Not a single Chipotle in sight. (Source)

Imagine: A world where all are trapped in the town in which they were born. Trains and planes rule the transit system, and everyday citizens almost never leave their home. Outside the city walls lies nothing but uninhabited land for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Okay, so that sounds like some sort of post-apocalyptic Mad Max dreamland, but without highways that's how America might actually look. Highways are incredibly important for work, travel, shipping, and everything in between. Without them, traveling around the country would be a nightmare. 

Therefore, the maintenance of those highways is of utmost importance. That's where highway maintenance workers―the rough and tough people who are responsible for fixing and maintaining one of the lifelines of America―come in.

First off, big disclaimer: even though they're super important, highway maintenance workers don't really make a lot of cash. Maintenance workers on average make about $37,910 a year (source). Depending on where you live, though, you can make over $50,000 (source). If you're all about the money, research how much money maintenance workers usually make in your city and hey, you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

They work hard to make sure you never get stuck like this. (Source)

Although "maintenance" doesn't exactly sound like hard labor, the job is pretty tough. Maintenance workers work outside pretty much all day, every day―no matter the weather. They're the guys and gals who clear the roads of snow during snowstorms or lay asphalt in ninety-five degree weather so we all can drive to work the next day.

Highway maintenance workers do more than cut lawns and keep the highways b-e-a-u-tiful. They're also responsible for filling in holes and dangerous cracks in the highway, installing signage, guardrails, and fences, and removing trees or objects that have fallen onto the road. If it's anything related to the highway, maintenance workers are on it like a bug on a windshield.

Although you only need a high school diploma to qualify, there's a lot of training and certification that goes into making a legit maintenance worker. First, there's about a year or two of on the job training that all hired maintenance workers have to go through. 

Then, there are also quite a few different certifications that maintenance workers can obtain in order to learn how to operate the heavy construction machinery on site (source). This isn't a one and done sort of deal. There's a lot of construction and machinery knowledge required for this job and there's nearly always something new to learn.

In addition to all that extra learnin' you'll be subjected to, there are a few ways to rise up the ranks. Great maintenance workers have the chance to be promoted to lead maintenance workers. If you're a lead, you'll be in charge of entire crews and report to a supervising maintenance worker. If you work your way up to supervisor, you'll spend less time outside and more time inside working on budgets and administrative stuff.

The only issue with this gig is that opportunities are kinda hard to come by. The growth rate for this job is slower than the national average, which means actually finding a job might be difficult (source). On the other hand, you only need to be eighteen with a high school diploma to apply. So if you start looking for a job at eighteen, you should be able to snag one eventually.

Then it'll be nothing but you and the open (actually, more often closed) road.

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