The influence of operational conditions on driver fatigue in the long distance road transport industry in Australia

The present study is the second part of a large project designed to identify possible strategies to better manage driver fatigue in the long distance road transport industry. The first study in the project, reported elsewhere, investigated driver fatigue among truck drivers. The present study examined driver fatigue in the passenger sector. The questionnaire was designed for the first study and was adapted for the passenger sector. The questionnaire obtained information about the drivers' experience of fatigue, working conditions, type of driving operation as well as details of their last trip and last working week. The results revealed that the experience of drivers in the passenger sector only partially overlapped that for the truck sector. The ways in which fatigue occurred and some of the contributors to fatigue showed remarkable consistency across sectors. There was major divergence, however, in the ways drivers reported managing fatique.