title: NIOSH national survey of long-haul truck drivers: Injury and safety.
abstract: Approximately 1,701,500 people were employed as heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States in 2012. The majority of them were long-haul truck drivers (LHTDs). There are limited data on occupational injury and safety in LHTDs, which prompted a targeted national survey. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health conducted a nationally representative survey of 1265 LHTDs at 32 truck stops across the contiguous United States in 2010. Data were collected on truck crashes, near misses, moving violations, work-related injuries, work environment, safety climate, driver training, job satisfaction, and driving behaviors. Results suggested that an estimated 2.6% of LHTDs reported a truck crash in 2010, 35% reported at least one crash while working as an LHTD, 24% reported at least one near miss in the previous 7 days, 17% reported at least one moving violation ticket and 4.7% reported a non-crash injury involving days away from work in the previous 12 months. The majority (68%) of non-crash injuries among company drivers were not reported to employers. An estimate of 73% of LHTDs (16% often and 58% sometimes) perceived their delivery schedules unrealistically tight; 24% often continued driving despite fatigue, bad weather, or heavy traffic because they needed to deliver or pick up a load at a given time; 4.5% often drove 10miles per hours or more over the speed limit; 6.0% never wore a seatbelt; 36% were often frustrated by other drivers on the road; 35% often had to wait for access to a loading dock; 37% reported being noncompliant with hours-of-service rules (10% often and 27% sometimes); 38% of LHTDs perceived their entry-level training inadequate; and 15% did not feel that safety of workers was a high priority with their management. This survey brings to light a number of important safety issues for further research and interventions, e.g., high prevalence of truck crashes, injury underreporting, unrealistically tight delivery schedules, noncompliance with hours-of-service rules, and inadequate entry-level training.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV, United States. Electronic address: gchen@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Guang X
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: wks1@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: W Karl
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Sieber
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV, United States. Electronic address: axi5@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lincoln
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: afq8@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Birdsey
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Applied Research and Technology, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: ekh2@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hitchcock
authors.affiliation: University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan. Electronic address: nakataa@health.uoeh-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: cfr2@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Cynthia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV, United States. Electronic address: joc4@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: mhs2@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Marie H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009314:National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.; D060051:Occupational Injuries; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries
keywords: Hours of service; Long-haul truck drivers; Risk factor; Survey; Truck driver injury; Truck driver safety