What premium adds to lattice training
The instruction is the same as our standard Mobile Crane Operations Lattice 40 Hours course: one week, eight hours a day, on the crawler crane in our yard. The premium version layers on:
- Room and board, if you want it, close to the Seagoville facility for the week
- Premium extra offerings; ask admissions for the current list
- Simulator time in our classroom, part of every premium program
- Enrollment help with admission, funding and VA enrollment certification
It costs $6,000; the standard lattice week is $5,500. Lattice candidates who live within driving distance, or who have their own lodging arranged, receive identical crawler training in the standard course and can keep the $500 difference.
Who books the premium lattice week
It suits two kinds of students. Some are building lattice skills for the first time, often after running telescopic cranes, and need the classroom depth that lattice charts demand. The rest are adding a lattice boom certification to a record that already lists another crane type. What they share is distance: the school is a long way from home, and a week of lodging is part of the plan.
Veterans are welcome too. Miller Crane Works is approved for GI Bill® benefits, so ask us about your eligibility for this course.
Note there is no premium version of the 20-hour lattice course. Experienced lattice operators who only need a short tune-up can take the 20-hour lattice course and arrange their own stay.
Lattice topics you will cover
Lattice cranes reward careful planning, and the classroom is where that starts. You work through range diagrams, boom and jib combinations and capacity deductions, then put them to use with smooth, controlled lifts on the crawler.
- Components and configurations of a lattice boom
- Load charts, range diagrams and the deductions that reduce net capacity
- Setting up the crawler, ground bearing pressure and travelling the machine
- Inspecting wire rope, sheaves and boom sections before a lift
- Hand signals and communication on lattice lifts
- Practical exam tasks run on the crawler crane
Expect the classroom to touch on boom assembly concepts as well. A lattice boom's length is fixed when sections are pinned together, and a jib may be added, so the chart you read depends on exactly how the crane was built for the job. Getting the right chart, the right column and the right deductions is the habit the lattice specialty exam checks hardest, and the classroom sessions are aimed at building it before you climb onto the tracks and start making real picks with an instructor coaching each move from the ground.
Getting to NCCCO lattice certification
The course prepares you for the mobile crane Core written exam, the lattice boom specialty written exam and the lattice practical exam (designation LBC). The practical is taken on the crawler in our yard. An examiner scores an inspection explanation, a hand signal check and a shutdown description, plus timed tasks that move a test weight into a stop circle, into barrels and through a zigzag corridor. The lattice practical exam page has the details.
NCCCO gives you 12 months to pass the written and practical for the same designation, and it issues the certification. As a candidate you must be at least 18, meet NCCCO's physical requirements and follow its substance abuse policy.
From your first call to the crawler seat
- Talk with us. Share your experience and where you are travelling from; we confirm the premium lattice course fits and explain the extras and lodging.
- Admission and funding. We review the school's admission requirements with you. Veterans send a Certificate of Eligibility so we can certify the enrollment; Chapter 31 and 33 students are covered by our VA compliance policy while VA payment is pending. Workforce funding, employer sponsorship and self-pay are explained on the funding page.
- Choose room and board, or skip it.
- Plan your travel to Seagoville. Dallas Love Field and DFW are the nearest airports, and most students drive or rent a car for the daily trip to class.
Pack boots, work clothes, weather layers, a photo ID and a calculator. More on the admission page, the premium courses overview and our grievance policy.