NCCCO crane operator written exam prep, free to start

What you can practice

Practice here follows the exam's own format and published outline, so what you practice is what you will sit.

• Core: the free 10-question check and the question bank follow the Core written outline.
• LAT, TLL and TSS: practice through the specialty outline they share, with simplified practice load charts for lattice and telescopic booms (not manufacturer charts). There is no separate bank for each specialty.
• Not covered: Service Truck Cranes (STC), which has its own written exam (see the handbook's STC section, pp. 9-10), and the practical exams.

Going for rigger certification instead? See how NCCCO rigger certification works, Level I and Level II, plus Signalperson.

Every question is explained as you answer it in the free check.

Load charts are the biggest single topic

Load charts are about 27% of the Core exam and about 35% of each specialty exam, which since January 2023 uses a generic chart rather than one maker's. The LAT, TLL, TSS and STC comparison shows how the specialty and service truck crane written exams differ in length, calculator rule and load chart weight. The skill is reading a chart correctly: gross and net capacity, deductions, which radius applies, and what the chart's notes allow and forbid. Practice problems use fictional charts that are clearly labeled, so you build the steps without leaning on a manufacturer's chart.

The format in brief

• Core: 95 questions in 90 minutes. No calculator is allowed.
• Each specialty: 28 questions in 60 minutes. A calculator is allowed.
• Where you test: online with a proctor, at a test center, or at a testing event. Results come back immediately.
• Retakes: wait four weeks before retaking the same written exam, unless an alternate form exists.
• The window: once you pass your first exam, you have 12 months to pass the matching written and practical exams for that designation.

Read the Core written exam guide for the domains and fees with links to NCCCO's own documents.

Want questions with explained answers first? Start with the free NCCCO practice test.

Recertifying?

NCCCO certification lasts five years, and recertification uses the same written exams as initial certification, so Core and specialty practice here applies. Read the recertification guide for the 12-month window, the 1,000-hour attestation for the practical and the fees. To see which Core topics need work, take the free 10-question check.

How to use Boom Angle

1. Take the free 10-question check across the Core domains, with no signup.
2. If load charts come out weakest, work through practice charts until each step (radius, configuration, deductions, net capacity) is automatic.
3. Practice the Core arithmetic without a calculator.

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