ABSTRACT

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is developing a comprehensive research and technology transfer programme to address the issues of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver proficiency. The Driver Fatigue and Alertness Study is the first major field research project within the ‘fitness for duty’ element of the programme. The FHWA, an agency within the Department of Transportation responsible for, among many other things, the safety of CMV transportation, held a symposium on ‘Truck and Bus Driver Fatigue’ in November 1988, to discuss what was known about fatigue and fatigue-related accidents and to propose future research. Drivers at most of the candidate US motor carriers have labour representation through the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Countermeasures to loss of alertness may be classified as ‘alarms, which activate after a driver’s alertness level has diminished, and as ‘maintainers’, that are designed to keep alertness levels from dropping safe levels.