Highway Maintenance Workers

Also Called:

Equipment Operator (EO),

Highway Maintainer,

Highway Maintenance Worker,

Transportation Maintenance Specialist (TMS)

What they do: Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Duties include patching broken or eroded pavement and repairing guard rails, highway markers, and snow fences. May also mow or clear brush from along road, or plow snow from roadway.

icon

Architecture & Construction

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
  • Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
  • Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

Dependability

Concern for Others

Integrity

Attention to Detail

Cooperation

Self Control

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

See Related Jobs

Realistic

See Related Jobs

Conventional

See Related Jobs

Investigative

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Safety and Government

  • Public safety and security

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Transportation

  • Movement of people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road

Engineering and Technology

  • Building and construction

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Controlled Movement

  • Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat

  • Use your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down

Hand and Finger Use

  • Keep your arm or hand steady

  • Hold or move items with your hands

Endurance

  • Exercise for a long time without getting out of breath

Attention

  • Pay attention to something without being distracted

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Support

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

Relationships

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Working Conditions

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop