Work-stress factors associated with truck crashes: An exploratory analysis

Belzer, Michael H · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1177/1035304618781654

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Summary

This report, issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG), addresses the safety and economic impacts of commercial driver detention—time spent waiting at shipping or receiving facilities beyond legitimate loading and unloading tasks. The study was motivated by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act), which directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to collect data on these delays and the OIG to report on their effects. The primary objectives were to assess the availability of industry-wide data on loading and unloading delays and to estimate the potential safety and financial consequences of such detention. The methodology relied on statistical analysis of existing datasets due to the lack of accurate, industry-wide detention records. The OIG utilized 2013 dwell time data assembled for a prior FMCSA-sponsored study, combined with crash data from FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Because precise detention data were unavailable, the analysis used dwell time exceeding two hours as a proxy for detention. To estimate economic impacts, the researchers employed an FMCSA simulation model alongside the study data. The scope was limited to the truckload sector, and the assessment excluded effects on shippers or the broader transportation system efficiency beyond carrier revenue. The findings indicate that driver detention significantly increases crash risks and reduces income. The analysis estimated that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time raises the average expected crash rate by 6.2 percent. Applied to the 2013 baseline, this increase would result in approximately 6,509 additional crashes annually across the commercial motor vehicle cargo sector. Furthermore, every 5 percentage point increase in the share of stops experiencing detention correlates with a 4.7 percent rise in expected crash rates. Economically, detention is associated with annual earnings reductions of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion for for-hire truckload drivers, and net income reductions of $250.6 million to $302.9 million for motor carriers in that sector. The report also highlighted that accurate industry-wide data do not exist, as most stakeholders only track time exceeding contractual limits, and electronic data cannot distinguish detention from legitimate loading tasks. The significance of this report lies in its identification of a critical data gap and its quantification of the substantial safety and financial costs of driver detention. The OIG concluded that FMCSA’s planned method for collecting detention data—voluntary, unverified online submissions—would not yield reliable or representative information, thereby limiting further analysis of impacts. Consequently, the OIG recommended that FMCSA improve its future plans for data collection to ensure accuracy and representativeness. FMCSA concurred with this recommendation. The report underscores the need for rigorous data collection to address detention as both a safety hazard and a market efficiency problem.

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Topics

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• pre crash contributing factors
• causation analyses
• truck driver fatigue

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes
• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model