About This Career

Diagnoses, inspects, adjusts, repairs, or overhauls recreational vehicles including travel trailers. May specialize in maintaining gas, electrical, hydraulic, plumbing, or chassis/towing systems as well as repairing generators, appliances, and interior components. Includes workers who perform customized van conversions.

This career is part of the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics cluster Facility and Mobile Equipment Maintenance pathway.

A person in this career:

• Explains proper operation of vehicle systems to customers.
• Locates and repairs frayed wiring, broken connections, or incorrect wiring, using ohmmeters, soldering irons, tape, or hand tools.
• Confers with customers, reads work orders, or examines vehicles needing repair to determine the nature and extent of damage.
• Repairs plumbing or propane gas lines, using caulking compounds and plastic or copper pipe.
• Examines or tests operation of parts or systems to ensure completeness of repairs.
• Connects electrical systems to outside power sources, and activates switches to test the operation of appliances or light fixtures.
• Connects water hoses to inlet pipes of plumbing systems, and tests operation of toilets or sinks.
• Inspects recreational vehicles to diagnose problems and performs necessary adjustment, repair, or overhaul.
• Inspects, repairs, or replaces brake systems.
• Diagnoses and repairs furnace or air conditioning systems.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Requires getting into awkward positions
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel