Survey: Drivers don't understand principal elements of CSA

In releasing the results of the survey, ARTI officials said that findings reveal that truck drivers continue to have myriad concerns related to CSA, drivers may not have a solid understanding of what CSA is and does. (The Trucker file photo)

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff

8/11/2011

ARLINGTON, Va. — Most truckers didn’t do too well on a 14-question survey designed to determine driver understanding of CSA.

In fact, it appears a majority of them flat out flunked the test.

The questionnaire was part of a broader CSA survey among drivers conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the research arm of the American Trucking Associations.

ATRI said the 14 questions covered the principal elements of CSA.

In releasing the results of the survey, ARTI officials said that findings reveal that truck drivers continue to have myriad concerns related to CSA, drivers may not have a solid understanding of what CSA is and does.

Questionnaire results bear that out.

Two samples participated in the survey.

A convenience sample of 204 drivers was recruited at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., last March.

While the 204 MATS drivers completed the entire survey, a large motor carrier volunteered an additional 4,351 company drivers to complete only the questionnaire portion of the survey.

Collectively, drivers in the two groups answered an average of 5.71 questions correctly. The MATS sample answered an average of 6.44 questions correctly.

“While no participants answered all 14 questions correctly, no single question was universally misunderstood,” the ATRI report said. ‘However, respondent knowledge did vary considerably depending on the specific CSA issue at hand.”

The survey also revealed several areas of positive understanding about CSA in addition to prevalent myths about CSA. Follow www.thetrucker.com in the coming days for those results.

ATRI said 55 answered the former correctly and 107 answered the latter correctly.

All other questions generated from 577 to 4,340 correct answers.

Not all drivers said they had received educational training about CSA.

ATRI said 22.7 percent participated in multiple educational sessions, 36 percent reported their employer provided one learning session and the remainder had no carrier-led education on CSA.

Training or the lack thereof showed  up in driver attitudes toward CSA, ATRI said.

“Driver attitudes in general were found to differ among drivers who experienced varying levels of CSA training,” the report said. “Interestingly, attitudes were neutral for drivers who had no training, somewhat negative for drivers with one training session and somewhat positive for drivers with multiple sessions.”

Lyndon Finney of The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.