ATRI study shows no significant impact of training duration on safety performance
Among the findings of the new ATRI study is the absence of a significant impact of total training duration on new entrant driver safety performance.
By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff
5/7/2008
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) May 7 released the findings of its research on the relationship between entry-level driver training and safety outcomes. ATRI’s study is among the first ever to examine the overall duration of new entrant driver training, the instructional environment and curriculum topic areas covered, and the relative safety impact of each on new entrant driver safety performance.
ATRI’s research critically examined the statistical relationship between training regimens and safety performance for over 16,500 new commercial drivers, a sample representing nearly 30 percent of the annual new entrant population. Among the findings is the absence of a significant impact of total training duration on new entrant driver safety performance.
“As a fleet, we have long believed that the litmus test for commercial driver training should be performance-based and not a derivative of hours spent in training; this research bears out our hypothesis,” said Chad England, vice president, recruiting, training and safe driving for Utah-based C.R. England.
“This study provides a critical benchmark for carriers and driver training schools alike,” commented Michael O’Connell, executive director of the commercial vehicle training association.
O’Connell and England both served as members of the study’s technical advisory committee who, along with others from training institutions, motor carriers and driver groups, provided oversight to ATRI on the research methodology.
When the Commercial Driver’s Licensing (CDL) Program was established as part of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, it set minimum standards that states must meet when testing and licensing CMV drivers. These federal requirements consist primarily of driver testing criteria based on driver knowledge and skills, according to the ATRI study.
Fifteen years after the implementation of the CDL program, the debate continues over the criteria that should be used to verify a driver’s qualifications to operate large commercial vehicles, the study stated. While proponents of mandatory driver training believe that uniform training requirements are necessary, opponents of mandatory training argue that the emphasis should be on driver competency rather than on learning hours.
“While the preliminary results presented [in the study] serve to provide key statistical findings on driver training exposure and safety performance, the analysis finds little variation among driver safety performance that can be explained by training program duration within the range of 88 to 272 hours,” according to the study. “However, time duration does become statistically important for one specific training topic within a training regimen once age and days of employment are controlled for. The one variable that significantly influenced the probability that a driver does not have a safety event is post-accident procedure instruction duration.”
ATRI stated that the lack of overall relationship in the duration of new entrant driver training exposure with driver safety outcomes may be interpreted several ways.
“One conclusion might be that more hours than those submitted and tested could have an effect,” According to ATRI’s study. “However, the lack of a safety improvement trend line towards the longer duration programs does not provide the researchers with a basis for this conclusion. The fact that one training topic within the tested duration had a statistically significant effect on driver safety may indicate that one topic area (and others not included in the test) could be under-utilized.
“With more emphasis placed on training components that effect positive safety outcomes, it would be expected that overall duration might become more significant. Conversely, more strategic use of significant components could, theoretically, reduce the overall number of training hours needed.”
ATRI stated that the findings indicate the need for further research on driver training and driver safety, beginning with additional data collection and analysis as part of the study mentioned.
The driver training report is available on ATRI’s Web site at www.atri-online.org.
ATRI is the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.