Drivers of commercial vehicles and trucks, especially long-haul truck drivers, face a slew of occupational pressures and unique challenges – from long work hours, disrupted sleep schedules, and extended time away from family and friends to erratic work periods, extreme time pressures, and fatigue and monotony. As a result, work-related stress among commercial vehicle operators is escalating.
Compounded by the ongoing labor shortage, driver stress has serious implications for driver wellbeing and road safety – and ultimately, delivery performance.
Drivers under pressure
A 2023 survey found that 72% of truck drivers feel their job is physically and emotionally stressful, rating their stress during an average day as moderate to extreme. Given the working life of truckers – one third drive more than 49 hours per week, 63% sleep six or less hours every night, 54% spend less than 24 hours a week at home – it’s not a surprise that driver stress is a growing problem.
Moreover, the majority of drivers are challenged to take care of their wellbeing or seek support to manage job stress. While nearly 46% of respondents said access to mental health services would help them manage stress, only 40% of male drivers said they would consider speaking with a counsellor or therapist.
On-the-job stressors
Multiple daily stressors affect commercial drivers’ mental health, according to a 2025 survey.
Faced with aggressive – and sometimes unrealistic – delivery schedules, 26% of drivers admit to regularly exceeding the speed limit to meet delivery deadlines.
Traffic congestion and construction zones also contribute to driver stress, with 60% of survey respondents stating that traffic and roadwork have made their work more challenging, hindering their ability to complete deliveries efficiently. In addition, commercial drivers must contend with dangerous behavior from other vehicles on the road, including other drivers on mobile phones, speeding, or driving poorly.
Compromised performance
According to a 2025 survey of commercial drivers across the U.S., 68% of respondents say that work-related stress negatively impacts their driving performance, with 76% believing stress and mental health are contributing factors in increased dangers on the road. A European road safety survey echoed the American findings: the vast majority (91%) of commercial vehicle drivers reported that work-related stress has a negative impact on their driving, with 70% agreeing that stress is a contributing factor to increased road dangers.
Notably, 86% of U.S. commercial drivers surveyed believe the risk of driving accidents has increased over the last five years. In fact, according to the most recent data from the National Safety Council, 5,375 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash in 2023, a 43% increase over the last 10 years; also in 2023, 114,552 large trucks were involved in crashes resulting in an injury, up 12% over the past 10 years.
How technology can mitigate driver stress
With road safety and driver wellbeing top priorities for today’s logistics and transportation professionals, shippers and carriers must implement strategies, processes, and technologies designed to alleviate driver stress. By addressing drivers’ daily challenges and stressors using streamlined, efficient workflows, AI-enabled logistics technology removes on-the-road friction to reduce driver stress.
Optimized routing: With automated route planning and execution software, fleet operators can create efficient, dynamic routes that account for traffic patterns and real-time road conditions (e.g. construction zones, congestion), reducing delays and the pressure to speed. Plus, as demand fluctuates seasonally or unforeseen circumstances arise mid-route, fleet managers can easily adjust routes to help drivers succeed.
Realistic scheduling: Powered by historical and real-time data that is continuously analyzed using machine learning capabilities, purpose-built technology optimizes route density to generate achievable delivery schedules, reducing miles travelled and minimizing the need for drivers to rush or work excessive hours.
Putting data to work: By leveraging telematics data on everything from driver behavior, on-road vehicle performance and diagnostics, and live-time road conditions, fleet managers can make data-driven decisions, addressing stress triggers and risky behaviors before they lead to costly accidents.
Integrated systems: Many fleets still have legacy systems, third-party telematics, and/or separate compliance systems. Without an integrated logistics platform—such as a mobile app to capture vehicle faults early, telematics to monitor driver behavior and performance, and AI-based route adjustment to reduce the risk of poorly planned shortcuts—visibility is limited, data is lost, and safety gaps persist. Integration provides automatic triggering of safety-related issues before they become a problem for drivers.
As the logistics sector grapples with a driver shortage, rising costs, and continuous pressure to meet customers’ delivery expectations, driver stress is a serious impediment to safe roads, delivery performance, and driver retention.
Mitigating work-related stress by creating predictable, efficient delivery schedules and continuously optimizing routes based on real-time data is key to enhancing driver wellbeing, improving road safety, and increasing on-time performance. And fleet managers that focus on reducing driver stress can increase job satisfaction for drivers to reduce costly turnover – a boon to the bottom line in today’s uncertain economic times.
