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Objective It is generally believed that professional drivers can manage quite severe fatigue before routine driving performance is affected. In addition, there are results indicating that professional drivers can adapt to prolonged night shifts and may be able to learn to drive without decreased performance under high levels of sleepiness. However, very little research has been conducted to compare professionals and non-professionals when controlling for time driven and time of day. Method The aim of this study was to use a driving simulator to investigate whether professional drivers are more resistant to sleep deprivation than non-professional drivers. Differences in the development of sleepiness (self-reported, physiological and behavioral) during driving was investigated in 11 young professional and 15 non-professional drivers. Results Professional drivers self-reported significantly lower sleepiness while driving a simulator than nonprofessional drivers. In contradiction, they showed longer blink durations and more line crossings, both of which are indicators of sleepiness. They also drove faster. The reason for the discrepancy in the relation between the different sleepiness indicators for the two groups could be due to more experience to sleepiness among the professional drivers or possibly to the faster speed, which might unconsciously have been used by the professionals to try to counteract sleepiness. Conclusion Professional drivers self-reported significantly lower sleepiness while driving a simulator than non-professional drivers. However, they showed longer blink durations and more line crossings, both of which are indicators of sleepiness, and they drove faster.

People make systematic and predictable mistakes regarding estimations of average speed and journey time. In addition, people have been shown to commit a time-saving bias by underestimating the time that can be saved when increasing from a low speed and overestimating the time that can be saved when increasing from a relatively high speed. These misestimations have been shown to relate to biases in judgments of the speed required to arrive at a specific time and to choosing unduly high speed. Professional drivers, such as taxi drivers, might be less susceptible to these biases due to their increased driving experience. In the current study, we interviewed taxi drivers about a journey they were currently making and examined their estimations of journey time, average speed and time savings. Compared to a group of non-professional car drivers, taxi drivers showed the same considerable misestimations of driving speed, journey time and time savings as non-professionals. However, overestimations of time savings among taxi drivers were smaller than those made by car drivers. We discuss the practical significance of these findings.

More knowledge about the impact of medication on driving are indicative of a lower likelihood of having a motor vehicle crash. The aim of this study was to investigate knowledge of professional drivers about the influence of driving impairing medicines in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 6 cities in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, during first trimester of 2017, with 221 professional drivers, using questionnaire with 35 statements, where participants expressed their agreement according to Likert scale, from completely disagree to completely agree.The average score related to the drivers’ knowledge was 131,58 (range from 49 to 175), 22,6% were unaware that some medicines may influence psychophysical abilities and ability to drive. A high percentage of participants in the study don’t know that a negative impact on the driving ability can be the result of the use of medicines from groups for which it is unexpected to have such effects, medicines that are dispensed without a medical prescription, herbal remedies, dietary supplements and medicines that affects eyesight or hearing. More than half didn’t know that medicines labeled with warning symbols Δ, ▲ and § are not allowed to be used immediately before or during driving.Professional drivers’ knowledge about driving impairing medicines is not satisfactory. Labeling system of these medicines is inadequate. These findings could help to identify drivers, who are at increased risk for using potentially impairing medicines, to inform and educate them, and to prevent driving under the influence of medicines.

Objectives Professional drivers are at high risk of developing musculoskeletal pain (MSP) due to risk factors such as prolonged sitting, whole body vibration, awkward posture, and repetitive actions. This review investigates the reported prevalence of MSP among professional drivers. Methods An electronic search of Medline (1946 + via OvidSP), Embase (1974 + OvidSP), CINAHL (1982+), AMED, PubMed, and Web of Science from 1990 to July 2019 was performed. Methodological quality of studies was assessed using three quality assessment tools for cross‐sectional, case‐control, and prospective cohort studies. The prevalence of MSP was reported using descriptive analysis. Results A total of 56 studies conducted in 23 different countries across a total of 14 types of occupational transport were reviewed. Data of a total pooled population of 18 882 professional drivers were analyzed for MSP. The prevalence of MSP ranged between 43.1% and 93%. The low back was the most frequently reported body region for MSP with a meta‐prevalence rate of 53% (N = 9998). Neck, shoulder, and upper back were the other common regions with high prevalence. Conclusion There is a high prevalence of MSP in professional drivers and low back was the most frequently reported body region, followed by neck, upper back, shoulder, knee, hip/thigh, wrist, ankle, and elbow. MSP is complicated in nature and therefore in‐depth exploration of causal relationships between MSP and risk factors is necessary so that appropriate healthcare programs can be initiated to prevent and treat MSP effectively.

