Motorcoach Driver Fatigue StudySponsored by the

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Gregory Belenky, M.D.

Lora J. Wu, M.S.

Jack Hodges

Washington State University

Driver Sample• 80 motorcoach drivers (20 women), middle-

aged and overweight• Studied for an average of 30 consecutive days

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39

0

5

10

15

20

Total Days in the Study per Participant - All

Number of days recorded (Days)

Fre

qu

ency

Number of Volunteers by Operation

• Charter -18• Tour -13• Regular Route - 25• Commuter Express -24

Exposure

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

7:00

8:00

9:00

10:0

0

11:0

0

12:0

0

13:0

0

14:0

0

15:0

0

16:0

0

17:0

0

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%

100.00%

All

Total Duty Time (Hours:Minutes)

Cu

mu

lati

ve F

req

uen

cy

Mean Duty Hours per Week by Driver - All

5:00

:00

10:0

0:00

15:0

0:00

20:0

0:00

25:0

0:00

30:0

0:00

35:0

0:00

40:0

0:00

45:0

0:00

50:0

0:00

55:0

0:00

60:0

0:00

65:0

0:00

70:0

0:00

75:0

0:00

80:0

0:00

0

4

8

12

16

20

All

Mean Duty Hours/Week (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

Mean Duty Hours per Week by Driver – By Type of Operation

5:00

:00

10:0

0:00

15:0

0:00

20:0

0:00

25:0

0:00

30:0

0:00

35:0

0:00

40:0

0:00

45:0

0:00

50:0

0:00

55:0

0:00

60:0

0:00

65:0

0:00

70:0

0:00

75:0

0:00

80:0

0:00

0

2

4

6

Charter

Mean Duty Hours/Week (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

5:00

:00

15:0

0:00

25:0

0:00

35:0

0:00

45:0

0:00

55:0

0:00

65:0

0:00

75:0

0:00

0

2

4

6Tour

Mean Duty Hours/Week (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

5:00

:00

10:0

0:00

15:0

0:00

20:0

0:00

25:0

0:00

30:0

0:00

35:0

0:00

40:0

0:00

45:0

0:00

50:0

0:00

55:0

0:00

60:0

0:00

65:0

0:00

70:0

0:00

75:0

0:00

80:0

0:00

0

2

4

6Regular Route

Mean Duty Hours/Week (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

5:00

:00

15:0

0:0

0

25:0

0:0

0

35:0

0:0

0

45:0

0:0

0

55:0

0:0

0

65:0

0:0

0

75:0

0:0

0

0

2

4

6Commuter Express

Mean Duty Hours/Week (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

Duty Start Time by Duty Day – All

0:00

1:30

3:00

4:30

6:00

7:30

9:00

10:3

012

:00

13:3

015

:00

16:3

018

:00

19:3

021

:00

22:3

00

20406080

100120140160180200

All

Starting Hour (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

ays

Duty Start Time by Duty Day – By Type of Operation

Duty Start Time by Driver by Duty Day -All

3:00

3:30

4:00

4:30

5:00

5:30

6:00

6:30

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:0

010

:30

11:0

011

:30

12:0

012

:30

13:0

013

:30

14:0

014

:30

15:0

0

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

All

Starting Hour (Hours:Minutes)

