Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The development of a typology of commercial vehicle driving environments, estimate of the percentage of drivers falling into each type of driving environment, and driving environment effects on driver fatigue are described. A model of commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue, based on literature sources and focus groups of industry professionals, is proposed. Three driving-environment factors (regularity of time, trip control, and quality of rest), comprising 25 indicators, are included in the model. Data were collected via a nationwide survey of 502 randomly selected over-the-road commercial truck drivers. Data analysis revealed 12 driving-environment indicators to be good predictors of fatigue and crash outcomes. Various 2×2×2 driving-environment typologies were created by using different high-low combinations of these 12 indicators. A typology based on the single best predictors of fatigue and crash outcomes from each driving-environment factor was selected for examination (i.e., favorable and unfavorable combinations of driving the same hours, waiting longer than expected for loads, and starting the workweek tired). The percentage of drivers working in each type of driving environment ranged from 5.2 percent to 20.1 percent. Additionally, the typology was significantly related to frequency of close calls and perceptions of fatigue. The 12 driving-environment indicators collectively accounted for 5 percent and 23 percent of the variability in close calls and fatigue perceptions, respectively ( p ≥ .001), and 2 percent of the variability in crash involvement ( p ≥ .07). Implications for fatigue management are also discussed.

Because of its potential to harm human health and the environment, transportation of hazardous materials has become an important national safety issue. Although the general assumption is that incidents that occur in shipping hazardous materials are costly, a method to characterize their full economic effect has not been developed. As a result, comparing the need to improve safety among hazardous and nonhazardous cargo shipments, and among different classes of hazardous materials shipments, has been difficult. A method has been developed to assess the economic effect of incidents involving truck transport of hazardous materials. Annual commodity flow and incident occurrences were estimated, and a comprehensive assessment was made of the economic consequences of each incident. Impact considerations included injuries and fatalities, cleanup costs, property damage, evacuation, product loss, traffic incident delay, and environmental damage. The method was applied to Class 3 shipments in 1996 to illustrate its use and to evaluate its potential as a policy tool.

Despite comprising the largest segment of the trucking industry, very little research has been directed at investigating safety issues in Local/Short Haul (L/SH) operations. To this end, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is funding a research project aimed at investigating safety issues in L/SH. A two-phased research project was conducted to (1) determine the general safety issues in L/SH trucking and (2) determine the extent to which fatigue is an issue. Phase I of this research, which involved focus groups with L/SH drivers, has been described previously (Hanowski, et al., 1999). The present research outlines Phase II of this effort which involved conducting a field study with instrumented L/SH trucks. Two L/SH trucking companies and 42 drivers participated in this study. L/SH trucks were instrumented with a variety of data collection systems, and data were gathered as the drivers worked their normal delivery routes. The focus of the analyses is on critical incidents (i.e., crashes and near-crashes) that the L/SH drivers experienced.

Driver fatigue is an important safety issue for long-haul truck drivers. To provide an efficient means of obtaining sleep, long-haul truck drivers often use tractors equipped with sleeper berth units. Depending on the type of cargo and distances traveled, long-haul truck drivers either drive in teams or alone as single drivers. Team drivers, therefore, typically sleep in a moving truck whereas single drivers sleep in a stationary truck. It has been hypothesized that sleeping in a moving truck could adversely affect the sleep quality and, therefore, the alertness level of team drivers. A naturalistic data collection system was developed and installed in two Class 8 heavy trucks. This trigger-based system consisted of vehicle sensors and cameras that allowed the experimenters to obtain the driving performance and driver alertness data for analysis of fatigue. Fatigue was measured using both objective and subjective measures that were recorded before and after sleep and while driving. Fatigue and driving performance were compared for single versus team drivers to determine which driver type acquired the greatest sleep deficit during a trip. Results suggest that single drivers were more frequently involved in critical incidents while exhibiting extreme drowsiness than were team drivers by a factor of 4 to 1. These results will be discussed in relation to the general safety of single versus team trucking operations.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) funded this project to provide an independent evaluation of DriveCam’s low-cost Driving Behavior Management System (DBMS). Participating drivers drove an instrumented vehicle for 17 consecutive weeks while they made their normal, revenue-producing deliveries. During the 4-week Baseline phase, the event recorder recorded safety-related events. However, the feedback light on the event recorder was disabled and safety managers did not have access to the recorded critical incidents to provide feedback to drivers. During the 13-week Intervention phase, the feedback light on the event recorder was activated and safety managers had access to the recorded safety-related events (following the coaching protocol with drivers). Carrier A significantly reduced the mean frequency of recorded events/miles traveled from Baseline to Intervention by 37 percent (p = 0.049), while Carrier B significantly reduced the mean frequency of recorded events/miles traveled from Baseline to Intervention by 52.2 percent (p = 0.03). The results suggest the combination of onboard safety monitoring and behavioral coaching were responsible for the reduction in mean frequency of events/miles traveled at Carriers A and B

In 2008, heavy trucks were found to be 3.2 times more likely than other vehicles to be struck from behind in two‐vehicle fatal crashes. The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded a contract to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to perform Phase III of the Enhanced Rear Signalling for Heavy Trucks project which was directed at investigating methods to reduce or mitigate those crashes where a heavy truck has been struck from behind by another vehicle. The focus of this article is to discuss the dynamic evaluation of the final Enhanced Rear Signalling countermeasure system on public roadways of Virginia. Results indicated that the system was robust in real‐world driving situations. The system performed well at detecting rear‐end crash threats, activating a trailer‐positioned warning‐light system, drawing the gazes of distracted following‐vehicle drivers back to the forward roadway and resulted in minor following‐vehicle unintended consequences. An increase in false alarm rate was found for the warning light activation system during low‐speed, high‐traffic‐density scenarios and the propensity of these false alarms should be addressed prior to a field operational test.

