There are approximately 4,000 fatalities in crashes involving trucks and buses in the United States each year. Though estimates are wide-ranging, possibly 10 to 20 percent of these crashes might have involved fatigued drivers. The stresses associated with their particular jobs (irregular schedules, etc.) and the lifestyle that many truck and bus drivers lead, puts them at substantial risk for insufficient sleep and for developing short- and long-term health problems.

Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health and Highway Safety assesses the state of knowledge about the relationship of such factors as hours of driving, hours on duty, and periods of rest to the fatigue experienced by truck and bus drivers while driving and the implications for the safe operation of their vehicles. This report evaluates the relationship of these factors to drivers' health over the longer term, and identifies improvements in data and research methods that can lead to better understanding in both areas.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PANEL ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES AND STATISTICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING DRIVER FATIGUE FACTORS IN MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY AND DRIVER HEALTH
• COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS
• BOARD ON HUMAN-SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
• TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2016 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
• Acknowledgments
• Summary
  • STUDY CONTEXT
  • THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS MOST ESSENTIAL TO FMCSA
  • SUMMARY OF WHAT IS KNOWN
  • DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
  • KEY CONCLUSIONS
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
• 1. Introduction
  • STUDY CONTEXT
  • DATA LIMITATIONS
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
• PART I. BACKGROUND
  • 2. The Trucking and Bus Industries
    • THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY
    • WORKING CONDITIONS AND PAY OF A TRUCK DRIVER
    • THE BUS INDUSTRY
    • WORKING CONDITIONS AND PAY OF A BUS DRIVER
    • ATTITUDES IN THE TRUCKING AND BUS INDUSTRIES TOWARD FATIGUE AND HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS
    • DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH INFORMATION ON TRUCK AND BUS DRIVERS
  • 3. Consequences of Fatigue from Insufficient Sleep
    • WORK-RELATED INSUFFICIENT SLEEP IN COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVERS
    • METHODS FOR REDUCING FATIGUE
    • CONCLUSION
  • 4. Hours-of-Service Regulations
    • BACKGROUND
    • DEFINITIONS
    • PREVIOUS AND CURRENT HOURS-OF-SERVICE REGULATIONS
    • HOURS-OF-SERVICE REGULATIONS IN CANADA AND MEXICO
• PART II. CURRENT RESEARCH DATA AND METHODS
  • 5. Data Sources
    • OUTCOMES AND PREDICTORS
    • PUBLICLY AVAILABLE COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH DATABASES
    • LARGE TRUCK CRASH CAUSATION STUDY (LTCCS) DATABASE
    • DATA ON VEHICLE-MILES TRAVELED
    • RESEARCH- OR STUDY-BASED DATA SETS
    • PROPRIETARY DATA
    • OTHER DATA SOURCES
    • NEEDED INFORMATION ON OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUCKING AND BUS INDUSTRIES
    • POTENTIAL NEW DATA SOURCES
    • ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF AVAILABLE DATA SOURCES
  • 6. Research Methodology and Principles: Assessing Causality
    • DEFINITION OF CAUSAL EFFECT
    • DRAWING INFERENCES AND STANDARDIZING CRASH COUNTS
    • ROLE OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS
    • OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES
• PART III. CURRENT RESEARCH FINDINGS
  • 7. Fatigue, Hours of Service, and Highway Safety
    • INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF FATIGUE IN INCREASING THE RISK OF TRUCK AND BUS CRASHES
    • RESEARCH ON FATIGUE, HOURS OF SERVICE, AND RISK OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES
    • RESEARCH NEEDS
  • 8. Fatigue and Health and Wellness
    • LINKAGES BETWEEN FATIGUE AND HEALTH
    • MEDICAL CERTIFICATION OF THE HEALTH OF CMV DRIVERS
    • OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA
    • OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS
    • LIFESTYLE FACTORS AND CMV DRIVERS' HEALTH
    • CURRENT FATIGUE AND HEALTH AND WELLNESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR CMV DRIVERS
  • 9. Technological Countermeasures for and Corporate Management of Fatigue
    • TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR DETECTING AND MANAGING OPERATOR FATIGUE
    • SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF FATIGUE
    • FATIGUE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
    • IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY CULTURE
• PART IV. RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
  • 10. Research Directions for Fatigue and Highway Safety
    • COLLECTION OF SURVEY DATA ON CMV DRIVERS
    • DATA AVAILABLE FROM VEHICLES
    • OTHER DATA SOURCES
    • SOME KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
    • METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
    • STATISTICAL ISSUES
    • CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • 11. Research Directions for Studying the Impact of Fatigue on Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers' Health and Wellness
    • A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING FACTORS RELATED TO DRIVER HEALTH AND WELLNESS
    • THE NEED FOR AN ONGOING SURVEY OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVERS
    • OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA
    • UTILITY OF COMMERCIAL DRIVER MEDICAL EXAMINATION DATA
    • THE NEED FOR RESEARCH ON DRUG USE AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE
    • RESEARCH DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS
• Glossary
• References
• Appendix. Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health, and Highway Safety: Research Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21921.