- Observe tracks to detect obstructions.
Occupations with related tasks Save Table: XLSX CSV
- Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses.
- Stand gangway watches to prevent unauthorized persons from boarding ships while in port.
- Participate in shore patrols.
- Tie barges together into tow units for tugboats to handle, inspecting barges periodically during voyages and disconnecting them when destinations are reached.
- Attach hoses and operate pumps to transfer substances to and from liquid cargo tanks.
- Handle lines to moor vessels to wharfs, to tie up vessels to other vessels, or to rig towing lines.
- Read pressure and temperature gauges or displays and record data in engineering logs.
- Maintain government-issued certifications, as required.
- Examine machinery to verify specified pressures or lubricant flows.
- Maintain a ship's engines under the direction of the ship's engineering officers.
- Break out, rig, and stow cargo-handling gear, stationary rigging, or running gear.
- Lubricate machinery, equipment, or engine parts, such as gears, shafts, or bearings.
- Lower and man lifeboats when emergencies occur.
- Sweep, mop, and wash down decks to remove oil, dirt, and debris, using brooms, mops, brushes, and hoses.
- Splice and repair ropes, wire cables, or cordage, using marlinespikes, wire cutters, twine, and hand tools.
- Load or unload materials, vehicles, or passengers from vessels.
- Chip and clean rust spots on decks, superstructures, or sides of ships, using wire brushes and hand or air chipping machines.
- Provide engineers with assistance in repairing or adjusting machinery.
- Operate, maintain, or repair ship equipment, such as winches, cranes, derricks, or weapons system.
- Paint or varnish decks, superstructures, lifeboats, or sides of ships.
- Give directions to crew members engaged in cleaning wheelhouses or quarterdecks.
- Stand by wheels when ships are on automatic pilot, and verify accuracy of courses, using magnetic compasses.
- Steer ships under the direction of commanders or navigating officers or direct helmsmen to steer, following designated courses.
- Relay specified signals to other ships, using visual signaling devices, such as blinker lights or semaphores.
- Overhaul lifeboats or lifeboat gear and lower or raise lifeboats with winches or falls.
- Record data in ships' logs, such as weather conditions or distances traveled.
- Measure depth of water in shallow or unfamiliar waters, using leadlines, and telephone or shout depth information to vessel bridges.
- Clean and polish wood trim, brass, or other metal parts.
- Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses.
- Stand gangway watches to prevent unauthorized persons from boarding ships while in port.
- Participate in shore patrols.
- Stand watches on vessels during specified periods while vessels are under way.
- Perform various marine duties, such as checking for oil spills or other pollutants around ports or harbors or patrolling beaches.
- Observe loading or unloading of cargo or equipment to ensure that handling and storage are performed according to specifications.
- Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
- Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.
- Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or at a berth.
- Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.
- Steer and operate vessels, using radios, depth finders, radars, lights, buoys, or lighthouses.
- Operate ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations.
- Dock or undock vessels, sometimes maneuvering through narrow spaces, such as locks.
- Inspect vessels to ensure efficient and safe operation of vessels and equipment and conformance to regulations.
- Read gauges to verify sufficient levels of hydraulic fluid, air pressure, or oxygen.
- Report to appropriate authorities any violations of federal or state pilotage laws.
- Provide assistance in maritime rescue operations.
- Signal passing vessels, using whistles, flashing lights, flags, or radios.
- Measure depths of water, using depth-measuring equipment.
- Signal crew members or deckhands to rig tow lines, open or close gates or ramps, or pull guard chains across entries.
- Maintain boats or equipment on board, such as engines, winches, navigational systems, fire extinguishers, or life preservers.
- Maintain records of daily activities, personnel reports, ship positions and movements, ports of call, weather and sea conditions, pollution control efforts, or cargo or passenger status.
- Advise ships' masters on harbor rules and customs procedures.
- Calculate sightings of land, using electronic sounding devices and following contour lines on charts.
- Learn to operate new technology systems and procedures through instruction, simulators, or models.
- Direct or coordinate crew members or workers performing activities such as loading or unloading cargo, steering vessels, operating engines, or operating, maintaining, or repairing ship equipment.
