Lamar County Crane Certification for Metal Shops, Mills and Utility Crews

A county that builds equipment

Hyster-Yale’s plant in Sulligent opened in 1970 and is Lamar County’s largest employer, drawing workers from two states and eleven counties. It manufactures cylinders, transmissions and other parts for Hyster and Yale lift trucks sold worldwide. Bolzoni Auramo, also in Sulligent, builds lift-truck attachments. In Vernon, Trachte Building Systems runs its Roof Mart operation making steel self-storage components; a 2021 expansion was planned to more than double its workforce.

Heavy machining and fabrication shops move dies, fixtures, coils and finished assemblies all day. Much of that is overhead crane work governed by 29 CFR 1910.179. When a shop adds a bay, sets a new machining center or replaces a press, a mobile crane and an outside rigging crew usually show up, and that work falls under the construction standard.

Poles, pallets and lumber

Timber has long been part of the southern half of the county. Weyerhaeuser runs a lumber mill in Millport, Millport Lumber makes pallets, and Brown Wood Preserving in Kennedy treats utility poles. Pole yards and treating plants handle long, heavy, flexible loads, and the utility crews who set those poles in the field often use digger derricks, which have their own certification program.

Long poles and lumber bundles flex as they lift, so choosing pick points and tag lines matters as much as total weight. Rigging questions about spreader bars, two-point picks and controlling a long load in wind connect directly to what yard and line crews deal with in the southern half of the county.

Picking a starting point

• Shop and maintenance staff who hook loads: Rigger Level 1
• Contract or plant operators running hydraulic cranes: mobile crane operator
• Mechanics with a crane on their service truck: service truck crane operator
• Line crews setting poles: digger derrick operator

Rules on both sides of the state line

Neither Alabama nor Mississippi issues a general state crane operator license, and both are federal OSHA states. On construction work, 1926.1427 requires operator certification from an accredited body and an employer evaluation. Signal persons must be qualified under 1926.1428, and riggers who work in the fall zone under 1926.1425 and 1926.1404. A national NCCCO credential travels with you, which helps when jobs pull you into Columbus or other Mississippi towns.

Written exams can be taken through Online Proctored Testing, at a computer test center or at a test event. The practical is hands-on and arranged through the certifying body. Tuscaloosa and Columbus, Mississippi, are the nearest larger cities for most residents. Our Alabama requirements guide explains each step.