Crane and hoist industry veteran Joe Crews recently stepped out on his own, establishing Crews Crane Training International Inc., a crane and hoist sales, service, and maintenance provider for the material-handling industry. Crews, a 26-year recently retired veteran of the U.S. Navy and industry expert on cranes and hoists, incorporated CCTI in December.
Crews started the company to assist companies with OSHA compliance through training in crane and hoist safety programs. CCTI also provides consulting services to end-users to keep them in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local occupational safety regulations, industry standards, and company procedures.
The breadth of Crews’s offerings is impressive. Companies looking for just about any type of training can find it in one place—from one-hour refresher courses to full-day training on rigging, operating training, and operator train-the-trainer. CCTI also offers two different inspector training courses: One was developed for more frequent monthly inspections to satisfy the standards, such as inspecting the hook, wire rope, and other crane components, while the three-day inspector training can either be for an entire company that wants to perform its own safety inspections or provide third-party inspections to outside companies.
“The training is mostly for overhead cranes, but I’m about to [provide] more in-depth training for mobile operators,” Crews said. He is currently working on becoming certified through Mike Parnell’s training operation, Industrial Training International, Woodland, Wash. Once his training is complete, he will focus on operator training for boom trucks and smaller capacity mobile cranes.
In addition to crane specific training, Crews offers CPR/AED training that teaches how to revive someone more successfully and flagger training for construction. He also provides training on aerial lifts and forklifts through the National Safety Council, as well as OSHA 10- and 30-Hour Outreach courses.
The training CCTI provides is far and wide. Located in Greensboro/High Point, N.C., CCTI is capable of providing service throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as outside North America. Over the years, Crews has offered training in Egypt and Kuwait, as well as in Iraq while in the military, serving as the safety officer while on assignment.
For the most part, he trains at his customers’ facilities, providing his own equipment samples for the training and inspections–although he does have a facility in Greensboro for training at his location. Current and past customers include Tyco, Volvo, GE, Caterpillar, Flow Serve, Vientek, ABB, and PCS Phosphate.
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