- Arrange for ships to be fueled, restocked with supplies, or repaired.
- Supervise crews in cleaning or maintaining decks, superstructures, or bridges.
- Purchase supplies or equipment.
- Tow and maneuver barges or signal tugboats to tow barges to destinations.
- Assign watches or living quarters to crew members.
- Interview and hire crew members.
- Conduct safety drills such as man overboard or fire drills.
- Stand watches on vessels during specified periods while vessels are under way.
- Perform various marine duties, such as checking for oil spills or other pollutants around ports or harbors or patrolling beaches.
- Observe loading or unloading of cargo or equipment to ensure that handling and storage are performed according to specifications.
- Monitor lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watch for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
- Operate controls to open and close transit vehicle doors.
- Drive and control rail-guided public transportation, such as subways, elevated trains, and electric-powered streetcars, trams, or trolleys, to transport passengers.
- Report delays, mechanical problems, and emergencies to supervisors or dispatchers, using radios.
- Regulate vehicle speed and the time spent at each stop to maintain schedules.
- Make announcements to passengers, such as notifications of upcoming stops or schedule delays.
- Direct emergency evacuation procedures.
- Complete reports, including shift summaries and incident or accident reports.
- Greet passengers, provide information, and answer questions concerning fares, schedules, transfers, and routings.
- Attend meetings on driver and passenger safety to learn ways in which job performance might be affected.
- Monitor lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watch for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
- Patrol parking areas to prevent vehicle damage and vehicle or property thefts.
- Take numbered tags from customers, locate vehicles, and deliver vehicles, or provide customers with instructions for locating vehicles.
- Inspect vehicles to detect any damage.
- Greet customers and open their car doors.
- Issue ticket stubs or place numbered tags on windshields, log tags or attach tag to customers' keys, and give customers matching tags for locating parked vehicles.
- Perform cash handling tasks, such as making change, balancing and recording cash drawer, or distributing tips.
- Explain and calculate parking charges, collect fees from customers, and respond to customer complaints.
- Park and retrieve automobiles for customers in parking lots, storage garages, or new car lots.
- Provide customer assistance and information, such as giving directions or handling wheelchairs.
- Keep parking areas clean and orderly to ensure that space usage is maximized.
- Call emergency responders or the proper authorities and provide motorist assistance, such as giving directions or helping jump start a stalled vehicle.
- Direct motorists to parking areas or parking spaces, using hand signals or flashlights as necessary.
- Escort customers to their vehicles to ensure their safety.
- Perform maintenance on cars in storage to protect tires, batteries, or exteriors from deterioration.
- Lift, position, and remove barricades to open or close parking areas.
- Patrol parking areas to prevent vehicle damage and vehicle or property thefts.
- Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening.
- Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.
- Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.
- Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.
- Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.
- Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.
- Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.
- Write and submit maintenance work requisitions.
- Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.
- Prepare accident reports.
- Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.
- Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks.
- Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges.
- Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates.
- Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic.
- Clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments.
- Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.
- Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels.
- Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening.
- Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.
- Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems.
- Issue landing and take-off authorizations or instructions.
- Transfer control of departing flights to traffic control centers and accept control of arriving flights.
- Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations.
- Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties.
- Monitor or direct the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety.
- Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
- Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references.
- Direct ground traffic, including taxiing aircraft, maintenance or baggage vehicles, or airport workers.
- Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information.
- Maintain radio or telephone contact with adjacent control towers, terminal control units, or other area control centers to coordinate aircraft movement.
- Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes.
- Initiate or coordinate searches for missing aircraft.
- Provide on-the-job training to new air traffic controllers.
- Relay air traffic information, such as courses, altitudes, or expected arrival times, to control centers.
- Inspect, adjust, or control radio equipment or airport lights.
- Compile information about flights from flight plans, pilot reports, radar, or observations.
- Organize flight plans or traffic management plans to prepare for planes about to enter assigned airspace.
- Review records or reports for clarity and completeness and maintain records or reports, as required under federal law.
- Complete daily activity reports and keep records of messages from aircraft.
- Conduct pre-flight briefings on weather conditions, suggested routes, altitudes, indications of turbulence, or other flight safety information.
