Meter Reading Jobs | Meter Reader Job
Meter Reader Jobs - What is the Job of Electric Meter Reading? What do Meter Reading Jobs Involve?
Meter readers are responsible for reading the meters on electric, gas, water, and steam meters, recording the use of each service that is been used. Meter readers will service both commercial and residential clients, and their basic responsibility is to walk throughout a neighborhood and record a customer’s consumption through the use of a tracking device.
The information that meter readers collect is then used in order to bill customers for the water or electrical service that has been provided. Meter readers also have the responsibility of making sure that a meter devices is not damaged, so that the customer is billed accurately, and they keep track of any abnormal consumption that might indicate an unauthorized connection.
Meter reader work also involves turning on the service for new persons and turning service off if payment is not made.
Working Conditions for Meter Reading Jobs - How is the Working Environment for Water Meter Reader Jobs?
Meter reader jobs involve working 40 hour workweeks, usually having to walk a few miles a day. Most of their time is spent outdoors in all types of weather whether the snow or a perfect summer day, and a hazard of work involves dogs, which can bite a meter reader if they venture into the backyard of a resident.
Meter Reading Education - How to Become a Water Meter Reader - How to Receive Your Automated Meter Reading Training
Meter reader training usually only requires a high school diploma, and new meter readers will usually tag along with a more experienced individual in order to learn how to read a meter properly. A water meter reader will eventually learn how to determine consumption rates and how to accurately record customer use of a gas are electrical service. In addition, meter readers will learn the proper route that must be traveled in order to record customer use of services.
Meter Reader Training Requirements - How to Become a Meter Reader
No special skills are required, other than being reasonably fit in order to walk the several miles a day that are necessary to do the job of a meter reader. An ability to understand maps is helpful, in case a new route transfer is needed for a meter readers employment.
Meter readers will often start out in an entry level position, eventually moving their way up in the metering department, possibly becoming a dispatcher or distributor within a utility. Other meter readers will decide to further their education and obtain training as an outdoor linesmen or an electrician.
Meter Reading Employment - What is the Future of Water Meter Reader Jobs?
Over the next decade, meter reader employment should decrease by about 10%, as automated meter reader systems allow meters to be read electronically from a central location, reducing the need for a meter reader entirely.
Job prospects are pretty slim, due to the few openings that are available in the first place, worsened by electronic tracking, although a few spots may open up due to retiring meter readers, and in rural areas who do not yet have current technology.
Water Meter Reader Pay Scale - How Much Do Meter Readers Earn?
In 2006, utility meter reader jobs earned a median incomes of $30,330 a year. Benefits for meter reading vary greatly depending on whether one is working fulltime or part time.