The CCO Telescopic Boom Crane — Fixed Cab (TSS) designation certifies operators of telescopic boom cranes whose operator station does not rotate with the boom: boom trucks, carry decks, and fixed-cab machines. Certification requires the Mobile Crane Core written examination of 95 questions in 90 minutes and the TSS specialty written examination of 28 questions in 60 minutes, each part of CCO certification covering the written examination only in this program, plus a practical examination, with certification valid five years.
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What this designation certifies
A fixed-cab telescopic crane puts the operator in a station that stays where it is while the upper works and boom swing above and around it. Boom trucks at delivery yards, carry deck cranes inside plants, and fixed-cab rough-terrain and truck cranes all share that arrangement, and all of them telescope: the boom extends and retracts hydraulically, which means the machine an operator sets up in the morning is, in chart terms, a different machine at every boom length. The TSS designation is CCO’s certification for exactly that family, and it is built the way the mobile crane program is built everywhere: a Core written examination every mobile candidate takes, a specialty written examination on the fixed-cab telescopic machine, and a practical examination. This program prepares candidates for the two written examinations. It does not prepare candidates for the practical.
The telescopic boom is the defining feature, and it changes the operator’s mathematics. A lattice boom’s length changes in sections, on the ground, before the lift; a telescopic boom changes continuously, under load, from the operator’s seat – so boom length becomes a live variable in every capacity question, and the load chart becomes a table the operator reads at the exact length, radius, and configuration of the pick rather than a rating remembered from the morning. Fixed-cab geometry adds its own discipline: the operator’s view of the load changes as the boom swings across quadrants the operator is not facing, and the chart’s capacity depends on which quadrant the pick is in. Candidates who prepare for TSS as though it were a small truck-crane exam miss both points; the examination is written for operators who track configuration continuously.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Certification | CCO Telescopic Boom Crane, Fixed Cab (TSS) — a specialty designation under the CCO Mobile Crane Operator program |
| Written examinations | Two: the Mobile Crane Core Examination and the Telescopic Boom — Fixed Cab (TSS) specialty examination |
| Core examination | 95 multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes; calculator use is not permitted on the Core |
| Specialty examination | 28 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes; calculator use is permitted, and the manufacturer load chart questions sit inside it |
| Passing standard | CCO does not publish a percentage passing standard for these written examinations; 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 |
| Practical examination | A separate CCO practical examination on a fixed-cab telescopic boom crane 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: Core $140; TSS specialty $80 (third-party fees 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
Site judgement opens the outlines because a telescopic crane that travels between jobs meets a new site at every setup: ground bearing under outrigger floats, access, overhead hazards, and the decision of where a machine that must level within its manufacturer’s tolerance can honestly sit. Operations carries the largest Core share, and it is the day-to-day craft – pre-operation inspection, setup, signalling, power line discipline, and shutdown. Technical knowledge covers the machine itself: wire rope, boom structure, hydraulic systems, and the rated capacity limiter. The specialty examination then concentrates its heaviest weight on manufacturers’ load charts, because reading the correct chart for the configuration in front of you is the fixed-cab operator’s signature skill.
Core — Site — ~22%
Site is the Core’s opening domain: evaluating the ground a telescopic crane will stand on, judging bearing capacity under outrigger floats and tracks, setting cribbing and mats, planning access and swing clearance, identifying overhead hazards including power lines, and deciding whether the site as found supports the setup the load chart assumes. For a machine that sets up wherever the work is, site judgement is not preamble – it is the first lift decision.
Core — Operations — ~28%
Operations is the Core’s largest domain: pre-operation and shift inspections, setup and levelling, operating procedures across the pick, standard hand signals and voice communications, power line approach distances and the rules around them, pick-and-carry rules where the manufacturer permits them, and securing the crane at the end of the shift. It examines the craft of running the machine safely on an ordinary day, which is where most exposure sits.