This study examined the optimal sampling durations for in-vehicle data recorder (IVDR) data analysis, focusing on professional bus drivers. Vision-based technology (VBT) from Mobileye Inc. is an emerging technology for monitoring driver behavior and enhancing safety in advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) and autonomous driving. VBT detects hazardous driving events by assessing distances to vehicles. This naturalistic study of 77 male bus drivers aimed to determine the optimal duration for monitoring professional bus driving patterns and the stabilization point in risky driving events over time using VBT and G-sensor-equipped buses. Of the initial cohort, 61 drivers’ VBT data and 66 drivers’ G-sensor data were suitable for analysis. Findings indicated that achieving a stable driving pattern required approximately 130 h of VBT data and 170 h of G-sensor data with an expected 10% error rate. Deviating downward from these durations led to higher error rates or unreliable data. The study found that VBT and G-sensor data are both valuable tools for driving assessment. Moreover, it underscored the effective application of VBT technology in driving behavior analysis as a way of assessing interventions and refining autonomous vehicle algorithms. These results provide practical recommendations for IVDR researchers, stressing the importance of adequate monitoring durations for reliable and accurate outcomes.

BACKGROUND:Two main job stress models—the Demand-Control-Support (DC) model and the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model have been used to assess the impact of psychosocial work-related factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Limited evidence elaborates the independent and combined effects on CVD events, especially for professional drivers. This study assesses the independent and combined effects of DC and ERI models on an 8-year risk of CVD among professional drivers. METHODS:The Taiwan Bus Driver Cohort Study recruited 1650 professional drivers from a large bus company in 2005. The subjects were interviewed in person and completed the two job stress questionnaires. Researchers found 94 new cases of CVD (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM]390–459) from 2006 to 2012. A Cox proportional hazards model was performed to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for CVD events. RESULTS:Occupational drivers with high overcommitment scores (thresholds of 15) had an elevated risk for CVD (HR = 1.71; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.82). Regarding target disease, overcommitment had an increased risk for CVD (not including hypertensive disease) (HR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.54) and ischemic heart disease (HR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.05–1.65). CONCLUSION:Overcommitment, which is associated with job stress, appears to be associated with CVD risk in professional drivers.

A great deal of effort has been made to investigate and develop approaches to address driver behavior, fatigue, and sleepiness for different road users worldwide. However, very little research has been conducted to explore these issues in the context of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers in a low-income countries such as Mexico. The present study fills this gap. The aim of this study is to identify the human factors contributing to aberrant driver behavior (ADB) among BRT professional drivers in Mexico City. A total of 152 drivers participated in a self-reported survey. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the BRT-ADBQ to identify the behavioral factors, and the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS–Fatigue) subscale was employed to assess the fatigue of drivers. The key findings were the following: (a) the created BRT-ABDQ identified two ADBs (violations and errors); (b) violations factors, but not errors, contributed to accident involvement; (c) ADB, fatigue, poor sleep and age (30–39) were predictors to accidents and (d) a linear trend has been revealed indicating that as the hours of sleep decreased, the experience of fatigue increased proportionally. The conclusion of the study is that ADB, sleepiness, and fatigue are real and existent among BRT drivers and should be a matter of concern for the case of the BRT organization that participated in the study. More generally, organizations running these systems should intervene by implementing sleep and fatigue reduction strategies to mitigate the adverse impact of these and thereby contribute to sustainable traffic safety and urban mobility.

