Broadening our view of effective solutions to commercial driver fatigue.

Fatigue has emerged as a major occupational hazard for commercial long-distance drivers. For example, there is increasing recognition that it is a major risk factor for crashes involving heavy vehicles in Australia (Howarth, Hefferman & Horne, 1989; Sweatman, Ogden, Haworth, Vulcan & Pearson, 1990) and elsewhere (Hamelin, 1987; Mitler et al., 1988; National Transportation Safety Board, 1995; van Ouwerkerk, 1987). Howarth, Triggs, and Grey (1988) estimated that, for articulated vehicles in Australia, between 5 and 10% of all crashes, 20 to 30% of casualty crashes, and 25 to 35% of fatal crashes are probably caused by fatigue. For particular types of crashes, the involvement of fatigue may be much higher, for example, 40% to 50% of fatal single vehicle semitrailer crashes are probably fatigue related (Howarth et al., 1988). If accidents where fatigue is a contributory rather than primary cause are considered, as many as 60% of heavy vehicle crashes have been reported as involving fatigue to some extent (Sweatman et al., 1990). The search for effective ways of dealing with commercial driver fatigue under operational conditions has been slow to advance, however. In most parts of the world, the focus has been on setting parameters for regulating working/driving hours that manage driver fatigue. Evidence from other industrial settings with round-the-clock operation suggests that the pattern of work and rest, rather than merely consecutive hours of operation, is important for managing safe operation. Night work, timing of work periods, number of work periods in succession, and time off between periods of work are just some of the characteristics that together have been implicated in determining safety in 24-hour operations (Folkard, 1996; Knauth, 1996). Recent data suggest that aspects of operational practice other than the length of time-on-task have a major influence on fatigue among long-distance drivers. This chapter provides an overview of this work on the relation between work practices and fatigue and the implications of these data for more effective management of fatigue among commercial long-distance drivers.