harming themselves, others or equipment, all within the safety of a virtual environment.
“The simulator package takes heavy equipment operator training to the next level by creating realistic mining scenarios, such as the load/haul cycle. Learners must work together to complete the tasks and succeed as a team,” says Vanessa Price, Vice President of Simformotion.
Contact us to learn more about how you can integrate Collaborative Worksite Training for Mining package into your heavy equipment program.
Celebrating the 2025 Cat® Simulators Student Showdown Champions!
This spring, students enrolled in Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) programs across North America competed in the 2025 Cat® Simulators Student Showdown on their school or college’s Cat Simulators Advanced Construction Excavator, Advanced Dozer or Backhoe Loader systems.
This year’s champions hailed from Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. They faced three challenging tasks on their respective Cat Simulators systems, which included backfilling with a backhoe loader, clearing debris with an excavator and building a slope with a dozer. The final challenge tested both their skills and creativity: dozer operators shaped the letters “HEO,” excavator operators dug out the numbers “2025” and backhoe loader operators wrote the word “CAT.”
Learn more about the champions and the HEO program that helped them become the champions they are.
Central Community College’s Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program Helps Students' Dreams Come True
For the past eight years, students in Nebraska who have wanted to make a difference in their communities by operating heavy equipment have successfully completed the Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) program at Central Community College (CCC).
The state’s only HEO program offers hands-on training using the college’s Cat® Simulators, which include the Articulated Truck, Dozer, Hydraulic Excavator, Large Wheel Loader and Motor Grader systems. After gaining experience and practicing their new skills, students transition from the simulators to operating real equipment on the college’s 10-acre jobsite.
“The program has proven to be successful, with nearly 132 students completing it, and 95 percent of them are still working as heavy equipment operators,” said Jason Baker, CCC Heavy Equipment Operator Instructor. “After the students complete and pass all the exercises on the Cat Simulators, they transition to the real machines, which is easy.” Read more about CCC’s HEO program and how it’s meeting local industry workforce needs.
Contact us to learn how to add Cat Simulators systems to your training program.
Create a Construction Safety Plan Infographic
Heavy equipment operators and laborers face health and safety risks every day on the job. Companies can improve employee safety by developing a safety program for their worksites. To learn how to create an effective construction safety program for your jobsite, watch this video. Then share these tips with your organization and employees to help reduce safety hazards and keep your operators and others safe.
