How a company class works
Your employees come to us. Every class is held at 304 Tunnell St in Seagoville, southeast of Dallas off US-175, where we have a classroom with a crane simulator and a training yard with telescopic fixed and swing cab cranes, a lattice crawler and a tower crane. We do not run classes at customer sites, which means your people learn and test on equipment that is set up for training and exams rather than on a working job.
We can take large groups. A typical crew enrollment covers classroom time on regulations and load charts, simulator practice, and yard time on the crane type each person needs. Our trainers spend the time to work through the problems each person runs into, rather than rushing a group past them. Our instructors have worked as crane operators, so we have a good sense of what a crew needs to get ready for the NCCCO written and practical exams.
Choosing courses when experience varies
Few crews arrive at the same level. A sensible split usually looks something like this:
| Employee | Usual fit |
|---|---|
| New hire with no seat time | 120-hour fixed/swing cab course |
| Experienced telescopic operator needing certification | 40-hour fixed/swing cab course |
| Crawler operator | 20-hour or 40-hour lattice course |
| Tower crane operator | 20-hour or 40-hour tower course |
| Rigger or signal person | 28-hour Rigger/Signal Person Level I or the 4-hour Miller Crane Works Level I qualification |
The shorter courses assume the person already runs that crane and mainly needs exam preparation. If you aren't sure where someone belongs, tell us what they have actually operated and for how long, and we'll recommend a course.
One note on the rigging options: the 4-hour Level I course is a Miller Crane Works qualification, not an NCCCO certification. The 28-hour course prepares people for the NCCCO Rigger Level I and Signalperson exams, which is what a contractor usually means when it asks for certified riggers.
Scheduling around your work
Class days run on our normal hours, Monday through Thursday 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM and Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Start dates are posted on the training schedule. When several people are coming, it helps to tell us early which weeks your projects can spare them. Some companies send everyone at once; others rotate two or three people at a time so jobs stay staffed.
Employees coming from far away can stay in housing through our premium courses, which can be simpler than booking hotels for a crew.
Before day one, make sure each employee has a photo ID, work boots and clothing suited to a day outside in Texas weather, since much of the time is spent in the yard.
Paying for a crew: questions to ask us
We keep tuition affordable and list it for every course. For group pricing and paperwork, call us with these questions:
- Can you invoice the company directly, and what does the invoice need from us?
- Is a deposit or a purchase order required before the start date?
- How are exam fees handled, and are they separate from tuition?
- Can part of the crew use their own benefits, such as GI Bill® or workforce funding, while the company pays for the rest?
- What happens if an employee has to drop out because of a job emergency?
The funding options page lists the tuition for each course and explains the other ways students pay.
NCCCO exams in the same yard
We are a CCO EDU Accredited Training Provider, and our yard is an NCCCO practical exam site. Your operators can take the practical on the cranes they trained on instead of traveling to another test location. The practical pages explain each test: telescopic mobile, lattice crawler and tower. NCCCO scores the exams and issues certifications.
Beyond the exams, company training keeps crews current on code updates and the regulations they work under, such as OSHA's crane rule in 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC. You can see which employers have already sent people to us on our company partners page.