Though they’re one of the top tools for helping trucking companies combat risky driving behavior that is often associated with fatigue, fleets continue to face challenges when implementing driver-facing cameras in the cabs of trucks.
One organization has found a way to bypass camera technology altogether or work in conjunction with cameras to help trucking companies better address what is one of the biggest risks in over-the-road operations.
Fatigue Science, which provides predictive fatigue risk management for fleets primarily in the mining industry, has created a purely software solution for the trucking industry. The organization recently completed a pilot of its solution with Canada-based Day & Ross, which provides cross-border truckload and LTL services with over 5,000 trucks.
The pilot tested the effectiveness of Fatigue Science’s AI-powered fatigue prediction system Readi across 155 Day & Ross drivers. Day & Ross dispatchers monitored real-time fatigue risk using Readi dashboards integrated with Platform Science/PeopleNet data and logged interventions such as rest breaks or route adjustments based on fatigue scores, helping to establish a proactive risk management culture.
How it works
Long-haul and overnight truck drivers experience irregular schedules, extended hours and chronic stress, paired with limited physical activity and a lack of healthy food choices on the road – all of which can contribute to fatigue. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration driver fatigue is a factor in 13% of large truck crashes.
Fatigue Science’s Readi platform allows dispatchers to prepare for driver fatigue ahead of a shift and build interventions into the driver’s schedule to mitigate the risks of fatigued driving.
“The whole point is to do something proactive at the beginning of the shift,” said Fatigue Science CEO Andrew Morden.
The Readi platform provides non-wearable, predictive fatigue insights up to 18 hours in advance. These insights are backed by Fatigue Science’s 15 years of data gathered from its legacy customers, 30,000 of which do use wearables like a Fitbit or Garmin or Apple watch.
Those wearables capture the last 10 nights of a driver’s sleep, and Fatigue Science uses a biomathematical model called SAFTE (Sleep, Activity, Fatigue, and Task Effectiveness) to inform fatigue insights on drivers in the over-the-road trucking sector without them having to use a wearable. SAFTE, developed at the Walter Reed Center, estimates sleep patterns around work duties and then estimates performance levels.
Drivers who don’t use a wearable take a short, one-time survey to establish their sleep profile, which identifies their sleep hygiene. That enables Fatigue Science to match the long-haul driver with industrial drivers who use a wearable. Morden said Fatigue Science doesn’t have a huge amount of data on the trucking industry, but its predictive tools in the industrial segment was able to reduce driver camera alarms that were a result of fatigue events by 58% on night shift.
“As of right now, our non-wearable solution is about at 90% as accurate as our wearable solution,” Morden said.
Using the Readi score for intervention
Using AI machine learning, the biomathematical model produces hour-by-hour Readi scores that follow a driver’s circadian curve. At the beginning of a driver’s shift, the dispatcher or supervisor receives a driver-by-driver view of each driver’s fatigue level for the following 18 hours.
“It's a predictive analytic that gives visibility to the dispatcher at the beginning of the shift so they can see in the future where there's going to be risk of fatigue impairment,” Morden said. “Because they have that information well in advance, they're able to make a plan so they can still hit their delivery times.”
The model measures cognitive fatigue: a combination of cognitive performance (ability to make good decisions), reaction time and likelihood (of having a mirco sleep, A.K.A. zoning out). Those three qualities are calculated into a Readi score, ranging from a zero to 100 alertness level.
“Most people are between 65 and 95; it's pretty hard to get to 100,” Morden said. “The idea is to give that dispatcher an objective number for understanding the fatigue impairment of each operator.”
This gives the dispatcher insight into when that driver’s score might drop below a threshold they consider risky. Morden said when a driver’s score is at 70, which is generally the starting point for that threshold, dispatchers can intervene with countermeasures such as calling the driver to check in, having them pull over for a rest, or asking them to get out and walk around to rejuvenate them, among other things. Fatigue Science also integrates with ELD providers to identify drivers’ sleep opportunities.
“We're trying to keep truckers on the road and make sure they're getting a message from the dispatcher that the company cares about them and is trying to take care of them and make sure they're safe and well while they're working,” Morden said.
He said that was the biggest outcome for Day & Ross during its pilot: they saw a noticeable improvement in their relationships between drivers and dispatchers.
These are some of Day & Ross’ other outcomes: 70% driver participation in fatigue assessments, surpassing success benchmarks; high volumes of fatigue countermeasures logged by dispatch and safety teams; full technical integration with PeopleNet to stream live drive/rest data; strong feedback from both supervisors and drivers on ease of use and value; and early indicators of behavioral change, with drivers proactively managing their own fatigue.
“Safety is our top priority and that includes tackling driver fatigue. As we introduce new technologies to enhance our safety program and help our teams better support the health and safety of our drivers, this pilot proved to be a valuable step in proactive fatigue risk mitigation,” said Laura Dickinson, vice president of safety and compliance at Day & Ross. “Our dispatchers found the platform easy to use, and we saw clear momentum as teams began incorporating it into their daily routines. We are excited to continue rolling out Readi in Canada and the United States.”
Morden said Fatigue Science is currently working with additional trucking operations in North America to deploy its Readi platform.