Core — Technical Knowledge — ~23%
Technical knowledge is the machine itself: telescopic boom structure and extension sequencing, wire rope construction and inspection, sheaves and reeving, hydraulic and electrical systems, outrigger systems, and the rated capacity limiter and anti-two-block devices the operator must understand rather than merely obey. It also carries the physics underneath the chart – leverage, centre of gravity, and stability.
Core — Load Charts — ~27%
The Core’s load chart domain teaches the universal grammar of mobile crane charts: gross and net capacity, radius and boom length, quadrants and working areas, deductions for blocks, rigging, and stowed equipment, the bold line between stability-based and structure-based ratings, and interpolation between printed values. Every mobile specialty then speaks this grammar in a manufacturer’s dialect.
Specialty — Site — ~23%
The specialty site domain narrows the Core’s site material to the fixed-cab telescopic machine: outrigger placement on the ground actually available, the effect of a fixed operator station on sight lines during setup, positioning for the picks the day requires, and re-checking the setup as the job moves the machine. It assumes the Core’s site knowledge and examines its application to this configuration.
Specialty — Operations — ~23%
Specialty operations examines running the fixed-cab telescopic crane through its working cycle: extending and retracting under load within the chart, managing the swing from a station that does not rotate with the load, signalling arrangements that compensate for the operator’s changing view, and the procedures for the abnormal events – load drift, hydraulic failure, two-block approach – that this machine family presents.
Specialty — Technical Knowledge — ~19%
The specialty technical domain covers the fixed-cab telescopic machine’s own systems in handbook depth: boom extension systems and their indicators, the operator aids fitted to this family, outrigger monitoring, and the inspection points particular to telescopic booms – wear pads, extension chains and cables, and boom section condition.
Specialty — Manufacturers’ Load Charts — ~35%
The heaviest specialty domain, and the examination’s centre: reading the specific manufacturers’ charts for fixed-cab telescopic cranes – on-outrigger and on-rubber charts, quadrant charts, boom length and jib configurations, erection and stowed-equipment deductions, and the notes that condition every number in the table. Mastery here is the difference between knowing how charts work and being able to work this chart.
Who this certification serves
The designation serves operators of boom trucks delivering building materials and setting rooftop units, operators of carry deck cranes moving loads inside plants and refineries, and operators of fixed-cab truck and rough-terrain cranes on construction sites – work where the machine travels to the load, sets up on whatever ground it finds, and makes a series of picks that each reconfigure the chart. Employers and general contractors rely on CCO certification as the portable evidence that the operator has been examined on that work, and OSHA’s crane standard for construction is the regulatory backdrop the handbook invokes throughout.
The written route, in order
The written route runs Core first or specialty first – CCO permits the written examinations in either order, and certification is complete only when the written examinations and the practical examination have all been passed within 12 months of each other. The Core examination is 95 questions in 90 minutes with no calculator permitted; the TSS specialty is 28 questions in 60 minutes with a calculator permitted, because its chart questions require computation rather than estimation. Candidates schedule each sitting with CCO, sit at a CCO test site, and receive results under CCO’s criterion-referenced scoring, which publishes no percentage passing standard. Certification, once complete, runs five years.
What makes this examination demanding
The specialty examination is the demanding half of this route, and it is demanding in a specific way: 28 questions is a short examination, and more than a third of it is manufacturer load chart work, so a handful of chart errors is a large share of the score. The charts are read at interpolated lengths and radii, across quadrants, with deductions for the block, rigging, and stowed attachments taken in the order the manufacturer prescribes. Preparation that treats chart reading as looking up a number, rather than as configuring the machine on paper exactly as it stands on the ground, does not survive this examination.
