Driver Issues: Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Literature Review

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Driver Issues: Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Literature Review

H. Howarth / S. Alton / N. Arnopolskaya / L. Barr / T. Di Domenico

The objective of this project was to provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with a more complete understanding of the non-regulatory factors which make for safer commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. Through the review of available literature, the relationship between the CMV driver and the motor carrier was explored with respect to safety outcomes. A tailored Haddon Matrix was used as a means to structure the literature and provide clear direction for the development of future intervention strategies. Haddons Matrix provides a framework for identifying factors that influence an event by dividing the event in terms of timeframe (i.e., pre-event, event, and post-event) and the actors and/or environments involved in the event. The Haddon Matrix was adapted for the current project by considering the driver and the motor carrier as the major actors/environments, and identifying events in the driver-motor carrier relationship that are important for improving driver safety. Two separate reviews were conducted. Review No.1 examined literature relating to the selection of safe drivers; its outcomes pointed to employee turnover as a primary focus of the data-driven research conducted over the past decade, as well as a primary concern highlighted in trade and industry sources. Review No.2 investigated research and trade publications as related to improving driver safety; its outcomes demonstrated that recent literature has largely concentrated on the identification and comprehension of driver characteristics and motor carrier practices as they relate to safety outcomes (e.g., age and CMV driving history). General conclusions derived from the literature and future research needs are also discussed.