21^st Century Driver and Truck Alliance Selects Focus Areas for Safety Task Forces
IVsource.net
17 October 2001

In June, the 21^st Century Driver and Truck Alliance sponsored a workshop entitled “Improving Safety for Drivers and Fleets – Historical and Innovative Approaches,” in which a diverse group of trucking industry players examined the “total picture” of the safety equation for commercial fleets.  A set of 31 issues resulted; through follow-up email balloting, seven items have been selected for action by task forces.

In June, the 21^st Century Driver and Truck Alliance sponsored a workshop entitled  “Improving Safety for Drivers and Fleets – Historical and Innovative Approaches,” in which a diverse group of trucking industry players examined the “total picture” of the safety equation for commercial fleets.

Dr. Richard Grace, President of the Alliance and a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, encouraged participants to go beyond “talk” to propose specific action items or initiatives that the group could champion.  31 items were proposed and e-mail balloting was conducted during August to narrow these down to the highest priority issues.

Approximately one-third of the people who attended the meeting participated in the action item vote.  There were high votes in four of the five categories defined in the brainstorming session: Program, Research, Outreach, Cooperative Action and Political Action.  One item received eleven votes; three items received ten votes and three items received nine votes.  Twenty-six of the 29 voters are represented in the selections below.

The top 7 items that have been selected are:

1. Driver Fatigue.  Truck/bus fleet managers need to consider driver fatigue as a major issue.  The technology for predicting when fatigue is likely to be a performance problem is available and should be incorporated into fleet operations.

2. Real-time Driver Feedback.  Establish real-time feedback systems for drivers and define good behaviors and reward mechanisms.

3. Broad Review of Driver Training Programs.  Critically review mandated training programs for novice drivers (of automobiles), novice truck drivers, and experienced drivers.  Fund the program by federal and state tax credits. 

4. Truck-Car Interaction Research.  Investigate the interactions between autos and trucks that leads to fatal accidents to develop a better understanding of the events leading to fatal truck/auto accidents.  This understanding would then be used to develop countermeasure programs.  With 60% to 80% of relevant fatal accidents resulting from the action of an automobile, such an understanding -- coupled with follow-up countermeasure programs -- is required to achieve the USDOT/FMCSA target reductions in fatalities.

5. Encourage Safety Program Participation.  Develop programs for management to encourage driver participation in developing safety programs.

6. Broaden Target for Safety Programs and Incentives.  Promote safety programs and incentive programs in industry that have demonstrated success.  Target towards both small fleets and non-commercial driving communities. 

7. Standards.  Establish voluntary national standards for driver training, relying on incentives for implementation by industry.

The Alliance has begun the process of seeking sponsors and participants in the working groups.  They are actively seeking fleet sponsors to take a leading and active role.  They emphasize that, if these action items are to produce fruit, the participation of all industry stakeholders in these working groups is needed to strike a healthy balance.  Toward this end, they are requiring that at least one fleet and/or commercial entity participate in each working group and detailed action plan in order for it to proceed.

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For More Information ...

... contact the Alliance, which says that they are still quite open to others becoming involved in this process.  Inquiries can be made to Sonya Stewart at sonyas@rec.ri.cmu.edu. 

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