Effects of Loading and Unloading U.S. Department of Transportation Cargo on Commercial Truck Driver Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Alertness and Performance DOT-MC-01-107 May 2001 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT-MC-01-107 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Effects of Loading and Unloading Cargo on Commercial Truck Driver Alertness and 9-30-0 Performance 6. Performing Organization Code 8. Performing Organization Report No. 7. Author(s) Gerald P. Krueger, Ph.D. & Susan B. Van Hemel Ph.D. T rucking Research Institute American 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No (TRAIS) Trucking Research Institute American Trucking Associations Foundation 1 1 . Contract or Grant No. 2200 Mill Road DTFH-96-X -00022 Alexandria,15. Virginia 22314 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Final Report Office16. Of Research and Technology July 1996 - September 2000 400 Seventh Street, SW 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, DC 20590 Supplementary Notes The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative was Robert J. Carroll, FMCSA Office of Research and Technology This study was performed by Star Mountain, Inc. of Alexandria, VA, in cooperation with The American Trucking Associations Foundation, Trucking Research Institute. Abstract This report describes Phase I of a two-phased assessment of the effects of loading and unloading cargo on truck drivers alertness and performance. The report, which documents work done on three Phase I tasks, contains: a) a comprehensive behavioral and physiological sciences literature review regarding sustained performance and operator fatigue, with a focus on the effects of expending physical work energy on operator fatigue. b) a characterization of commercial motor vehicle industry procedures, methods and practices concerning drivers who load and / or unload their vehicles (trucks/buses). This was accomplished by examining trucking industry trade literature on loading/unloading procedural matters, then conducting a questionnaire survey of over 300 truck drivers, followed by sixteen focus group interviews to understand driver loading/unloading requirements across the country, and 17. c) a behavioral task analysis assessment of various driver loading and unloading scenarios in four cargo commodity groups: moving household furniture and goods, tank truck carrier operations, fast food supply delivery, and beverage delivery operations Phase II of the overall study involved a truck driver simulator-based experiment to assess the effects of physical activity on loading /unloading cargo on subsequent driver alertness and driving performance. The Phase II experiment is described fully in a companion report, No. FHWA-MC-99-140, Effects of Operating Practices on Commercial Driver Alertness. Keywords 18. Distribution Statement Driver Fatigue; Physical Fatigue; Work Energy Expended; Distribution Statement Loading and Unloading Commercial Motor Vehicles; No restrictions. This document is available Commercial Motor Vehicle Operating Practices; Truck Cargo to the public through the National and Materials Handling; Household Goods Moving; Tank Truck Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 Carrier Operations; Beverage Delivery Operations. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 199 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized This form was electronically produced by Elite Federal Forms, Inc. I Effects of Loading and Unloading Cargo on Commercial Truck Driver Alertness and Performance Prepared for: Robert J. Carroll, Project Manager U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20590 American Trucking Associations Foundation Trucking Research Institute 2200 Mill Road Alexandria, Virginia 22314 Prepared by: DEPARTMENT OF TR A,Nn nORT A TTON Gerald P. Krueger, Ph.D. Susan B. Van Hemel, Ph.D. AUG - 9 2001 Star Mountain, Inc. 3601 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 450 NASSIF BRANCH LIBRARY Alexandria, Virginia 22304-6496 DOT-MC-01-107 September 2000 Preface The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), formerly the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Motor Carrier and Flighway Safety (OMCHS), conducts a multifaceted Research and Technology (R&T) Program with a high priority on human factors research. Throughout the remainder of this report we will use the former agency name (OMCHS) which was in effect at the time this research was conducted. The FMCSA program places special emphasis on assessments of commercial driver fatigue and studies pertinent to hours-of-service rules. As part of the R&T Program, this document reports driver fatigue research