New Study Examines Driver Discomfort and Demographics

Truck drivers continue to have one of the highest injury incidence rates according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With this in mind, Atlas Injury Prevention Solutions has released a white paper exploring the relationship between driver demographics and the presence, location, and level of physical discomfort.

The Atlas white paper, Relationship Between Demographics and Discomfort in the Transportation Industry, examines a population of 102,749 drivers who completed an online discomfort survey between 2008 and 2017. The paper defines how discomfort correlates to driver height, BMI, age, gender and whether or not they handle freight. The paper continues with suggestions on how to use this information to reduce injury risk.

The study reaches a number of eye-opening conclusions including:

• 46% of drivers experience some level of discomfort
• Drivers under 5’4″and above 6’3″ experience higher levels of discomfort but in different body parts
• Obesity has a significant correlation to the presence and level of discomfort
• Younger and older drivers experience discomfort in different ways
• Discomfort reported by females is driven more by height than gender

“Our goal with the research was two-fold,” said Drew Bossen, executive vice president of Atlas. “First, we want to provide safety managers a greater understanding of those drivers who may be at higher risk. Second, we want to provide simple, real-world solutions to address the concerns of driver discomfort, supported by our data analysis.”

Category: Driver Stuff, General Update, News