hours was similar to the performance of people with a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the legal definition of impairment. After 24 hours awake their performance equated to people with a blood alcohol content of 0.10.
Teaching Sleep Strategies Omnitracs Analytics takes information
from drivers’ service log and uses algo- rithms to predict their levels of fatigue. It then works with client companies to devel- op strategies that will help drivers get more and better quality sleep. Dayton Freight Lines of Ohio operates a
line haul fleet with about 550 drivers trav- eling through 12 states. The drivers work five days a week with two days off, with shifts that run between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. About three years ago, Croke and Derek
Kirby, Dayton Freight’s director of safety, began traveling to the company’s various locations to educate drivers about the phys- iology of sleep. “We meet on a Sunday night and let the drivers bring their families in, so the families can understand what it does to the drivers when they interrupt their sleep,” said Kirby. “We teach them how to sleep during the
day, how to manage light and control tem- perature and how to sleep in two blocks,” said Croke. “We teach them about how light changes their body clocks. If you just show them the science, they say, ‘Now I get it.’ “The premise is that if I can get your sleep right, can get you better quality and quan- tity sleep, by default what will happen is that a lot of your physical and mental health issues and fatigue issues will start to come right.” Croke has given the presentation to
about 60 percent of the company’s drivers so far, and Kirby said that those who haven’t gotten it frequently ask when it will be their turn. Although Kirby admits the impact of the
program can’t be directly measured, he says the outreach is consistent with the compa- ny’s commitment to taking care of their employees. Drivers have benefitted and responded
positively. One driver recently made a point of thanking Kirby for the program. “He told me “I have been able to split my sleep pattern during the day into two blocks; I
www.mmtanet.com
“THIS IS WHY YOU SEE A SPIKE IN ACCIDENTS IN DRIVERS’ FIRST NIGHT BACK; IT’S NOT THE HOURS OF SERVICE, IT’S HOW LONG THEY’VE BEEN AWAKE.”
VICE PRESIDENT, OMNITRACS ANALYTICS
get in from my run and sleep for three to four hours, get up in the middle of the day and then sleep for three or four hours before I go out. It has totally changed how tired I get and how alert I feel,’” Kirby said. Since the start of the program, Dayton
Freight has not had any major accidents that can be attributed to driver fatigue. “Although I said I couldn’t measure the
results, I don’t think it’s coincidence that the Ohio Trucking Association just gave us the president’s trophy for being the safest carrier [of all that entered] when measur- ing DOT recordable preventable accidents against miles driven in the state,” said Kirby. “Ohio is an area that we hit early on, and we have pretty much educated almost every driver in the state.”
Scheduling for Better Sleep Companies should also consider making
changes in their routes to ensure that their drivers are getting sufficient good-quality sleep, Croke said. With creative scheduling they can build in time for power naps for drivers or change days on and days off to give drivers optimal sleep time. Building predictability into drivers’ start and stop
times and days off also helps. Trucking companies can also take
advantage of technology, such as electronic logs that can provide data that identifies drivers’ drowsiest times. “One of the big problems is that drivers
want to do the longest trips when there’s the least traffic. But that increases the probabil- ity of them being drowsy behind the wheel,” Croke said. “What you really want to be doing between 3 and 6 in the morning is all your multiple drop, short haul loads, because having drivers get in and out of their trucks keeps them awake. That way you get more activity during the hours when people have the highest probability of dis- connecting from the driving task.” Unfortunately many shippers and receiv-
ers don’t accept loads during these hours, which impact a trucking company’s ability to modify its schedule. Additionally, Croke said that he knows many trucking compa- nies are concerned that making changes like these will reduce their productivity. But the opposite is true. “Well-rested drivers who are healthy and
happy make more miles than you could ever wish for,” he said. BTW
BEHIND THE WHEEL ~ Q4 Winter 2015 15 — DEAN CROKE,
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