The credential at work
Certified fixed-cab operators work the mobile end of the crane world: several setups a week, sometimes several a day, on ground ranging from plant concrete to graded fill. The chart discipline the examination tests is the discipline the work demands – verifying the configuration before the pick, refusing a radius the chart does not support at that length, and treating the rated capacity limiter as information rather than as permission. The designation also carries inside the mobile program: TSS certification is the designation under which CCO treats service truck cranes, and candidates whose work is exclusively on service truck cranes should note that CCO examines that work separately under the Service Truck Crane designation, with its own restricted certification.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Original practice material, written to CCO’s published outline. The program is being built from scratch against the CCO Mobile Crane Operator Candidate Handbook (REV 06/24) written examination outline for the CCO Telescopic Boom Crane — Fixed Cab specialty examination: every practice set is organised by the outline’s own domains and weighted the way the outline weights them. No practice item is an actual examination item, and none is drawn from another provider’s material; items are written as the working decisions of a fixed-cab telescopic crane operator – a described site, a machine in a stated configuration, a chart in front of you, a choice among plausible readings of it.
The certification around the exam, not only the sitting. Passing the written examination is one step in CCO certification, and it sits alongside a practical examination on a fixed-cab telescopic crane and continuing compliance with CCO’s Substance Abuse Policy and Code of Ethics. Preparation that drills items while leaving the route unmapped produces candidates who pass the written sitting and then stall; this program keeps the whole route in view while keeping its centre of gravity on the written examination itself.
Results you can read by outline domain. Practice is reported domain by domain against the outline, so a candidate who is strong on chart computation and thin on site judgement can see the split while there is still time to repair it, instead of discovering it in a score report.
Written examination only, stated plainly. This program prepares candidates for the written examination. It does not prepare candidates for the CCO practical examination, it includes no hands-on component, and no part of it substitutes for time on the machine. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with CCO (the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, NCCCO) or with OSHA. The program confers no certification, no credit, and no exemption; CCO alone certifies.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The CCO Telescopic Boom Crane, Fixed Cab (TSS) 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. The program prepares candidates for the written examinations only – the Mobile Crane Core examination and the TSS specialty written examination. CCO certification also requires a practical examination on a fixed-cab telescopic boom crane, and this program includes no preparation for it and no hands-on component.
How many written examinations does TSS certification require?
Two: the Mobile Crane Core examination, shared by every mobile crane designation, and the TSS specialty examination. They may be taken in either order, and both must be passed – along with the practical examination – within 12 months of each other for certification to issue.
What is the difference between TSS and TLL?
The operator station. On a TSS crane the operator’s station is fixed and does not rotate with the boom; on a TLL crane the station is mounted on the rotating upper works and swings with it. The two designations share the same Core examination and carry different specialty examinations and different practical examinations.
I operate a service truck crane. Is TSS my designation?
Possibly, but read the Service Truck Crane designation first. CCO examines service truck crane work under a separate, restricted certification with its own single written examination, while TSS certification – the broader designation – also covers service truck cranes. Which route fits depends on whether your work is exclusively on service trucks.
How long is TSS certification valid?
Five years from certification, under the rules in the current CCO Mobile Crane Operator Candidate Handbook, which also sets the recertification requirements.
What does CCO charge for the written examinations?
Per the CCO fee schedule effective January 1, 2024, the Core written examination fee is $140 and the TSS specialty written examination fee is $80. Those are CCO’s third-party fees for its own examinations; PassProfessor charges nothing in that schedule and appears nowhere in it.
Is there a published percentage I must score to pass?
No. CCO does not publish a percentage passing standard for these written examinations; results are determined under CCO’s criterion-referenced scoring. Any provider quoting you a percentage pass mark for this examination is inventing it.
Is PassProfessor part of CCO?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. It is not affiliated with CCO, the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), or OSHA, and completing this program confers no certification and is not reported to CCO.
Can I take the Core and specialty examinations in either order?
Yes. CCO permits the written examinations in either order. The sequencing constraint that matters is the 12-month window: all elements of certification, written and practical, must be passed within 12 months of each other.
Does the program include the load charts themselves?
The program teaches candidates to read manufacturers’ load charts of the kind the specialty examination uses – quadrants, deductions, interpolation, and chart notes – using original practice material written for this program. It does not reproduce CCO examination items or any manufacturer’s proprietary chart publication.