With John Merlo growing up amidst the rumble of engines, you can’t blame him for choosing to become a machine operator.
While other children spent their weekends playing sport or in front of the television, John’s playground was a construction site, and his toys weighed dozens of tonnes.
With his friends barely tall enough to see over a grader tyre, he was already on site, standing in red dust beside his father and a line-up of earthmoving machines.
This is the story of John, who has become one of the Australian industry’s most experienced operator instructors.
The early years
He was born in Australia to Italian migrants in the late 1960s, who were chasing work and a better life. His father found it in earthmoving, working first for Thiess Bros on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, before moving to Melbourne and joining Withers Plant Hire as a motor grader operator.
When the weekends came around and childcare options were thin, he would take young John along, probably more out of necessity than design, but those early mornings would shape the rest of John’s life.
At first, John was just a kid on the edge of the action, watching from a safe distance as machines carved order out of chaos. Scrapers rumbled past, Traxcavators — the precursor to track loaders — bit into the ground, excavators swung in long arcs, and backhoe loaders shuffled between tasks.
Somewhere between the roar of diesel engines and the precision of cutting a clean line in the earth, something clicked.
“I grew an interest in motor graders and machines,” John said. “I enjoyed watching all the different machines work on the job.”
The bond between father and son wasn’t just about time spent together; it was about a skill being passed down. John’s father showed him how to operate a motor grader at an age when most boys were still riding bikes around the block.
“When the company bought a new Cat® 12E 17K motor grader, it felt to me like a glimpse of heaven,” John said.
That shiny new machine brought someone else into his life: the sales representative for Cat dealer William Adams, Ralph Thomas. John began asking him for sales brochures on all sorts of machines, and somewhere in that stack of paper and glossy photos, a lifelong love of Cat equipment took hold.
As John grew older, he dreamt of becoming an operator, to sit behind the controls of the machines he had admired since childhood. But there was a problem: he was still too young and too far from getting his driver’s licence to make that a reality.
Practical by nature, John took a different path that would still keep him close to the machines he loved. He signed on as an apprentice diesel mechanic with mining contractor Roche Bros.
“I was amazed at what I learned, and at the different sizes and types of Cat machines in the company’s fleet,” he said.
“The apprenticeship gave me something invaluable: an intimate understanding of how these machines worked from the inside out.”
But the pull of home, and of working alongside his father again, proved strong. He returned to the company where his father was employed, this time as a labourer-cum-operator, shovelling kerbs, operating rollers and water carts. The work was hard but it was another step towards the operator’s seat he’d always imagined for himself.
One day, the company boss came down to the site and changed John’s trajectory with a single decision. He made John a backhoe loader operator, handing him the keys to a company machine. It had a cabin but no air conditioning, but John didn’t care.
“I was extremely happy as now I was on the way to becoming an operator; but boy, did I have a lot to learn,” he said.
As the years rolled on, John’s responsibilities and machines grew in size and sophistication. He graduated from an older 12E grader to a 12G, a jump he describes as “like getting into a Mercedes-Benz after driving a Holden”. The sense of progression, and feeling of being trusted with more capable machines, mattered as much as the pay packet.
Then another opportunity arose, when a small failure opened the door to the next chapter of his working life. While operating the 12G, John blew a hydraulic hose. A technician from William Adams arrived on site to replace it. John took the opportunity to ask a question that had been brewing for some time: did William Adams have a job going for a mechanic? The answer was ‘yes’, and the technician handed him a contact.
Within a month, John was back in overalls, starting again as a diesel mechanic, this time with William Adams. He worked initially in the workshop, but weekends often found him out in the field, doing service work to earn extra cash and broaden his skills.
“I enjoyed the company and learning, working on different machines,” he said. “The variety suited me: the chance to see multiple sites, solve problems, and keep machines running under tough conditions.”
Over time, John felt it was time to get out of mechanics and into roles where he could combine his technical knowledge with his understanding of customers and operations.
He moved through a series of roles within the business: first into sales, then into product support, then into used equipment. Each position showed him a different side of the industry, from the excitement of selling new machines to the challenges of keeping older ones that earned money for their owners.
But even as he learned to navigate these commercial worlds, his heart never left the machines themselves.
That pull eventually became impossible to ignore. After 10 years with the dealer, John decided to step away from the security of his job at William Adams and bought a 13,000-hour Cat 130G motor grader from his employer, starting up his own business as an owner-operator. It was a risk, but it was also a return to where he felt most at home: behind the controls.
