Sleepy driving in truck drivers: Insights from a self-report survey

Background: There is increasingly more evidence to indicate that many Australian truck drivers may be working while sleepy. However, relatively little is known about their sleepiness-related experiences or why sleepy drivers continue to drive. Aims: This study examined the subjective experience of sleepiness and the motivation of truck drivers at work, with particular focus on the behaviour of persevering with driving despite being sleepy. Method: Two hundred and fifty-five Australian professional truck drivers (245 males, 10 females, mean age of 43.60 years, average of 19.11 years experience) completed a self-report survey that was distributed at Australian truck stops and transport organisations. Drivers were asked to report on a variety of sleepiness-related experiences during the previous three months of their work. Results: The results revealed that 49% of drivers felt too sleepy to drive on at least half of their trips, while 40% reported falling asleep while driving at least once in the previous three months of work. A regression analysis indicated that several psychosocial factors were related to sleepy driving behaviour (i.e. continuing to drive when sleepy). These included impaired judgement, perceived work and social pressures, driver attitudes, and, most notably, perceived lack of control over work schedule. The frequency of sleepy driving was also associated with reported occurrences of impaired driving performance, dozing off whilst driving, near misses, and perceived accident risk. Conclusions: These findings provide new direction for further investigations of truck driver attitudes and behaviour, as well as the management of driver sleepiness.