Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Overview

Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators has a national median salary of $59,850 per year, with +4.6% 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

Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Working Conditions

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Learn and follow safety regulations.
• Take actions to avoid potential hazards or obstructions, such as utility lines, other equipment, other workers, or falling objects.
• Check fuel supplies at sites to ensure adequate availability.
• Start engines, move throttles, switches, or levers, or depress pedals to operate machines, such as bulldozers, trench excavators, road graders, or backhoes.
• Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.

Work Activities

• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Getting Information
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Detailed Work Activities

• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• 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.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

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 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators:

Video Resources