Fatigue Among Heavy Vehicle Drivers on Expressway

Abstract

Road crashes involving heavy vehicles on expressways accounted for 17% of the overall road crashes on expressways in 2018. Crash investigations conducted by MIROS in 2015 found that fatigue was among the factors of these crash occurrences involving heavy vehicles. People who drive commercial vehicles such as taxis, buses, or trucks normally do shift work which needed them not to follow the regular and normal sleep pattern. Their nature of work and sleeping patterns may lead to fatigue and sleepiness. Thus, this research was proposed with the aim of determining the prevalence factors of fatigue among heavy vehicle drivers on expressways. Data was collected using the face-to-face interview method with heavy vehicle drivers who travelled along the expressway. Around 400 heavy vehicle drivers from the north, south, and central regions of Malaysia participated in this study. This study found that most heavy vehicle drivers report that they usually begin to feel fatigued after 4 hours and 22 minutes of driving and they are more likely to feel tired in the early hours of the morning, specifically around 2:00 am to 6:00 am. This study concluded that the most frequent reported prevalence factors of fatigue among heavy vehicle drivers are insufficient rest breaks, long driving hours, and heavy expressway traffic. The significant factors reported mostly related to resting issues where it may be due to long-distance journeys or they are trying to squeeze in as many trips as possible for extra income.