The CCO Digger Derrick Operator (DDO) designation certifies operators of digger derricks – the truck-mounted machines that auger pole holes, set and pull poles, and lift with a boom in utility work. Its written examination is a single examination of 75 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, across site, pre-operation, operation, technical knowledge, and manufacturers’ load charts. Certification also requires a practical examination and runs five years. This program covers the written examination only.
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What this designation certifies
The digger derrick is three machines on one truck: an auger that digs the hole, a boom and winch that set the pole into it, and a crane that then hangs transformers, crossarms, and conductors’ hardware – all of it performed in the electrical environment, around energised lines, by crews whose other trade is line work. No other designation in the suite examines digging. The DDO designation certifies that operator, and its outline carries the machine’s double life openly: operation of the derrick as a digging and setting machine, and the dielectric discipline – insulated booms, covers, clearances – that governs work where the load path passes near live conductors. One written examination of 75 questions, a practical, five years. This program covers the written examination only.
What makes the digger derrick its own discipline is that the crane work is embedded in electrical work. The operator’s load charts matter, and so do minimum approach distances; the auger’s torque behaviour in rock matters, and so does the dielectric rating of the boom section the crew is standing under. Personnel may work from a platform on the machine under defined conditions; screw anchors are screwed into the earth the auger just opened; poles are pulled as well as set, with the ground’s grip as the unknown load. The examination spans both trades deliberately, and its technical domain – A10.31 digger derrick standards, OSHA’s digger derrick provisions in both construction and general industry dress – is where the two trades’ rules are reconciled.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Certification | CCO Digger Derrick Operator (DDO) |
| Written examination | One single written examination of 75 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes |
| Domain weights | Site approximately 11%; Pre-Operation approximately 17%; Operation approximately 36%; Technical Knowledge approximately 19%; Manufacturers’ Load Charts approximately 17% (handbook outline) |
| Distinctive content | Digging and screw anchor installation, pole setting and pulling, auger stowing, dielectric protection and insulated booms, phase lifting equipment, and personnel platform work — under ANSI/ASSE A10.31 and the handbook’s OSHA references |
| Passing standard | CCO does not publish a percentage passing standard for this written examination; results are determined under CCO’s criterion-referenced scoring |
| Eligibility | At least 18 years of age; compliance with the CCO Substance Abuse Policy; agreement to the CCO Code of Ethics; the handbook also carries physical and medical requirements, for which a DOT Medical Examiner’s Certificate may serve as evidence |
| Practical examination | A separate CCO practical examination on a digger derrick — its tasks include augering a hole and placing a utility pole — is also required for certification. This PassProfessor program does not cover it |
| Certification period | Five years; the written and practical examinations must both be passed within 12 months of each other |
| Written examination fee | CCO fee: $210 for the DDO written examination (a third-party fee per the CCO fee schedule effective January 1, 2024) |
| Administrator | CCO — the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO). PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with CCO or OSHA |
What the written examination covers
Operation leads at approximately 36%: the working cycle of dig, set, rig, lift – augering technique, pole handling and setting, anchor installation, lifting with the boom and winch, and the electrical-environment disciplines woven through every task. Technical knowledge at 19% carries the standards framework and the machine’s systems, including dielectric protection, insulated components, and their testing and care. Pre-operation at 17% is a domain in its own right here – inspection and setup of a machine with more working ends than most. Manufacturers’ load charts take 17%, and site – the easement, the roadside, the backyard set – takes 11%.
Site — ~11%
Site work for a digger derrick is the utility set: easements and rights-of-way, roadside and backyard placements, ground for outriggers at the pole line, underground utility awareness before the auger turns, overhead conductor positions read as site facts, and traffic and public management around a working truck. The smallest domain in the outline and the first in every job: the site decides what the machine may do before the machine does anything.
Pre-Operation — ~17%
A domain of its own, earned by the machine’s complexity: inspection of auger and drive, boom and winch, rope, outriggers, hydraulic systems, and the insulating components whose condition is an electrical safety fact; setup and levelling; function checks; and the preparation of digging and lifting gear. The examination treats pre-operation as examined work with its own sequences, not as a preamble to operations.
Operation — ~36%
The outline’s centre: digging with the auger across soil conditions, screw anchor installation, pole setting and pulling, lifting with boom and winch including phase lifting equipment, load handling in the electrical environment, personnel platform operation under its rules, and the coordination of a line crew around the machine. Operation here spans two trades, and the domain examines their junction – the lift made beside live conductors, the pole flown over a crew – as its core material.
Technical Knowledge — ~19%
The standards and systems domain: ANSI/ASSE A10.31 for digger derricks, the handbook’s OSHA references across construction and general industry, dielectric protection principles, insulated versus non-insulated machines, booms, platforms and liners and their care and testing, hydraulic and mechanical systems, and stability. It is the domain where the two trades’ rulebooks are reconciled into one operator’s knowledge.
Manufacturers’ Load Charts — ~17%
Digger derrick charts state boom capacities for the machine’s configurations, and the domain examines reading them as utility work requires: capacity at the radius and boom angle of the set, the effect of the machine’s working configuration, and the deductions proper to the gear in use. Pole weights, transformer weights, and the unknown load of a pulled pole all meet the chart here.
