DRIVER FATIGUE AMONG MILITARY TRUCK DRIVERS

In the past decade, driver fatigue has been acknowledged as a major contributor to road accidents, in particular among long-distance drivers of heavy trucks. The study reported herein has three unique aspects: its target population of military truck drivers from the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Transport Center; its fatigue management policy of prohibiting night driving; and its job characteristics of 'short-haul' operations as opposed to 'long-haul'. The IDF Transport Center is the largest and the most diverse transportation organization in Israel. It is three times as large as the largest commercial fleet in Israel, and military bases are spread all over the country. It also has the ability to regulate the drivers better. That is it can mandate diet, hours of sleep, and working hours. The drivers are permanently employed civilians, career service personnel, or mandatory service personnel. This employment status correlates with age, experience, carrier type, and several job characteristics. As an example, mandatory service drivers typically do not drive at night. The study consisted of a survey of 314 male drivers (30% of the entire base driver population). Despite the different environment, the military drivers display many characteristics and coping-behaviors characteristic of civilian drivers. The authors' results cast doubt on the efficacy of enforcing night sleep and prohibiting night drives as an alternative to regulating hours of service. Their findings also reveal that it is insufficient to provide drivers with the time to sleep. One has to ensure that they also get a good quality of sleep. Implications for reducing fatigue in this environment are suggested. The authors identified the mandatory service drivers (young, less experienced drivers, lower military ranks) as a group of drivers that falls asleep more often and to a greater extent. As a group, they are particularly sensitive to sleep deficits and influenced by external events such as aggravation and boredom. It is important to provide drivers with more in-vehicle, accessible countermeasures to counter fatigue since they often do not stop, particularly in short-haul conditions. Since the radio has a high level of usage and acceptance among drivers, it could be exploited as an interactive communications system, as an educational medium, and as an image-enhancing device.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13698478
• Corporate Authors:

  Elsevier

  The Boulevard, Langford Lane
  Kidlington, Oxford  United Kingdom  OX5 1GB
• Authors:
  • ORON-GILAD, T
  • Shinar, D
• Publication Date: 2000-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 195-209
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
  • Volume: 3
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1369-8478
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698478

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Countermeasures; Drivers; Drowsiness; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Hours of labor; Line haul; Military personnel; Night; Radio; Safety; Short haul; Sleep; Truck driving; Trucks
• Identifier Terms: Israeli Defense Force Transport Center
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driving hours; Night driving
• Geographic Terms: Israel
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00810581
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: May 16 2001 12:00AM