Simulator-based training provides the opportunity to train drivers in a potentially lower cost and safer environment than traditional, behind-the-wheel, training methods. Thus, many motor carriers have begun adopting simulators for use during in-house driver training. This report presents the result of focus groups with drivers who experienced truck simulator-based training at two large motor carriers. In general, drivers at both carriers had positive opinions of simulatorbased training. Most suggestions to improve the program were directed towards modification of how the program was implemented and/or creating a more realistic simulation of the driving environment.

A naturalistic driving study involving 100 light vehicles equipped with video cameras and other data collection equipment was recently completed. The resulting data set was searched to identify critical incidents involving both light vehicles (LVs) and heavy vehicles (HVs). Each incident was coded on a number of dimensions including the type of incident (what happened) and the Critical Reason for the incident (why it happened). Goals of the analysis included gaining a better understanding of LVHV interactions and providing background information that would serve as a necessary prerequisite to the development of crash countermeasures. For 217 of the 246 LV-HV interaction incidents recorded, the event initiator was attributed to either the LV driver (64%) or the HV driver (36%). The most frequent Incident Type for LV driver initiated incidents was Late Braking for Stopped/Stopping Traffic (41.3%), followed by Lane Change Without Sufficient Gap (21.7%). The most frequently noted Critical Reasons for LV driver initiated incidents were Aggressive Driving Behavior (24.6%), Too Fast for Conditions (15.2%), and Internal Distraction (13.8%). Given that LV drivers were more likely to have initiated an incident, it is believed that efforts at addressing the LV-HV interaction problem should include focusing on the LV driver.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program is researching the feasibility and value of electronically assessing truck and bus driver and vehicle safety at least 25 times more often than is possible using only roadside physical inspections. The WRI program is evaluating the potential benefits to both the motor carrier industry and to government. These potential benefits include reduction in accidents, fatalities and injuries on our highways and keeping safe and legal drivers and vehicles moving on the highways. WRI Pilot tests were conducted to prototype, test and demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of electronically collecting safety data message sets from in-service commercial vehicles and performing wireless roadside inspections using three different communication methods. This report summarizes the design, conduct and results of the Tennessee CMRS WRI Pilot Test. The purpose of this Pilot test was to demonstrate the implementation of commercial mobile radio services to electronically request and collect safety data message sets from a limited number of commercial vehicles operating in Tennessee. The results of this test have been used in conjunction with the results of the complimentary pilot tests to support an overall assessment of the feasibility and benefits of WRI in enhancing motor carrier safety (reduction in accidents) due to increased compliance (change in motor carrier and driver behavior) caused by conducting frequent safety inspections electronically, at highway speeds, without delay or need to divert into a weigh station

The purpose of this discussion panel is to present the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) human factors research needs to the larger human factors research community. The DOT Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC) serves as a multi-modal team with government-wide liaisons to promote human factors and to address crosscutting human factors issues in transportation. HFCC regularly conducts a survey of the DOT modal agencies and other federal agencies with a transportation focus (e.g., the National Transportation Safety Board) to identify cross-cutting DOT research needs. In this panel, the results of a recent survey will be presented with a discussion of how each modal agency is addressing these human factors areas of interest. Additionally, HFCC representatives from five modal agencies will review their current research efforts, discuss their anticipated future research needs, and address questions from the audience.

The U.S. Department of Transportation continues to explore the use of Web 2.0 technologies, including the business-level application of virtual worlds for gathering organizational information, simulating program processes, and supporting new training and instructional initiatives. One such example is Transportation Nation, a Second Life based virtual island created by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), an Operating Administration within the Department of Transportation. FMCSA’s Transportation Nation island expertly draws upon functionality unique to virtual worlds for government application, including virtual motor carrier vehicles for simulated safety inspections, a multi-floored replica of DOT Headquarters for web-based conferencing and instruction, and consolidated access to federal and state office-based organizational information. FMCSA’s efforts to develop Transportation Nation drew on necessary contemporary techniques vital for government agencies seeking to utilize electronic government (e-government), including contract administration, resource management, and collaborative governance. FMCSA continues to explore innovative ways to utilize Transportation Nation, particularly as a smaller operating agency with a limited, safety-based budget and differentiated access to sophisticated hardware across the FMCSA workforce. The successes and ongoing challenges of utilizing Transportation Nation by FMCSA are an important model for state and federal government agencies seeking to integrate virtual worlds in their day-to-day program activities.

A recent Us Department of transportation program establishes rules medical examiners will use to certify that commercial drivers are qualified to operate their vehicles safely.