According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments. | 83% |
| Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials. | 80% |
| Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds. | 80% |
| Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material. | 79% |
| Coordinate truck dumping. | 78% |
| Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites. | 78% |
| Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors. | 77% |
| Set up and tear down equipment. | 77% |
| Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds. | 77% |
| Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates. | 74% |
| Control traffic. | 72% |
| 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. | 71% |
| Shovel blacktop. | 71% |
| Operate tamping machines or manually roll surfaces to compact earth fills, foundation forms, and finished road materials, according to grade specifications. | 70% |
| Drive and operate curbing machines to extrude concrete or asphalt curbing. | 70% |
| Operate oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, and snow plows. | 69% |
| Operate machines that clean or cut expansion joints in concrete or asphalt and that rout out cracks in pavement. | 68% |
| Cut or break up pavement and drive guardrail posts, using machines equipped with interchangeable hammers. | 67% |
| Install dies, cutters, and extensions to screeds onto machines, using hand tools. | 65% |
| Set up forms and lay out guidelines for curbs, according to written specifications, using string, spray paint, and concrete or water mixes. | 63% |
