Palatka Operators and Riggers: Prep for Certification Online

What Georgia-Pacific is building now

In May 2025 Georgia-Pacific announced an $83 million expansion at Palatka built in two phases. Phase 1, already finished, added a 36-acre trailer yard, an inspection station and a new entrance on County Road 216. Phase 2, a 400,000-square-foot warehouse, broke ground on March 13, 2026, with roughly a year of construction expected.

A big distribution warehouse is the classic tilt-up or steel-frame job: tall concrete panels lifted off casting beds with spreader bars and multiple pick points, or long-span joists and girders set by hydraulic cranes. Panel picks are a rigger's test as much as an operator's, because insert loading, bracing and sling angles all have to be right. That work follows an earlier, larger investment: in 2017 the company committed more than $400 million to its tissue and towel business here, including a through-air-dried paper machine.

Inside the mill fence

The site runs two kraft paper machines, three machines making bath tissue and paper towels, and converting lines that turn parent rolls into finished brands such as Brawny, Sparkle and Angel Soft. Every one of those machines has drives, rolls and dryer sections that eventually come out for repair.

Mill picks are rarely simple. Loads are often unbalanced, centers of gravity are hard to find, and the operator usually cannot see the hook. That is why outage crews value signal persons and riggers who are qualified, and why the NCCCO exams spend so much time on load control and communication.

Heat, storms and the warehouse schedule

A year of warehouse construction in Palatka means a full summer of heat index readings well into the triple digits and afternoon storms that build over the river. Lightning shuts lifting down long before rain arrives, so crews tend to front-load critical picks into the morning.

If the project still has a crane on site between June and November, Florida's hoisting-equipment statute requires a hurricane preparedness plan for it and makes the contractor in control secure it at least 24 hours before expected impacts. The law covers tower cranes, hoists and mobile cranes above its size thresholds.

From laborer to certified operator, the Palatka way

Plenty of operators here start as laborers or riggers on contract crews and move up. A practical sequence for someone in that spot:

Practical exams are always taken in person, and Palatka candidates often head north to the Jacksonville area or wherever the certifying body has scheduled a practical site.

• Earn Rigger Level 1 and Signal Person so you are qualified on the hook and the radio.
• Log seat time under supervision on the cranes your employer runs.
• Study for the written exam in the category you will operate, often Mobile Crane Operator or Service Truck Crane Operator.
• Take the written exam online or at a test center, then schedule the practical.