Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/671356
FOR SAFETY'S SAKE 36 // COMPANY DRIVER // MAY 2016 considerable data at various levels of pri- vate industry and government are collected on drivers who work for large carriers, much less information is available on those who work for small carriers, especially indepen- dent owner-operators, the report found. The authors recommended several improve- ments in data and research methods by the FMCSA to support a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between operator fatigue and highway safety and be- tween fatigue and long-term health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and/or the U.S. DOT should fund, design and conduct an ongoing 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 col- lected data with relevant electronic 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 medical certification procedures to effectively deal with the issue of fatigue. Hours of service limitations do little to ef- fectively ensure adequate off-duty rest, the authors note, and little evidence exists that required medical exams in the certification process are effective "in determining driv- ers who are prone to excessive fatigue due to sleep apnea or other medical reasons." "Some evidence indicates that medical ex- aminers have been inconsistent," the re- port's authors note, "in the criteria they apply in evaluating the risk of medical con- ditions that may lead to driver fatigue." The report further recommended that FMC- SA: • Increase the availability of relevant data for researchers by incentivizing those who capture driver performance data — large fleets, independent trucking associations, and insurance companies — while ensuring data confidentiality. • Use particular statistical design and anal- ysis methods to account for factors that confound comparisons between control and treatment groups in crash studies. • Answer a long list of particular research questions that "should assist FMCSA in understanding the costs and benefits of pro- posed changes to its policies for the [hours of service] regulations, medical certifica- tion, and [voluntary-use resources within the North American Fatigue Management Program]." CD