Fre

qu

ency

Duty Start Time by Driver by Duty Day – By Type of Operation

On Duty Time by Duty Day - All

0:00

1:30

3:00

4:30

6:00

7:30

9:00

10:3

012

:00

13:3

015

:00

16:3

018

:00

19:3

021

:00

22:3

00

20406080

100120140160180200

All

On Duty Time (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

ays

On Duty Time by Duty Day – By Type of Operation

Charter B

Tour A

Regular Route

B

Commuter Express

C

Mean On Duty Time by Driver by Duty Day - All

6:00

6:30

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:0

0

10:3

0

11:0

0

11:3

0

12:0

0

12:3

0

13:0

0

13:3

0

14:0

0

14:3

0

15:0

0

0123456789

10

All

Duty Day Duration (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

Mean On Duty Time by Driver by Duty Day – By Type of Operation

Total Sleep Time by Day - All

1:30

2:30

3:30

4:30

5:30

6:30

7:30

8:30

9:30

10:3

0

11:3

0

12:3

0

13:3

0

14:3

0

15:3

0

16:3

0

17:3

0

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

All

Total Sleep Time (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f d

ays

Total Sleep Time On/Off Duty by Day - All

1:30

2:30

3:30

4:30

5:30

6:30

7:30

8:30

9:30

10:3

0

11:3

0

12:3

0

13:3

0

14:3

0

15:3

0

16:3

0

17:3

0

0

40

80

120

160

200

All

On Duty Off Duty

Total Sleep Time (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

ays

Total Sleep Time for On-Duty Days and Off-Duty Days

Total Sleep Time by Day – By Type of Operation

Charter B

Tour A

Regular Route

B

Commuter Express

C

Total Sleep Time On/Off Duty by Day – By Type of Operation

Charter A

Tour B

Regular Route

C

Commuter Express

D

Sleep by Operation On and Off Duty

Charter Tour Regular Route

Commuter Express

0:00

0:59

1:59

2:59

3:59

4:59

5:59

6:59

7:59

8:59

9:59Off DutyOn Duty

Tot

al S

leep

Tim

e (H

ours

:Min

ute

s)

Average Total Sleep Time by Driver by Day - All

5:00

5:30

6:00

6:30

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:0

0

10:3

0

11:0

0

11:3

0

12:0

0

02468

101214161820

All

Total Sleep Time (Hours:Minutes)

Nu

mb

er o

f D

rive

rs

Average Total Sleep Time On/Off Duty by Driver by Day - All

3:30

4:00

4:30

5:00

5:30

6:00

6:30

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:0

0

10:3

0

11:0

0

11:3

0

12:0

0

12:3

0

13:0

0

13:3

0

0

4

8

12

16

20

All

On Duty Off Duty

Sleep Duration (Hours:Minutes)

Fre

qu

ency

Average Total Sleep Time by Driver by Day – By Type of Operation

Average Total Sleep Time On/Off Duty by Driver by Day – By Type of Operation

Correlation of On Duty Time by Duty Day with Total Sleep Time by Duty Day - All

0:00

1:59

3:59

5:59

7:59

9:59

11:5

9

13:5

9

15:5

9

17:5

9

19:5

9

21:5

90:00

1:59

3:59

5:59

7:59

9:59

11:59

13:59

15:59

17:59

All

Total Duty Time (Hours:Minutes)

Tot

al S

leep

Tim

e (H

ours

:Min

ute

s)

Correlation of On Duty Time by Duty Day with Total Sleep Time by Duty Day – By

Type of Operation

Correlation of On Duty Time by Duty Day with Total Sleep Time by Duty Day by Driver - All

0:00

0:59

1:59

2:59

3:59

4:59

5:59

6:59

7:59

8:59

9:59

10:5

9

11:5

9

12:5

9

13:5

90:000:591:592:593:594:595:596:597:598:599:59

10:5911:59

All

Total Duty Time (Hours:Minutes)

Tot

al S

leep

Tim

e (H

ours

:Min

ute

s)

Correlation of On Duty Time by Duty Day with Total Sleep Time by Duty Day by

Driver – By Type of Operation

Driver Subjective Fatigue at the Start and End of the Duty Day Measured using the Samn-Perelli Fatigue Scale - All

Start of Duty End of Duty1

2

3

4

5

6

7

AllS

amn

-Per

elli

Fat

igu

e R

atin

g

Driver Subjective Fatigue at the Start and End of the Duty Day Measured using the Samn-Perelli Fatigue

Scale – By Type of Operation

Driver Subjective Sleepiness at the Start and end of the Duty Day Measured using the Karolinska Sleepiness

Scale - All

Start of Duty End of Duty1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

AllK

arol

insk

a S

leep

Rat

ing

Driver Subjective Sleepiness at the Start and end of the Duty Day Measured using the Karolinska Sleepiness

Scale – By Type of Operation

PVT

Start of Duty Start of Break End of Break End of Duty0.0025

0.0027

0.0029

0.0031

0.0033

0.0035

0.0037

Mean Speed of PVT Test vs PVT Type

Charter

Tour

Regular Route

Commuter Express

PVT Code

Mea

n S

pee

d (

1/R

T)

Summary of Findings

• 80 motorcoach drivers studied for ~30 days• Charter, Tour, Regular Route, Commuter Express• Start of duty in early to mid-morning• Duty day on average 10-11 hours• Worked an average of 40-50 hours/week• Slept an average of 7-8 hours on duty days and off

duty days• Poorer performance and more fatigue and sleepiness

at end of duty day compared to the beginning

Washington State University

Gregory Belenky, M.D.Research Professor and DirectorSleep and Performance Research CenterWashington State University P.O. Box 1495Spokane, WA 99210-1495

Phone: (509) 358-7738FAX: (509) 358-7627Email: belenky@wsu.edu

Point of Contact