No Boundaries

Transportation Maintenance Innovation

Publications and Presentations

Staffing Shortages Synthesis | Innovation Programs Report | TRB Papers on Maintenance | Presentations and Handouts | Survey Results

Responses to Staffing Shortages – Synthesis Report

State transportation agencies are struggling to fill maintenance staff vacancies and retain the skilled employees necessary to keep the roads clear and safe. Staffing shortages have generally been an issue for several years—and for some agencies, considerably longer.

No Boundaries Synthesis: Responses to Staffing Shortages documents an effort by No Boundaries to gather data and anecdotal evidence from pooled fund members that describe the current maintenance staffing environment and highlight the practices member agencies are using to attract and retain maintenance staff.

  • Surveys of No Boundaries members and their human resources colleagues sought information about the changes and trends in maintenance staffing levels and the ability of state transportation agencies to attract and retain well-trained maintenance staff.
  • No Boundaries was also interested in agency responses to new federal commercial driver’s license requirements and information about the recruitment and retention practices agencies use to sustain, expand and diversify the applicant pool and retain workers.
  • A limited literature search gathered information to supplement survey results.

In keeping with the No Boundaries mission to identify and share transportation maintenance innovations, this synthesis effort identified innovative practices to mitigate maintenance staffing shortages. “Point of Practice” callouts throughout the report further highlight noteworthy practices and innovative efforts.

State Innovation Programs – Synthesis and Lectern Session

Many state DOT innovations that save time, money and lives are a product of the initiative of front-line workers who see—and then act on—a better way of doing their jobs. No Boundaries led an effort to learn how states identify, reward, and implement such innovative technologies and practices.

A December 2018 report highlights the innovation programs of seven state DOTs: Innovation Programs: Inquiry of No Boundaries Member States

No Boundaries’ representatives and guests discussed this study during the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in January 2019 in Washington, D.C. The lectern session panel explored two state case studies in detail and shared the national perspective on innovation.

Lectern Session 1471: State DOT Innovation Programs: Identifying New Technologies and Practices from the Front Lines
Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at 10:15 a.m.

Complete presentation files are linked in the presentation titles below.

TRB Papers on Maintenance

No Boundaries compiles listing of papers related to maintenance from each year’s Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. The paper compendiums below include titles, authors, paper numbers, and links to the full-text documents. Note: TRB requires a login to access full papers. If you are having trouble accessing the papers, check with your DOT or other transportation library.

No Boundaries Presentations

Maintenance Management Survey Results