Operating Engineers Apprenticeship & Training

Local 132’s training facility is conveniently located north of Charleston off Interstate 77 at the Medina Exit #154. With 165 acres of mountainous terrain it is ideally suited for training. Four full-time and one part-time instructors guide both apprentices and journeymen through training on various pieces of equipment.
Meals are provided during scheduled classes to keep the members expenses as low as possible.
Maintaining almost three miles of roads connecting the training areas, provides ideal training on the motor graders.
A 165-ton Grove crane, one of only six manufactured, is used during crane training classes and in CCO (Certified Crane Operator) practical exams and WV Crane Certification. We also use seven hydraulic cranes ranging from 7 V2 ton to 165 ton and four lattice boom cranes ranging from 12 V2 ton to 65 ton for crane training.
Local 132 was the first location in the country to host an N.C.C.C.O. (National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators) practical exam. West Virginia is one of the first states to require CCO certification in their crane certification law.
Members taking the International Pipeline class have to be accomplished equipment operators prior to enrolling in the training because of the difficulty of tasks involved and the short duration of the classes.
Our classroom training includes grades and plans, load chart comprehension, Hazmat, First-Aid, C.P.R. and 10-hour OSHA Construction Safety.
Applications are taken through the West Virginia WorkForce offices when we have apprenticeship openings, typically every 2 or 3 years.  For more information on application requirements click here.
The length of Apprenticeship is three (3) years.  Five weeks of training are required each year at the Training Site. 1,000 OJT hours are required each year to be advanced to the next year.  Apprentices must be able to travel and be available to work throughout the state of West Virginia.  Apprentices are not paid during training weeks or when they are on job layoff.  they are only paid when working on the job.

The Recruitment, selection, employment and training of apprentices shall be without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin or sex.  The JATC will take affirmative action to provide equal opportunities in apprenticeship and training and will operate the apprenticeship program as required under Title 29 of the code of federal regulations, Part 30.