Should I pursue a profession in truck driving or heavy equipment operation?

Go for heavy equipment operator. 

I started my career as a heavy wheel diesel mechanic in 1992 in an apprenticeship working on earth moving equipment. Fast forward to 2 years ago I decided that it would be benefitial to me, my income, to get my inspection license for Class 8 vehicles (commercial vehicles, earth moving equipment, semi trucks, triaxles, etc - heavy equipment) to further advance my career and value to employers. To do that all I needed was my CDL so I went to school through a company I won't name and became a truck driver. 

Worst thing I ever did to myself. I could have and should have borrowed a truck and went to the DMV and took the tests because I've already been driving them for 20 some years. 

Trucking companies of today are the worst jobs in the world. The management and recruiting people are horrible people. The drivers are their slaves. 

Many trucking companies advertise "Top Pay!" "Home Daily!" and a bunch of other things and the truth is that it's just a marketing ploy, an ad, it is a flat out lie. 

They will tell you what you want to hear during the recruiting process because most companies give the recruiters a bonus for every person they get to sign up and arrive at 'school'. Once they have their hooks in and have you at their facility you are just another slave in the cattle shoots that are the begining of THEM making more money and that's all they care about. 

You will not be home daily. Once you leave for school you may not ever even be within 50 miles or more of your home town for a year or more. Most companies force new recruits and hires in to Team Driving with another person they never met before that they will have to live with on a Semi-Truck tractor sharing that tiny space with them indefinitely. Of course the company's say it's only temporary but that's only words. The reality is you are their slave and do as they tell you or they can and will throw you off the truck thousands of miles from home with nothing. 

That didn't happen to me, I (wisely) got out of it and I'm now going for my ASE certification as I planned, but I met a bunch of drivers that it did happen to. Either the company driver or their 'team mate' kicked them off the truck in the middle of no where and they were at a truck stop in a desperate situation begging for food and a way home. 

If you do equipment operation that is a much better path I also have some (but not a lot) of experience in. Most heavy equipment operators work for contractors that are affiliated and hired to do what they do by the state or federal government so they start off with good pay and only get better pay wise. They are virtually state or government jobs and with your heavy equipment operator cert you have a choice of who you work for, where they operate, etc. 

You can get jobs with the city or the state.

You can get jobs with big fortune 500 contractor companies.

Don't do truck driving if you want to be home to build a family and be with them. Truck driving is not the career for family men. 20 years ago it was....not anymore.  

heavy equipment operator

Heavy equipment operators are better paid and you don't end up away from home 330- 360 days a year. Most truck drivers don't break even until they have been on the road for many years. The operating costs are staggering in this day and age. 

Yes you should.