If you’ve taken a good look at the Tucker Paving, Inc., website and come across the Safety page — www.tuckerpaving.com/safety/ — you might have noted a reference to “MOT” under the heading of “Certifications & Competency.”

MOT is construction industry shorthand for “maintenance of traffic,” which basically means “work zone traffic control.” Anyone who drives has encountered that at least a time or two — vehicles temporarily stopped and then waved forward around construction sites (particularly in the case of roadwork or easement improvements).

Believe it or not, there’s a method to the MOT madness. Flagmen (or women) don’t just report to a work zone with a “STOP/SLOW” sign on a long pole, a two-way radio, and a bright orange safety vest. In Florida, they and the people who supervise them have to have go through MOT training approved and certified by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

The level of MOT training depends on a person’s responsibilities and type of work he or she performs for a construction company or contractor. There’s basic training for flaggers; intermediate training for people who have direct responsibility for placement of work zone traffic-control devices, inspectors for work-zone traffic-control devices, and those who draft plans for work-zone traffic control; and advanced training for higher-level work-zone traffic-control authorities and engineers.

At Tucker Paving, safety is the No. 1 priority — for our employees as well for any motorist, cyclist, or pedestrian who happens to come by one of our construction sites and needs to go around it. So, we’re happy to report that all of our employees with MOT responsibilities have the proper training and certification to do their jobs well.

If you want to know more about MOT and MOT training, you can go online and click over to www.motadmin.com. If you find yourself on an FDOT website page that references “temporary traffic control,” that’s OK. The agency is in the process of changing its Maintenance of Traffic website to the Temporary Traffic Control website.