Background Previous research has made use of the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index to explore the association between shiftwork (SW) and insulin resistance (IR). However, the limitations of the HOMA-IR index restrict its use. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between SW and IR in professional drivers using four alternative non-insulin-based IR surrogate measures (NIRS), and to determine the predictors of elevated NIRS. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on professional drivers at four Egyptian companies, where 187 SW were compared to 193 dayworkers (DW). Measurements included: sociodemographic, work, and clinical characteristics. Laboratory and NIRS data included: triglyceride glucose (TyG), triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI), triglyceride to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C), and metabolic score of insulin resistance (METS-IR). Further assessments included insomnia severity index (ISI), and perceived stress scale (PSS-10). Results Shiftwork-drivers showed significantly higher levels of NIRS compared to DW-drivers. Shiftwork was significantly associated with elevated TyG (OR: 5.04, 95% CI: 1.98–12.84), TyG-BMI (OR: 4.50, 95% CI: 2.45–8.26), and METS-IR (OR: 6.30, 95% CI: 2.72–14.58). Significant interactions between SW and insomnia or meal-timing habits existed, where SW-drivers with clinically significant insomnia had 11 times higher odds of elevated TyG compared to DW drivers without insomnia. Likewise, SW-drivers experiencing poor meal timing habits had 5.5- and 6.8-times higher odds of elevated TG/HDL-C and METS-IR, respectively, compared to DW divers without poor meal timing habits. Other significant predictors for elevated NIRS included: age, income, stress, overweight/obesity, and poor meal timing habits. Conclusions This study demonstrates a significant association between shiftwork and elevated insulin resistance in professional drivers. Insomnia and poor meal timing habits significantly increases the odds of insulin resistance among professional drivers, suggesting interventions targeting sleep quality, meal timing, and stress management.

Several empirical studies have shown that professional drivers are a vulnerable occupational group, usually exposed to environmental stressors and adverse work conditions. Furthermore, recent studies have associated work-related stress with negative job performances and adverse health outcomes within this occupational group, including cardiovascular diseases and unsafe vehicle operation. The aim of this study was to describe the working conditions and the health status of this occupational group, and to evaluate the association between the Demand-Control model of job stress and their self-reported health and safety outcomes. A pooled sample of 3,665 Colombian professional drivers was drawn from five different studies. The Job Content Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire were used to measure work stress and self-reported mental health, respectively. Additionally, professional drivers self-reported health problems (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and overweight) and health-related risky behaviors (smoking and sedentary behavior). Regarding the Job Demands-Control (JDC) model, it was found that approximately a third part of Colombian professional drivers suffer from high job strain (29.1%). Correlational and multivariate analyses suggest that de JDC model of stress is associated with the professional drivers' mental health, traffic accidents and fines, but not with other physical and behavioral health-related outcomes, which are highly prevalent among this occupational group, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, overweight, smoking and sedentary behavior. The results of this study suggest that (a) stressful working conditions are associated with health and lifestyle-related outcomes among professional drivers, and (b) that evidence-based interventions are needed in order to reduce hazardous working conditions, job stress rates and their negative impact on the health of this occupational group.

The health behaviours of professional drivers, including eating habits, directly affect their health, cognitive function, and consequently, road safety. Emotional eating, i.e., the consumption of food in response to stress and emotions, poses a particular threat to this occupational group. However, despite the growing interest in drivers' health, comparative analyses between different groups of drivers in terms of eating behaviour remain scarce. Therefore, this study analyses differences in eating behaviour between urban and long-distance bus drivers and the impact of specific occupational demands on dietary choices. Urban (N = 229) and long-distance (N = 271) bus drivers from 14 Polish provinces were surveyed using three tools: the Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Behaviours Scale (HUEBS), Salzburg Stress Eating Scale (SSES) and Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale (SEES). City drivers show healthier eating habits than long-distance drivers (p <.001). In stressful situations, long-distance drivers are more likely to reach for food (p =.011) and eat in response to anxiety (p =.001), despite experiencing lower levels of occupational stress. No significant differences between the driver groups were found in terms of emotional eating related to sadness, anger, and happiness. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed in the whole studied sample between unhealthy eating and stress eating (r = 0.24; p < 0.001). Occupational context significantly influences bus drivers' eating behaviour, which provides a basis for targeted health-promoting interventions. Hence, the specific needs of various driver groups and the direction of further research are discussed.