The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Pooled Fund Study is a multi-year program initiated by five Midwestern states in November, 2002 to develop and test an operational MDSS. The component of the project under review in this paper addresses the level of receptivity of maintenance personnel to technological change and its impact on daily operations. The implementation of MDSS will constitute a significant paradigm shift in maintenance management practices and how information is conveyed across a state’s information infrastructure. This may result in resistance from groups or individuals within the Departments of Transportation who do not welcome such as shift or who believe the information infrastructure might be compromised.

A survey was crafted by the member states and Meridian Environmental Technology, acting as primary investigator for the study, and distributed to the broad spectrum of employees within the maintenance sector of each state DOT. The results of the survey and the implication of these findings on the design of an operational MDSS prototype are presented.