I was an apprentice on earth moving machines :D . 3 years/6000 hours and 5 semesters of school. My part of the craft didn't have a specific cirriculum since there weren't many of us that wanted to work concrete, asphalt, and rock plants so I went to school with mechanics and dirt stiffs. 60% of journeyman wage was my starting wage with a raise every 1000 hours of work. My contractor worked the **** out of me. End of 2 years the head of the apprentice program shows up at work "You're not an apprentice anymore. Mr K wants us to make you a journeyman even though you're not done with school. You get journeyman wages starting next week, but you do owe us 1 more semester of school." :eek::D:thumbsup: was my response. I wasn't that close to those 6000 hours yet. Mr K just decided I was as good as the other journeymen and should be paid accordingly :thumbsup:. My last semester of school, I took my work service truck and my tools to the training site and worked on equipment. If we had nothing needing help, I just picked a parked machine and moved dirt with it. It did have it's drawbacks at times like "Go get the apprentice! He'll do it! He'll do anything!" :rofl: