In Driver Fatigue is the Number One Safety Issue in the Truck and Bus Industry, fatigue expert witness Dennis Wylie writes:
The Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue and Alertness Study
The importance of driver fatigue led the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada to commission the largest, most comprehensive over-the-road study of driver fatigue and alertness ever conducted. Dennis Wylie was the Principal Investigator, and he and his associates designed, executed, and documented a study involving 80 U.S. and Canadian tractor-trailer drivers in an operational setting of real-life, revenue-generating trips totaling more than 200,000 miles and 4,000 hours of driving. The scientists monitored the drivers and trucks continuously by electronic instrumentation. The study focused on several work-related factors, including:
Hours of driving during a work period Number of consecutive days of driving Time of day when driving took place Schedule regularity
The results of this driver fatigue and alertness study form an important part of the foundation for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s upcoming revisions of the hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers.