Affiliations: Danish Defense, Occupational Health Center South,
Fredericia, Denmark | Department of Occupational Health, Hospital of
Southern Jutland, Denmark
Abstract: Major industrialised countries, like the United States, Canada,
Australia and countries of the European Union (EU) have Hours-of-Service (HoS)
regulations for truck drivers that stipulate duration of continuous driving and
rest periods. The purported aim is the improvement of road safety by reducing
fatigue and drowsiness, but the regulations can also have a strong impact on
the working conditions for drivers. Better working conditions for truck drivers
is one of the aims of the EU HoS regulations, but they do not seem to fully
produce the desired benefits. Truck drivers continue to have a high prevalence
of back disorders, which have been linked with the time spent driving. They
also have a high incidence of heart disease, which might be due to stress
factors at work. Stress levels can be affected by HoS regulations, that leave
the driver little job control and lead to social isolation. HoS regulations
could contribute more to the improvement of working conditions of truck drivers
through counteracting irregular work schedules, night driving and social
isolation. Moving the focus from simple control of time spent driving or not
driving to fatigue management could improve job control and working conditions
for truck drivers without loss of traffic safety.
Keywords: Hours of service, truck driver, fatigue, health effects, occupational health