- Analyze factors such as weather reports, fuel requirements, or maps to determine air routes.
- Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.
- Monitor street or utility projects for compliance to traffic control permit conditions.
- Study traffic delays by noting times of delays, the numbers of vehicles affected, and vehicle speed through the delay area.
- Interact with the public to answer traffic-related questions, respond to complaints or requests, or discuss traffic control ordinances, plans, policies, or procedures.
- Prepare graphs, charts, diagrams, or other aids to illustrate observations or conclusions.
- Analyze data related to traffic flow, accident rates, or proposed development to determine the most efficient methods to expedite traffic flow.
- Prepare work orders for repair, maintenance, or changes in traffic systems.
- Plan, design, and improve components of traffic control systems to accommodate current or projected traffic and to increase usability and efficiency.
- Compute time settings for traffic signals or speed restrictions, using standard formulas.
- Prepare drawings of proposed signal installations or other control devices, using drafting instruments or computer-automated drafting equipment.
- Study factors affecting traffic conditions, such as lighting or sign and marking visibility, to assess their effectiveness.
- Gather and compile data from hand count sheets, machine count tapes, or radar speed checks and code data for computer input.
- Measure and record the speed of vehicular traffic, using electrical timing devices or radar equipment.
- Lay out pavement markings for striping crews.
- Provide technical supervision regarding traffic control devices to other traffic technicians or laborers.
- Operate counters and record data to assess the volume, type, and movement of vehicular or pedestrian traffic at specified times.
- Place and secure automatic counters, using power tools, and retrieve counters after counting periods end.
- Review traffic control or barricade plans to issue permits for parades or other special events or for construction work that affects rights of way, providing assistance with plan preparation or revision, as necessary.
- Time stoplights or other delays, using stopwatches.
- Maintain or make minor adjustments or field repairs to equipment used in surveys, including the replacement of parts on traffic data gathering devices.
- Visit development or work sites to determine projects' effect on traffic and the adequacy of traffic control and safety plans or to suggest traffic control measures.
- Establish procedures for street closures or for repair or construction projects.
- Provide traffic information, such as road conditions, to the public.
- Develop plans or long-range strategies for providing adequate parking space.
- Monitor street or utility projects for compliance to traffic control permit conditions.
- Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
- Observe train signals along routes and verify their meanings for engineers.
- Signal locomotive engineers to start or stop trains when coupling or uncoupling cars, using hand signals, lanterns, or radio communication.
- Pull or push track switches to reroute cars.
- Observe signals from other crew members so that work activities can be coordinated.
- Monitor trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.
- Inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and handbrakes to ensure that they are securely fastened and functioning properly.
- Operate locomotives in emergency situations.
- Raise levers to couple and uncouple cars for makeup and breakup of trains.
- Climb ladders to tops of cars to set brakes.
- Receive oral or written instructions from yardmasters or yard conductors indicating track assignments and cars to be switched.
- Inspect locomotives to detect damaged or worn parts.
- Signal other workers to set brakes and to throw track switches when switching cars from trains to way stations.
- Check to see that trains are equipped with supplies such as fuel, water, and sand.
- Monitor oil, temperature, and pressure gauges on dashboards to determine if engines are operating safely and efficiently.
- Set flares, flags, lanterns, or torpedoes in front and at rear of trains during emergency stops to warn oncoming trains.
- Inspect tracks, cars, and engines for defects and to determine service needs, sending engines and cars for repairs as necessary.
- Start diesel engines to warm engines before runs.
- Make minor repairs to couplings, air hoses, and journal boxes, using hand tools.
- Connect air hoses to cars, using wrenches.
- Operate and drive locomotives, diesel switch engines, dinkey engines, flatcars, and railcars in train yards and at industrial sites.
- Refuel and lubricate engines.
- Ride atop cars that have been shunted, and turn handwheels to control speeds or stop cars at specified positions.
- Record numbers of cars available, numbers of cars sent to repair stations, and types of service needed.
- Provide passengers with assistance entering and exiting trains.
- Conduct brake tests to determine the condition of brakes on trains.
- Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
