Safety Implications of Multiday Driving Schedules for Truck Drivers

Abstract

The detailed analysis of preexisting crash and noncrash data representing an estimated 16 million vehicle miles of travel has revealed strong consistency between crash analysis using data from the 1980s and field experiments conducted in the 1990s. Time of day of driving is associated with crash risk: night and early morning driving has elevated risk in the range of 20% to 70% compared with daytime driving. Overall, 16 of 27 night and early morning driving schedules had elevated risk. Irregular schedules with primarily night and early morning driving had relative risk increases of 30% to 80%. In addition, there remains a persistent finding of increased crash risk associated with hours driving, with risk increases of 30% to more than 80% compared with the first hour of driving. These increases are less than previously reported and are of similar magnitude to the risk increases caused by multiday schedules. Finally, there is some evidence, although it is far from persuasive, that risk increases may be associated with significant off-duty time, in some cases in the range of 24 to 48 h. The implication is that “restart” programs should be approached with caution. Areas for additional research include further studies of crash risk associated with extended off-duty time, closer examination of irregular schedules that better reflect truckload operations, and analysis of irregular schedules with primarily daytime driving (largely nonexistent in this data set) to further explore the effect of variability.

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