Through those years, the thread of loyalty and connection never quite broke. William Adams’ sales manager at the time, Bruce Edwards, always kept in touch.
Life moved on, and with it came one of the hardest chapters John would face: he lost his father, the man who had quietly set the course for his life from those early Saturday mornings on site.
“I lost my dear old dad who was very close to me,” John said.
Not long after, Bruce drove out to see him on site. He knew what John still had to give and offered him a job back at William Adams, this time not as a mechanic or salesman, but as an operator demonstrator. John accepted, stepping into a role he would hold for the next 30 years.
Smooth operators
Being an operator demonstrator meant more than running machines. It involved showing customers what those machines could do in the hands of a skilled operator, helping them see more than mere machinery, but the potential productivity gains, efficiencies, and improvements in safety.
It was a role that blended everything John had become: mechanic, operator, communicator, teacher. He enjoyed proud moments in that job, but one stands high above the rest.
“This was when Caterpillar introduced the new M Series motor grader,” he said.
“For decades, operators had been used to traditional grader controls and layouts; the M Series represented a revolutionary change in the construction and mining industries.
“Convincing experienced grader operators — who trusted what they knew — to embrace an entirely new operating concept was no small task.
“This was a great challenge, convincing customers that this new product was going to make life easier for existing grader operators who were all used to the traditional Caterpillar graders.”
As part of a broader team, John went on to spend time on sites, in cabs, and in training yards, patiently explaining and then demonstrating how the new machines worked and what they could achieve.
“The M Series was proof that, with the right support, operators could adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing technological landscape,” he said.
Back to the future
Today, that journey has gone full circle, with John moving on from William Adams to the very company that the dealer specialised in. At Caterpillar, John serves as the Operator Training Consultant for Australia and the APD (Asia Pacific Division) region.
The responsibilities are broad: he looks after Caterpillar dealer operator trainers, supports operator training for dealers and customers, and runs supervisor training for customers.
It is a role built on a foundation laid in 1999, when Caterpillar developed Equipment Training Solutions (ETS), which was created to educate dealer instructors so they could help customers better utilise their Caterpillar equipment, improve return on investment, and reduce machine operating costs.
“This still continues today, as there is a diminishing operator skill level,” John said. “ETS provides the structure and standards; instructors like me provide the experience and the drive to keep those standards meaningful in a real-world context.”
ETS does more than just sharpen skills; it certifies them. Through ETS, customer operators can be educated, trained, and certified to a worldwide Caterpillar standard, ensuring that an operator in regional Australia is working to the same benchmark as one in another part of the globe.
“It has also progressed now where we can do supervisor training for our customers so machines can be better set up on mine sites to better utilise their machine,” John said.
“In practice, that might mean working with site supervisors to plan haul roads more effectively, ensure maintenance windows are realistic, or align machine capabilities with job requirements.
“Machines today are smart with technology, and ETS is there to help in that area as well.”
Caterpillar offers a range of training packages, from instructor-led courses to online modules. Customers can access these resources and carry out training in real-life environments, often on their own sites, with their machines. For operators used to learning on the job, this structured approach can turn instinct and habit into repeatable, safe, and efficient practice.
“Operators today have the luxury of machine technology to help assist in day-to-day work,” he said. “That technology is designed for better productivity and tighter accuracy, with a level of precision that is expected in modern work environments.
“GPS guidance, telematics, automated controls and advanced hydraulics mean that a good operator today is not only skilled with hand and eye, but also comfortable with screens, data and digital tools.”
John’s home base these days is Caterpillar’s office in Tullamarine, Victoria. From there, he can support dealers as they train their customers, assist dealers in carrying out operator training, or work directly with customers where needed.
The flexibility reflects what the market demands: some customers want the dealer to take the lead, others want Caterpillar’s direct involvement, and some want a blended approach. Whatever the structure, John’s focus is the same: to lift skills, confidence and performance.
“ETS offers a tiered approach to training, recognising that not all operators are at the same stage,” John said.
“There is a Level 1 course for beginners, giving new operators the foundation they need to work safely and productively. Level 2 is geared towards professionals with at least two to three years’ experience, aiming to refine technique and deepen understanding. Level 3 targets operators with three to five or more years under their belt; those who complete it can be certified to a Caterpillar worldwide standard.
“Plus, we can deliver and commission machines to customers. We try to fulfil all our customers’ needs in operator and site training.”
To find out more about Equipment Training Solutions, contact your local Cat dealer.
