Occupation Details
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
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Interests
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Values
Relationships
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Independence
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$37,340.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$52,120.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$68,800.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
1,370
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
1,630
+26 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
183
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.2%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
Some Training - Certificate or hands-on training
Experience Requirements
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Requirements
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
School Programs
The following lists school programs which are applicable to this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Apprenticeship
Contact your regional representative to learn more about apprenticeships available in your area by visiting Apprenticeship Contacts.
Skills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
Building and Construction
Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mechanical
Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Physics
Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Achievement/Effort
Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Adaptability/Flexibility
Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Independence
Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Self-Control
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Social Orientation
Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Adjustable wrenches
- Asphalt distributor trucks
- Asphalt heating equipment
- Asphalt mixing equipment
- Asphalt paving machines
- Asphalt rakes
- Automatic paving control systems
- Chip spreaders
- Claw hammers
- Cold planers
- Compactors
- Concrete paving machines
- Concrete saws
- Desktop computers
- Dump trucks
- Flatbed truck trailers
- Hot mix material transfer devices
- Jackhammers
- Laser levels
- Liquid asphalt storage equipment
- Locking pliers
- Manual rollers
- Milling machines
- Motor graders
- Nut drivers
- Oil distributors
- Pavement marking machines
- Paving curbing machines
- Paving finishing machines
- Personal computers
Technology
- Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
- Database software
- Email software
- HCSS HeavyBid
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Outlook
- Spreadsheet software
- Time report software
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- measure, weigh, or count products or materials
- load or unload material or workpiece into machinery
- read specifications
- read work order, instructions, formulas, or processing charts
- understand construction specifications
- adjust production equipment/machinery setup
- maintain or repair construction machinery or equipment
- clean equipment or machinery
- install equipment or attachments on machinery or related structures
- perform safety inspections in construction or resource extraction setting
- monitor production machinery/equipment operation to detect problems
- prepare site or surfaces for concrete or masonry work
- drive truck with capacity greater than 3 tons
- operate earth-moving or other heavy construction equipment
- use hand or power tools
- use measuring devices in construction or extraction work
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
- Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.
- Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds.
- Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
- Coordinate truck dumping.
- Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites.
- Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors.
- Set up and tear down equipment.
- Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds.
- Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates.
- Control traffic.
- Place strips of material, such as cork, asphalt, or steel into joints, or place rolls of expansion-joint material on machines that automatically insert material.
- Shovel blacktop.
- Operate tamping machines or manually roll surfaces to compact earth fills, foundation forms, and finished road materials, according to grade specifications.
- Drive and operate curbing machines to extrude concrete or asphalt curbing.
- Operate oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, and snow plows.
- Operate machines that clean or cut expansion joints in concrete or asphalt and that rout out cracks in pavement.
- Cut or break up pavement and drive guardrail posts, using machines equipped with interchangeable hammers.
- Install dies, cutters, and extensions to screeds onto machines, using hand tools.
- Set up forms and lay out guidelines for curbs, according to written specifications, using string, spray paint, and concrete or water mixes.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Construction equipment operators
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
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