Transportation maintenance operator vs highway maintainer

The differences between transportation maintenance operators and highway maintainers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a transportation maintenance operator and a highway maintainer. Additionally, a highway maintainer has an average salary of $48,568, which is higher than the $33,448 average annual salary of a transportation maintenance operator.

The top three skills for a transportation maintenance operator include safety regulations, CDL and DOT. The most important skills for a highway maintainer are loaders, cdl class, and road surfaces.

Transportation maintenance operator vs highway maintainer overview

	Transportation Maintenance Operator	Highway Maintainer
Yearly salary	$33,448	$48,568
Hourly rate	$16.08	$23.35
Growth rate	5%	-
Number of jobs	89,662	1,613
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	High School Diploma, 42%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	12	12

Transportation maintenance operator vs highway maintainer salary

Transportation maintenance operators and highway maintainers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Transportation Maintenance Operator	Highway Maintainer
Average salary	$33,448	$48,568
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $48,000	Between $29,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between transportation maintenance operator and highway maintainer education

There are a few differences between a transportation maintenance operator and a highway maintainer in terms of educational background:

	Transportation Maintenance Operator	Highway Maintainer
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	High School Diploma, 42%
Most common major	Business	General Studies
Most common college	-	-

Transportation maintenance operator vs highway maintainer demographics

Here are the differences between transportation maintenance operators' and highway maintainers' demographics:

	Transportation Maintenance Operator	Highway Maintainer
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 71.6% Female, 28.4%	Male, 92.1% Female, 7.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 0.5% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 0.4% White, 76.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between transportation maintenance operator and highway maintainer duties and responsibilities

Transportation maintenance operator example responsibilities.

Manage receipt, storage and issue of ammunition processes.
Operate wheel loaders, bulldozers, and farm grade tractors with different implements, also construct grain bins.
Train incoming soldiers to operate all wheel vehicles and equipment over vary terrain and roadways in support of combat operations.
Apply CPR procedures if need.
Operate Opex slitting/sorting & postage machines.
Have attended classes for the GPS unit.

Highway maintainer example responsibilities.

Cut brush, operate mowing equipment, and litter pick up.
Maintain and repair all trucks, tractors, mowers, etc.
Dump, spread and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tamper to patch broken or erode pavement.
Operate machines to spread, smooth, level or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds.
Ensure upkeep of state land and highways including; mowing, painting, road maintenance, trash and brush pick up.
Receive and implement combat orders and direct deployment of personnel in offensive, defensive and retrograde operations.

Transportation maintenance operator vs highway maintainer skills

Common transportation maintenance operator skills

Safety Regulations, 25%
CDL, 13%
DOT, 8%
Maintenance Checks, 6%
Emergency Equipment, 3%
Safety Procedures, 3%

Common highway maintainer skills

Loaders, 18%
CDL Class, 14%
Road Surfaces, 9%
Dump Truck, 9%
Mowing, 8%
Snowplows, 7%

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Transportation Maintenance Operator vs Highway Maintainer

Updated January 8, 2025

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