Two AB2K Plant Ops Re-Train To Switch To Cranes

Published Date: 29/01/2024

Over at AB2T Academy in Whitburn, AB2K Plant operators David Muldoon and Kevin Brown took to new heights as they began their journey towards gaining a CPCS to move from plant ops into the crane division. After almost a decade of operating AB2K dump trucks, David expressed excitement about the new challenge.

‘I’ve been at AB2K for eight years next month, and before that many other places. In all that time myself and Kevin have operated dump trucks and we know everything there is to know about these vehicles. The difference is massive, going from knowing something inside out to learning something else from scratch. Moving to cranes will be a welcome and refreshing challenge and one we’re really excited to master.’

David and Kevin will now operate under Ian Campbell, AB2K’s Crane and Lifting Manager, who said:

‘It’s an extremely busy time for road cranes in general and everyone is looking for drivers. Having AB2T Academy means we can offer existing staff the opportunity to upskill. This is a huge plus point versus the competition. Not only does this give the drivers a fresh challenge, it’s also fantastic for us as we are a collaborative team and we all know the working sites, which means the newly qualified driver/operators are already familiar and can start working straight away.’

The new crane operators were trained by Paul Allison, AB2T’s Trainer who, in 2023 was nominated for three separate awards. Paul works across the entirety of the Quattro Group and was impressed by David and Kevin.

‘The CPCS crane training is one of the toughest we offer. It’s seven days of practical, classroom and tests, learning the safety aspects of the cranes. David and Kevin were trained on a Liebherr City 40t crane and they took to it really well, given they’re not spring chickens! Trying something new, especially a huge crane, can be daunting but once they knew where things were and how it operated, they were great. Both were enthusiastic, asked questions and listened. They studied hard and passed. Now they can operate any sized crane, doing any lift.’

John Murphy, Managing Director

‘This is part of the reason we opened AB2T. Now we’re seeing drivers and operators upskilling and changing direction so they can switch and explore new avenues. At every step of the process, AB2T is fulfilling ambitions to create new and different career pathways for our staff, and for external candidates. Congratulations to David and Kevin, two fantastic new crane spotters!’

Congratulations to David and Kevin! If you're interested in training or upskilling with AB2T, email training@AB2T.co.uk or call 0845 307 3999 and speak to one of our team today.