SCDOT opens Allendale County crew leader job for highway maintenance

When roadside mowing slips, traffic control takes longer to set up, and a winter storm hits before a crew is ready, Allendale County commuters feel it first on the shoulders, in the work zones and along the daily routes that connect the county to the rest of the region. The South Carolina Department of Transportation opened a Highway Maintenance Worker III, Crew Leader position for Allendale County on June 2, with applications due June 15 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. The full-time job pays between $50,960 and $66,800 a year and follows a Monday through Friday schedule, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The posting makes clear that the work reaches far beyond a single truck or a single stretch of pavement. The crew leader will work on a mowing crew handling vegetation management along state highway rights-of-way, operate a tandem dump truck to move maintenance and construction materials, and help place traffic control devices so crews can work safely and drivers can get through the area with less risk. The job also includes driving a dump truck fitted with a snow plow and salt spreader during winter conditions, along with using a backhoe and front-end loader as needed.

SCDOT says the Highway Maintenance Worker III class can serve as a crew leader or specialty crew leader coordinating construction, repair and preservation work. The role also carries responsibility for safety practices, traffic control setup under the SCDOT Work Zone Traffic Control Manual and Field Guide, vegetation management, and keeping work recorded in the maintenance data management system. That paperwork matters as much as the field work, because it ties daily labor to the larger system that tracks what has been done, where and why.

The scale of that system is large. SCDOT’s Maintenance Division says it is responsible for more than 8 million linear feet of guardrail, more than 36,000 end anchor systems, 470 miles of median cable barrier and 150 crash attenuators across the state. In Allendale County, that kind of statewide machinery lands in a small, rural setting: the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the county’s population at 7,355 as of July 1, 2025, down from 8,039 in 2020 and 10,419 in 2010, and 23.5% of residents were age 65 or older in the 2025 estimates.

The county’s average commute time was 35.7056 minutes in 2024, based on Census estimates reported through FRED, which underscores how much steady road maintenance affects everyday travel. The Allendale County government lists a Highway Maintenance Department at 264 Gum St. in Allendale, and SCDOT says District 7 serves the county through its network of 7 engineering districts and 46 county offices statewide. For local workers with at least two years of related experience, a valid driver’s license and a plan to earn a Class A CDL within six months of placement, the opening is both a job and a chance to keep Allendale County moving.