Same 120 hours, different package
Premium Plus does not change the training. Hour for hour, it is the same curriculum as our standard Mobile Crane Operations Fixed/Swing Cab 120 Hours course, about three weeks long. What changes is what comes with it:
- Optional room and board close to our Seagoville facility while you train. It is a choice, not a requirement.
- Premium extra offerings reserved for premium students. Ask us for the current list when you call.
- Simulator time. Premium programs include time on the crane simulator in our classroom.
- Enrollment support with admission, funding paperwork and VA enrollment certification.
Tuition is $8,500, compared with $6,400 for the standard 120-hour course. If you live near Dallas or already have somewhere to stay, the standard course gives you the same instruction.
Who chooses Premium Plus
Premium Plus is built for students who fit two descriptions at once: they have never operated a crane, and they are coming from out of the area. Students travel to Seagoville from across the country, and three weeks is long enough that a daily commute or a string of motel bookings becomes a real problem. Premium Plus lets you settle in and focus on training.
Veterans should look closely too. Miller Crane Works is approved for GI Bill® benefits, and a three-week program is a natural fit for someone using Post-9/11 (Chapter 33) or Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31) benefits to change careers.
If you already have some crane time and want one week instead of three, compare the Premium fixed/swing cab course, which pairs 40 hours with the same premium options.
Inside the three weeks
Training moves from classroom theory to supervised seat time on fixed cab and swing cab telescopic cranes in our yard, and each session builds on the one before. Along the way you cover:
- Crane components, terminology and what the operator owns on every lift
- Load charts, capacity calculations and working radius, practiced until you can work a chart quickly
- Sizing up the site, setting outriggers and judging ground conditions
- A full pre-operational inspection, and shutting the crane down safely
- Hand signals and working with a signal person
- Precise load handling on the same practical course NCCCO uses
You learn both cab layouts. On a fixed cab crane the cab stays on the carrier while the upper turns; on a swing cab crane the cab rides around with the boom. NCCCO treats them as separate designations, and the practical exam is taken on the one you are certifying for.
Pack for three weeks of yard work: work boots, clothes suited to outdoor work, layers for Texas weather, a government-issued photo ID, plus a notebook, pen and basic calculator for the classroom.
All of it happens at our one training site in Seagoville. There is no remote or off-site option.
The exams at the end
Premium Plus prepares you for NCCCO mobile crane certification: the Core written exam, the telescopic specialty written exam and the practical exam on a telescopic crane in our yard. The practical includes an inspection, timed placement tasks, hand signal recognition and a shutdown; the mobile practical exam page walks through it. NCCCO, not the school, awards the certification, and it gives you 12 months to pass both the written and the practical for the same designation, so plan any retest inside that window. Its candidates must be at least 18, meet NCCCO physical requirements and follow its substance abuse policy.
Using GI Bill® benefits and planning your trip
- Tell us where you are travelling from and what experience you have. We confirm Premium Plus fits and explain the extras and room and board.
- Confirm your funding. Veterans apply through VA, get a Certificate of Eligibility and send it to us; we certify the enrollment with VA. Students using Chapter 31 or 33 are covered by our VA compliance policy while VA payment is pending. Workforce funding, employer sponsorship and self-pay work too; see funding options.
- Decide on room and board. Add it if you want it.
- Arrive in Seagoville and start training. Dallas Love Field and DFW are the closest airports; most students drive or rent a car.
Read the admission steps and our grievance policy before you commit.