Rail Car Repairers
Skills & Knowledge
Most Important Skills for Rail Car Repairers
- Repairing—Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting—Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Controlling Quality—Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Maintaining Equipment—Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Listening—Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Managing Time—Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Monitoring Equipment—Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Operating Equipment—Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Learning New Things—Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Rail Car Repairers
- Mechanical—Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Building and Construction—Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Engineering and Technology—Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Design—Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Transportation—Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Production and Processing—Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Customer and Personal Service—Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Public Safety and Security—Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Realistic—Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Conventional—Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Learn more about your interests. Take the MnCareers Interest Assessment.
Describe Your Skills
People who have worked in this career typically perform the following tasks.
These statements can help a prospective employer understand what you can do, on a resume or during an interview.
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to find or fix problems.
- Collecting information from different sources.
- Operating vehicles or equipment.
- Handling and moving objects.
- Monitoring information from a variety of sources to find problems.
- Identifying information by categorizing, comparing, or detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Making decisions or solving problems.
- Organizing, planning, and prioritizing work.
Careers that Use Similar Skills
The following careers use skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar to those used for Rail Car Repairers.
View more careers in the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics cluster
View more careers in the Facility and Mobile Equipment Maintenance pathway

This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.