What does a Highway Maintenance Worker do?

Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Day to day that includes work like set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic and Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.

What skills should a Highway Maintenance Worker put on a resume?

O*NET rates Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Coordination, Monitoring, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Highway Maintenance Worker list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Database software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Highway Maintenance Worker work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Equipment Operator, EO, Highway Maintainer, and Transportation Maintenance Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Highway Maintenance Worker need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 88% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Highway Maintenance Worker role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Highway Maintenance Worker resume example

A resume for a Highway Maintenance Worker needs to show the work itself: maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Day to day that means work like this: set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic; flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Equipment Operator
EO
Highway Maintainer
Transportation Maintenance Specialist
TMS
Highway Maintenance Crew Worker
Highway Maintenance Technician
Maintenance Technician
Maintenance Worker
Transportation Maintenance Operator
Transportation Worker
Asphalt Raker
Caltrans Equipment Operator
Certified Flagger
Construction Flagger
Flagger
Highway Worker
Hot Oiler

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Equipment Operator (EO)
Highway Maintenance Worker
Transportation Maintenance Specialist (TMS)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

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.
Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures.
Drive heavy equipment and vehicles with adjustable attachments to sweep debris from paved surfaces, mow grass and weeds, remove snow and ice, and spread salt and sand.
Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders.
Inspect, clean, and repair drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, and other structures.
Remove litter and debris from roadways, including debris from rock and mud slides.
Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement.
Perform roadside landscaping work, such as clearing weeds and brush, and planting and trimming trees.

19 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Database software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Spreadsheet software
Web browser software
Word processing software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-ton crawlers
10-ton tandem-axle dump trucks
13000-23000 pound graders
30-ton clam buckets
4-6 ton roller patchers
8-ton dump trucks
Adjustable widemouth pliers
Adjustable wrenches
Aggregate spreaders
Air compressors
Asphalt reclaimers
Athey loaders

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Operation and Control
02Operations Monitoring
03Coordination
04Monitoring
05Active Listening
06Complex Problem Solving
07Speaking

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Public Safety and Security
English Language
Transportation
Building and Construction
Education and Training
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

88%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
5%Less than a High School Diploma
5%Associate's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Highway Maintenance Worker do?: Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Day to day that includes work like set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic and Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
What skills should a Highway Maintenance Worker put on a resume?: O*NET rates Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Coordination, Monitoring, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Highway Maintenance Worker list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Database software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Highway Maintenance Worker work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Equipment Operator, EO, Highway Maintainer, and Transportation Maintenance Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Highway Maintenance Worker need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 88% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Highway Maintenance Worker role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.