San Bernardino Operators: Prepare for Certification Below the Cajon Pass

From air base to air-cargo hub

Norton Air Force Base closed decades ago, and a joint powers authority has spent years turning it into San Bernardino International Airport. Amazon's regional air hub, a building of roughly 660,000 square feet developed with Hillwood, opened there in the early 2020s, and UPS and FedEx also operate at the field. Trade reports described it as one of Amazon's largest US air hubs.

Building and maintaining facilities like that means precast and steel erection, conveyor and sortation equipment installs, rooftop mechanical units and ground-support infrastructure. Airport work adds height restrictions near runways and close coordination with airfield operations, so the lift plan has to account for more than the load chart.

Large logistics roofs also mean long steel joists and deck bundles lifted at full radius over the building footprint. Knowing how much capacity remains at that radius, after deducting the hook block, rigging and any jib, is one of the most common calculation topics on the written exam, and one of the most common causes of overloads in the field.

Wind first, then everything else

The National Weather Service routinely singles out the Cajon Pass and the foothills below it for the strongest Santa Ana gusts in the Inland Empire. Over the pass itself, gusts have been reported above 80 mph, and wind advisories regularly warn high-profile vehicles on I-15, I-10, I-215 and SR-210. Big rigs pull off the road below the pass when gusts climb.

For a crane crew, that means checking the forecast the evening before, knowing your machine's in-service wind limit and the load's sail area, and having a plan to boom down or lay the boom over before a front arrives. Wind questions show up on every operator written exam, and they matter more here than in most places.

Courses that fit San Bernardino work

• Mobile crane operator for hydraulic truck cranes and crawlers on warehouse, airport and freeway jobs.
• Tower crane operator for operators moving onto mid-rise or institutional projects.
• Rigger Level I for crew members hooking and unhooking loads in the fall zone.
• Signal person for anyone giving hand or radio signals when the operator cannot see the load.

Where the state rule comes in

Cal/OSHA does not hand out crane licenses. Its Title 8 orders instead make the employer responsible for putting only certified operators in the seat of a mobile or tower crane, with a certificate from an accredited certifying entity that covers that specific crane type. Our requirements page explains the exemptions and the annual crane inspection rules too.

Brightline West, the planned high-speed line to Las Vegas, follows the I-15 median with a station planned in Rancho Cucamonga, just west of the city. Construction officially started in April 2024, with more than 160 bridges, viaducts and other structures planned along the route; check current schedules before planning work around it.