COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER FATIGUE AND ALERTNESS STUDY: PROJECT REPORT

This is the full final report on the largest and most comprehensive over-the-road study of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver fatigue ever conducted in North America. The data collection involved eighty drivers in the U.S. and Canada who were monitored over a period of sixteen weeks. A number of work-related factors thought to influence the development of fatigue, loss of alertness and degraded performance in CMV drivers were studied within an operational setting of real-life, revenue-generating trips. These included: the amount of time spent driving during a work period; the number of consecutive days of driving; the time of day when driving took place; and schedule regularity. In Chapter 1, the reader is provided with the background to the study as well as the study's overall objectives and the approach used in their attainment. Chapter 2 presents a detailed literature review on driver fatigue and its measurement, as well as the involvement of fatigue in crashes, that was conducted in preparation for the study and considered in the formulation of the study's own conclusions and recommendations. Chapter 3 presents the study methodology and data collection methods. Chapter 4 presents the detailed results. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the results and the study's conclusions and recommendations. For the amount of sleep and the four to five days of driving observed for each driver in this study, it was found that the strongest and most consistent factor influencing driver fatigue and alertness was time-of-day; drowsiness, as observed in video recordings of the driver's face, was markedly greater during night driving than during daytime driving. The number of hours of driving (time-on-task) and cumulative number of days were not strong or consistent predictors of observed fatigue. Numerous other findings are provided relating to scientific methodologies and fatigue countermeasure concepts.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This report was published simultaneously by Transport Canada, Publication No. TP 12875E. See also the Technical Summary (FHWA-MC-97-001; TP 12876E; TRIS 00736830).
• Corporate Authors:

  Essex Corporation

  5775 Dawson Avenue
  Goleta, CA  United States  93117

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Motor Carriers, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Wylie, C D
  • Shultz, T
  • Miller, J C
  • Mitler, M M
  • MACKIE, R R
• Publication Date: 1996-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 562 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alertness; Automobile driving; Commercial drivers; Countermeasures; Data collection; Drivers; Drowsiness; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Guides to the literature; Literature reviews; Night; Periods of the day; Recommendations; Research; Studies; Truck drivers; Vigilance
• Uncontrolled Terms: Night driving
• Geographic Terms: Canada; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Study methods
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00744723
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-MC-97-002, Final Report
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-89-C-096, DTFH61-90-C-053
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 2 1998 12:00AM