Construction and Extraction · Holland code RC

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.

Also called: Equipment Operator (EO), Paver Operator, Roller Operator, Screed Operator, Asphalt Paver Operator, Asphalt Paving Machine Operator, Asphalt Raker, Asphalt Roller Operator.

O*NET 47-2071.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $53,340; Middle half earn $45,610 to $64,720. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Less than a High School Diploma; 41% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Monitoring3.3 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Active Listening2.9 / 5
Speaking2.9 / 5
Active Learning2.6 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Building and Construction3.6 / 5
Mechanical3.3 / 5
Mathematics2.8 / 5
Physics2.7 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service2.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative12
Artistic0
Social0
Enterprising0
Conventional45

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

road maintenance technician · DE Straßeninstandhaltungstechniker/Straßeninstandhaltungstechnikerin · FR opérateur entretien et surveillance du réseau routier/opératrice entretien et surveillance du réseau routier
asphalt plant operator · DE Asphaltkocher/Asphaltkocherin · FR opérateur d’installation de préparation d’asphalte/opératrice d’installation de préparation d’asphalte
bulldozer operator · DE Erdbaumaschinenführer/Erdbaumaschinenführerin · FR conducteur de bulldozer/conductrice de bulldozer
excavator operator · DE Baggerführer/Baggerführerin · FR conducteur d’excavatrice/conductrice d’excavatrice
grader operator · DE Graderfahrer/Graderfahrerin · FR conducteur de niveleuse/conductrice de niveleuse
road construction worker · DE Straßenbaumaschinenführer/Straßenbaumaschinenführerin · FR ouvrier en voiries/ouvrière en voiries

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Building and civil engineering technicians (3114)20,100 employed
Rail construction and maintenance operatives (8153)7,600 employed
Road construction operatives (8152)13,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.18. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (47-2071).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test