Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/667099
12 commercial carrier journal | april 2016 JOURNAL NEWS Study: Hours regs limited in managing trucker fatigue A U.S. Department of Transportation-sponsored report concludes the connection between hours-of-service regulations, truck driver fatigue and accident frequency is hard to make based on available data and that barriers exist in researching such connections. The researchers also suggest that cur- rent hours-of-service regulations are limited in their ability to effectively manage driver fatigue due to their limi- tations in managing drivers' rest when they're off duty. The National Academies Press report, "Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health, and Highway Safety: Research Needs," found that substantial data gaps exist on issues surrounding driver fatigue and sleep, and those gaps limit understand- ing the factors that affect driver health and wellness and their crash risk. Although considerable data at various levels of private industry and govern- ment are collected on drivers who work for large carriers, much less information is available on those who work for small carriers, especially independent owner- operators, the report found. The authors recommended several improvements in data and research methods by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to support a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between operator fatigue, highway safety and long-term health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and/or DOT should fund, design and conduct an ongo- ing survey that will allow comparisons of truck drivers to enable tracking of changes in their health status and the factors likely to be associated with those changes over time, the authors noted. It would be "highly desirable to link the collected data with relevant elec- tronic health records," the report's authors go on to say, also casting doubt on the ability of both the current hours- of-service regulations and driver medi- cal certification procedures to effectively deal with the issue of fatigue. – Todd Dills The report found that data gaps exist surrounding driver fatigue and sleep, and those gaps limit understanding factors that affect crash risk. Untitled-5 1 3/2/16 8:45 AM