Who this certification serves
Digger derrick operators are the utility industry’s setters: line crews at electric utilities and their contractors, telecommunications and co-op crews, and the storm-restoration fleets that rebuild distribution systems after weather. Their certification sits at the junction of two regulated worlds – crane operation and electrical work – and employers in both worlds read DDO as the examined credential for the machine that joins them. The designation also carries a medical dimension the other designations state more lightly: the handbook’s physical requirements reflect work performed around energised plant, often from the machine itself.
The written route, in order
The written route is a single sitting: 75 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. The practical examination on a digger derrick – whose published tasks include digging a hole with the auger and placing a utility pole – must also be passed, both elements within 12 months of each other, and certification then runs five years. Eligibility adds the handbook’s physical and medical requirements to the suite’s common floor of age, Substance Abuse Policy compliance, and Code of Ethics agreement; the handbook accepts a DOT Medical Examiner’s Certificate as evidence of meeting them. Results issue under CCO’s criterion-referenced scoring with no percentage passing standard published. CCO’s written examination fee is $210 under the fee schedule effective January 1, 2024.
What makes this examination demanding
The sitting’s demand is duality at pace. Seventy-five questions alternate worlds: a chart problem, then a dielectric question, then an auger behaviour item, then a personnel platform rule. Candidates strong in one world leak marks in the other, and the outline’s weights – operation over a third, technical knowledge a fifth – mean neither world can be carried by the other. The pre-operation domain adds a third discipline: this machine’s inspection is longer and more consequential than most, covering auger, boom, winch, outriggers, and insulating components, and the examination prices it at 17% accordingly.
The credential at work
The certified digger derrick operator’s working value is the integrated set: hole dug true, pole set plumb, hardware flown safely in the vicinity of energised lines, anchors holding what engineering said they would hold. Storm work concentrates the credential’s worth – unfamiliar ground, damaged plant, time pressure, and live conductors in combination – and the designation’s examined disciplines are precisely the ones that combination punishes when they are informal. Utilities and contractors staffing restoration rosters read DDO as the portable evidence that the operator has been examined across both trades the machine joins.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built domain by domain on the outline CCO publishes. The CCO Digger Derrick Operator Candidate Handbook (REV 09/18) prints the written examination outline for the CCO Digger Derrick Operator written examination, and the program in the works follows that outline as its table of contents – its domains, in its proportions. Practice items are original, written for this program from the outline and the manufacturer’s chart discipline it tests; they are not examination items, not recalled items, and not another company’s items reworded.
A digger derrick operator’s exam, prepared as a digger derrick operator’s exam. The candidate this program serves runs digger derricks – the auger-and-boom trucks that dig the hole, set the pole, and then work as cranes over live electrical country. The scenario work is therefore written from that seat: a hole augered true in rocky ground, a pole flown and set to the mark, a transformer lifted on phase equipment within reach of energised lines. That orientation runs through the chart material as well as the operations material.
Domain-level diagnostics. Results are organised by outline domain rather than as a single score, because a single score cannot tell a candidate whether the next study hour belongs in manufacturers’ load charts or in the load charts. The outline’s heaviest domains get the deepest practice sets, in the outline’s own proportions.
Written examination only, with the boundary kept clear. PassProfessor preparation covers the written examination only. It does not cover the practical examination and it is not hands-on training. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with CCO (the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, NCCCO) or with OSHA; CCO alone administers the examinations and issues the certification.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The CCO Digger Derrick Operator (DDO) program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
Does this program cover the CCO practical examination?
No. It prepares candidates for the DDO written examination. Certification also requires a practical examination on a digger derrick – its tasks include augering a hole and placing a pole – for which this program offers no preparation and no hands-on component.
How long is the written examination?
Seventy-five multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, in a single sitting. Its five domains are site, pre-operation, operation, technical knowledge, and manufacturers’ load charts.
What is dielectric protection, and why is it examined?
The insulation discipline that protects the crew when the machine works near energised lines: insulated boom sections, platforms and liners, their ratings, care, and testing. A digger derrick works in the electrical environment as a matter of routine, and the technical domain examines dielectric knowledge as core operator knowledge.
Are there medical requirements?
Yes. In addition to the common eligibility floor – at least 18, Substance Abuse Policy compliance, Code of Ethics agreement – the handbook carries physical and medical requirements, and a DOT Medical Examiner’s Certificate may serve as evidence of meeting them. Read the handbook’s current text before applying.
How long is DDO certification valid?
Five years, under the current CCO Digger Derrick Operator Candidate Handbook, whose recertification provisions include an experience measure for this designation.
What does CCO charge for the written examination?
Per the CCO fee schedule effective January 1, 2024, the DDO written examination fee is $210 – a third-party fee charged by CCO for its own examination.
Is there a percentage passing standard?
CCO publishes none for this written examination; results are determined under CCO’s criterion-referenced scoring. Percentages quoted by third parties are not CCO’s.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with CCO?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with CCO (the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, NCCCO) or OSHA. The program confers no certification and reports nothing to CCO.
Does the designation cover ordinary boom trucks?
No. The digger derrick is a distinct machine – auger-equipped, built for utility setting work – and DDO examines its digging, setting, and dielectric disciplines. A plain telescopic boom truck sits under the telescopic designations.
What is a screw anchor, in this outline?
A helical anchor screwed into the ground by the derrick’s auger drive to anchor guys and structures. Its installation – torque, depth, and soil judgement – is examined operation material, unique to this designation in the suite.