People Team AI Ask about a date

How exposed to AI is a Highway Maintenance Worker?

Of the 19 tasks O*NET lists for highway maintenance workers, 0 could be done in half the time with a chat window today. 19 cannot be sped up at all. Here is which.

Exposure means published research judged an AI could halve the time a task takes, at the same quality. It does not mean the task stops needing a person. How to read this

Also called
Equipment Operator (EO)Highway MaintainerHighway Maintenance Crew WorkerHighway Maintenance TechnicianHighway Maintenance WorkerMaintenance TechnicianMaintenance WorkerTransportation Maintenance OperatorTransportation Maintenance Specialist (TMS)Transportation Worker
Reachable today Needs software built first Cannot be sped up
19
tasks rated for this occupation
0%
hold a degree, from a survey of 20
141k
people do this job in the US
49 of 61
least protected in construction

Every task, and what AI can do with it

These are O*NET's task statements for this occupation, exactly as written, sorted into the three bands by the ratings behind this report. Nothing has been reworded.

Cannot be sped up

19
  • 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
  • Apply poisons along roadsides and in animal burrows to eliminate unwanted roadside vegetation and rodents
  • Measure and mark locations for installation of markers, using tape, string, or chalk
  • Paint traffic control lines and place pavement traffic messages, by hand or using machines
  • Apply oil to road surfaces, using sprayers
  • Inspect markers to verify accurate installation
  • Place and remove snow fences used to prevent the accumulation of drifting snow on highways
  • Blend compounds to form adhesive mixtures used for marker installation
What this does not say

This is not a prediction about your job

Nobody surveyed an employer. Tasks are counted equally, so a percentage here is a share of the list rather than a share of your week. And the ratings were made in 2023, which makes every figure a floor rather than a ceiling.

It must never be used to select anyone for redundancy. The full limits are here.

Where to go next

This is the standard task list for the title. The useful next question is which of the tasks you actually do should go near AI, and which should not.

Sort your own tasks Read the full report

Exposure ratings from Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs, Science 384, 1306–1308, 2024, used under the MIT licence. This page includes information from the O*NET Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. People Team AI has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Employment figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.