Problem
Driver fatigue among winter maintenance workers during winter emergencies can be prevalent as these workers are not bound by prescriptive hours-of-service rules. During these winter events, equipment operators work long, stressful hours, and fatigue can be a major problem resulting in higher crash rates, lower productivity, and increased health issues.
A recent body of research in fatigue management indicates that other factors, including in-cab and external equipment, are involved in driver fatigue and that there is no one simple solution available to mitigate driver fatigue and improve safety performance.
Objective
The goal of this project was to identify in-cab and external equipment factors that cause operator fatigue and make recommendations to reduce, eliminate, or correct these factors.
Results
This project will produce actionable and implementable improvements able to be applied to snowplow trucks. Therefore, recommendations that can provide quick turnaround and low cost solutions are preferred, but more in-depth and higher cost solutions may also be considered.
The final webinar took place on October 30, 2017.