Potential Safety Benefits of Motor Carrier Operational Efficiencies. Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 20. A Synthesis of Safety Practice

摘要

This report synthesizes current information on carrier operational efficiencies that may alsoprovide safety benefits by decreasing exposure to risk. The report provides information thatmay assist motor carriers in deploying their trucks and buses in ways that minimize crash risk. This information was obtained through reviews of research; crash and naturalistic driving data; and commercial products relevant to both efficiency and safety. The project also obtained information from motor carrier safety managers and other experts who were surveyed with regard to driver and vehicle deployment practices relevant to both efficiency and safety. Th ereport includes 11 short case studies of carriers operational practices that might reduce exposure to risk. It also reports research and development gaps that have come to light in the study. The report distinguishes between risk reduction and risk avoidance strategies in commercial motor vehicle transport. Risk reduction, constituting most of carrier safety efforts, improves the safety performance of individual assets that is, drivers and vehicles. Risk reduction usually involves making company investments in proven interventions such as improved driver selection training, management oversight, or vehicle safety equipment Risk avoidance strategies are those in which carriers deploy their assets and otherwise conduct operations to minimize crash risk. In this coneptualization, risk avoidance takes the form of operational or route planning, or both, before trips or during a trip, before any immediate crash threat.