Highway Maintenance Workers

Overview

Highway Maintenance Workers has a national median salary of $50,260 per year, with +3.4% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

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.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• 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.
• Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites.
• Erect, install, or repair guardrails, road shoulders, berms, highway markers, warning signals, and highway lighting, using hand tools and power tools.

Work Activities

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Assisting and Caring for Others
• Developing and Building Teams

Detailed Work Activities

• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
• Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Highway Maintenance Workers:

Video Resources