Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together.

“Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together.” is a core task performed by Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators. Among the occupation's 26 rated tasks, workers place it 21st by importance (#6 most important). About 89% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Operate construction or excavation equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Patrol assigned track sections so that damaged or broken track can be located and reported. · importance 4.5
• Repair or adjust track switches, using wrenches and replacement parts. · importance 4.3
• Weld sections of track together, such as switch points and frogs. · importance 4.2
• Observe leveling indicator arms to verify levelness and alignment of tracks. · importance 4.1
• Operate single- or multiple-head spike driving machines to drive spikes into ties and secure rails. · importance 4.1
• String and attach wire-guidelines machine to rails so that tracks or rails can be aligned or leveled. · importance 4.0
• Cut rails to specified lengths, using rail saws. · importance 4.0
• Lubricate machines, change oil, or fill hydraulic reservoirs to specified levels. · importance 3.9
• Drill holes through rails, tie plates, or fishplates for insertion of bolts or spikes, using power drills. · importance 3.9
• Clean tracks or clear ice or snow from tracks or switch boxes. · importance 3.9
• Clean, grade, or level ballast on railroad tracks. · importance 3.9
• Raise rails, using hydraulic jacks, to allow for tie removal and replacement. · importance 3.8
• Adjust controls of machines that spread, shape, raise, level, or align track, according to specifications. · importance 3.8
• Engage mechanisms that lay tracks or rails to specified gauges. · importance 3.8

See all tasks on the Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-13653,
  title  = {Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-13653}
}