Lead Mechanic, Equipment Operator/Laborer (CDL Required)
Location
Chicago, IL
Wage
$37 – $38.5/hr
Posted on September 12, 2026
Location
Chicago, IL
Wage
$37 – $38.5/hr
Posted on September 12, 2026
The Lead Mechanic/Equipment Operator Labor (LM/EOL) is responsible for inspecting, diagnosing, and repairing heavy equipment and vehicles used in toll operations and emergency response at the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge. This safety-sensitive position requires a CDL and adherence to DOT regulations, including mandatory drug and alcohol testing.
At roughly $38/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $36/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL, whose middle half runs $28–$47/hr across 79 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 54% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.
We're tracking 96 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 52 different employers. 30 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 374 other active welding openings from 233 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Chicago, or widen the search to Illinois.
The most active employers in Illinois at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are S&C Electric Company (15), Gerber Collision & Glass (14), and Staff on Site (13). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.
Within Illinois, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Chicago at $36/hr, Itasca at $36/hr, and Elk Grove Village at $34/hr. Chicago is among them.
Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Lead Mechanic, Equipment Operator/Laborer (CDL Required) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.