specifically addressing an assessment of the activities of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers loading and unloading cargo in their trucks and what effects that physical work has on their subsequent levels of driving alertness, or the possible development of driver fatigue. The project was conducted in two phases. Phase I of the study (conducted in 1996-97 and reported in this technical report) involved: a) a comprehensive literature review on the effects of expending physical energy on development of operator fatigue, b) a questionnaire survey of over 300 truck drivers, and sixteen focus group interviews to understand driver loading/unloading requirements across the country, and c) a behavioral task analysis assessment of various driver loading and unloading scenarios. Phase II of the project, conducted in 1997-98, involved a truck driver simulator-based experiment as an assessment of the effects of physical activity in loading/unloading cargo on subsequent driver alertness and driving performance. This experiment measured and documented truck driver’s performance on a daily schedule of 14-hours-on-duty (with 12 hours simulator driving) followed by 1 0-hours-off-duty for two successive workweeks of 5 days each. The study also examined the “weekend” rest/recovery process over the 58-hour off-duty period between the two successive weeks. Details of the simulator experiment and the test results are described by O’Neill, Krueger, Van Hemel, & McGowan, and contained in the September 1999 FHWA Report No. FHWA-MC-99-140. The two-phased project was conducted as part of a 1996 Cooperative R&D Agreement between FHWA-OMCHS and the American Trucking Associations Foundation - Trucking Research Institute (ATAF-TRI), Alexandria, Virginia. TRI’s project officers for oversight management of the project were Clyde E. Woodle and William C. Rogers, Ph.D. The entire project was conducted on a TRI subcontract to a team of human factors researchers at Star Mountain, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia: Timothy R. O’Neill, Ph.D., Gerald P. Krueger, Ph.D., Susan B. Van Hemel, Ph.D., and Adam L. McGowan. Gerald Krueger and Susan Van Hemel did the bulk of the work for Phase I of this project and prepared this report. Robert J. Carroll, project manager, and Ronald R. Knipling, Ph.D., Chief, Motor Carrier Research and Standards, Research Division, served as the Federal Highway Administration’s project monitors. ) Table of Contents Preface 1 '* Table of Contents . — Executive Summary 1 Section I. Review and critique of the literature: Effects of physical work and sustained performance on driver fatigue, alertness, and driver safety (Phase I, Task 1) -6 Introduction 6 Safety concern over truck driver fatigue 6 Fatigue research and countermeasures program 6 Driver loading/unloading project 7 Goals and procedure 7 Topics covered in this review 7 Relationship of loading/unloading to driver fatigue 8 Truck driver loading and unloading activities 8 Truck driver opinions differ on loading/unloading 9 Physical and General-Mental Fatigue and Loss of Alertness 12 Defining fatigue: subjective and inferred? 12 Physical fatigue 13 Mental or cognitive fatigue 14 General mental fatigue 15 Boredom 15 Phasic fatigue 15 Perception of physical fatigue and motivational determinants 16 Cognitive ( motivational influence over general-mental fatigue 17 Sleep loss, fatigue and sustained performance 19 Task sensitivity to fatigue 20 Truck Driver Fatigue: Physical, Mental, Or Both? 23 Physical and general-mental fatigue interact to affect truck driver alertness 23 ii Physical fatigue affects general-mental fatigue 23 Work Physiology and Fatigue 24 Daily physical energy expenditure 25 Classification of strenuousness of work 26 Occupational energy expenditure 27 Factors Affecting Work Physiology 29 Influence of body mass (mass x distance) 29 Intensity and duration of work 29 Physical fitness, exercise and work 30 Anaerobic vs aerobic exercise and physical fitness 31 V0 2 max as overall indication of fitness 32 Exercise intensity, muscular fatigue or exhaustion 32 Selecting a work pace 35 Physical effects on psychological readiness to perform work 36 Physical conditioning, shift work and sustained operations 36 Effects of sleep loss and sustained physical effort on performance 38 Truck Driver Performance During Extended Work Schedules 42 Cargo loading effects on driver physiology (repetitive lifting studies) 42 Loading and unloading effects on driver performance (Mackie & Miller, 1978) 43 Measuring energy expended driving a truck 44 Combination physical measurements of workload and fatigue 45 Driver fatigue and non-driving performance 45 Section I Summary,