Samenvatting
Many researchers have speculated about the impact of the circadian rhythm on the safety performance of truck drivers, especially in the hours of midnight through 5:00 a.m. The weight of opinion is that truck operations in these hours are less safe than average. The authors have performed an analysis of the dispatch and crash records of a large organization engaged in a traditional retail distribution operation. Unlike the long haul industry, in retail distribution the drivers do not spend rest periods away from home. Analysis of the actual data demonstrates that for this industry, the time between midnight and 5:00 a.m. actually is one of the safest periods of the day.