Conceptualising the Socio-material Context: An Ethical Enquiry into the Contextual Materialisation of Paradoxes in Transport Logistics

BackgroundTruck, bus, transit drivers, and men with mobile jobs are at high risk for HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HIV and risky behaviors among truck and bus drivers in Kurdistan province.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 601 bus and truck drivers in Kurdistan province during 2018–2019. Data on high-risk behaviors were collected using a standard questionnaire. ELISA test was used to detect HIV in the study participants. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U tests, and logistic regression modeling in Stata-14 software.ResultsThe mean and standard deviation of the age of study participants was 44.04 ± 11.44 years. HIV rapid test was positive in two subjects; in other words, the prevalence of HIV in the study population was 0.33%. Ninety-two (15.3%) individuals reported a history of drug use, with one (1.1%) having a history of injecting drugs. One hundred and thirty-one (21.8%) of them had a history of high-risk sexual behavior outside of marriage.ConclusionAccording to the results of the present study, the prevalence of high-risk behaviors in bus and truck drivers is high. It seems necessary to direct the drivers’ attention to self-care while considering disciplinary intervention programs to prevent the use of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol along with high-risk sexual behaviors to maintain the health of drivers and passengers.

Chapter 28 - Professional Drivers

The role of cardiovascular CT in occupational health assessment for coronary heart disease: An expert consensus document from the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT): Endorsed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American College of Radiology (ACR)

BackgroundThis study looked at occupational road crashes and work schedule among truck and bus drivers in Metro manila which is one of the cities globally with a high traffic densityMethodsThe...

BackgroundRoad safety is a significant concern in Tanzania due to the high number of commercial vehicle traffic accidents. Implementing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can...

Health and wellness of long-haul truck and bus drivers: A systematic literature review and directions for future research

While advanced driving assistant systems (ADAS) can offer significant benefits to driving safety, driver behaviors are still critical to driving safety, especially in hazardous scenarios. Though ADAS can handle most of the operational driving tasks, they are still less capable of understanding evolving traffic scenarios and hence are less defensive compared to human drivers. Further, most existing studies focused on the influence of ADAS on the behaviors of passenger vehicles, but the safety of long-haul trucks is of more concern. Thus, it becomes imperative to understand how ADAS affects driver behaviors, especially defensive driving behaviors, among long-haul truck drivers. To address this research gap, a naturalistic driving experiment among long-haul truck drivers was conducted, where 868 right-side-merging events that can allow defensive driving behaviors were extracted. Drivers’ defensive driving behavior decision (i.e., yes or no), defensive driving behavior type (i.e., which type of defensive driving behavior), and time to defensive driving behavior were modeled. Results show that ADAS can facilitate drivers’ defensive driving behaviors, as indicated by a higher percentage of actions and quicker responses when approaching hazardous areas. Further, drivers’ defensive driving behaviors (likelihood and types) changed with the progress of the drive, drowsiness levels, traffic conditions, and ADAS availability. Findings from this study provide insights into understanding truck drivers’ behaviors in the context of driving automation and guide the design of future driver training programs for ADAS users, human-machine interfaces of ADAS, and laws or regulations regarding the adoption of ADAS in long-haul trucks.

High risks for locomotor diseases have been reported for bus and truck drivers in general; however, little is known about the specific risks of long-haul truck drivers. Standardised hospitalisation ratios (SHR) for different locomotor diseases of bus drivers, long-haul truck drivers and other truck drivers were compared with each other and with the general Danish working population. Intervertebral disc disorders were more common among professional drivers (SHR: 119, 95% CI: 114-125) and of similar magnitude for cervical and non-cervical disorders. Both long-haul truck drivers and bus drivers had higher SHR for intervertebral disc disorders (SHR: 133, 95% CI: 114-155/SHR: 141, 95% CI: 129-154, respectively) than other truck drivers (SHR: 109, 95% CI: 102-116). The SHR for carpal tunnel syndrome was high among long-haul drivers (SHR: 163, 95% CI: 101-249) and for other truck drivers (SHR: 130, 95% CI: 108-156) compared to bus drivers (SHR: 110, 95% CI: 79-149). All drivers had high SHR for lesions of the ulnar nerve (SHR: 159, 95% CI: 119-207), especially bus drivers (SHR: 197, 95% CI: 116-311). Long-haul truck drivers had high SHRs for synovitis and bursitis (SHR: 150, 95% CI: 105-207), in contrast to other truck drivers and bus drivers (SHR: 103, 95% CI: 89-120/SHR: 87, 95% CI: 66-112, respectively). All groups of professional drivers experience high risk of various disorders of the locomotor system but type of vehicle and specific working conditions are associated with different health effects on the locomotor system.

Why Do Long Distance Truck Drivers Work Extremely Long Hours?

The aim of this study assessment of OSAS role in occurrence of road traffic accidents in sleeping drivers of commercial heavy vehicles such bus and truck driver. This cross-sectional and...

The aims of this study have been to investigate the occurrence of systematic differences in the personal exposure to motor exhaust between different groups of taxi, bus and lorry drivers, and to study if these are influenced by the choice of exposure indicator. We used one indicator of the gaseous phase, nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), and one of the particle phase (measured by DataRAM), of the exhausts. A total of 121 drivers were included in the study: 39 taxi drivers, 42 bus drivers and 40 lorry drivers. Personal measurements were performed during one working day. Nitrogen dioxide was measured with passive diffusive samplers and particles with Data-RAM, a logging instrument using nephelometric monitoring. The instrument measures particles between 0.1 and 10 microm in size. The average exposure to NO(2) for lorry drivers was 68 microg/m(3); for bus drivers 60 microg/m(3) and for taxi drivers 48 microg/m(3). For particles the exposure was 57 microg/m(3) for lorry drivers, 44 microg/m(3) for bus drivers and 26 microg/m(3) for taxi drivers. The result remained unchanged when exposures were adjusted for variation in urban background levels of NO(2) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 microm (PM(10)). Lorry drivers experienced the highest exposure and taxi drivers the lowest with bus drivers in an intermediate position, regardless of whether NO(2) or particles were used as exposure indicator. The levels of both NO(2) and particles were higher for bus drivers in the city than for them driving in the suburbs. Using diesel or petrol as a fuel for taxis had no influence on the exposure for the drivers, indicating that the taxi drivers' exposure mainly depends on exhaust from surrounding traffic.

Aims:The aim of the study was to identify the relation of work stressors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) among the heavy vehicle drivers.Methods and Material:The study involved 154 bus drivers and 161 truck drivers of India. A specially designed questionnaire was used to assess the physical and psychosocial work stresses, job diagnostics, driving hazards, physical environment, and WRMSDs.Statistical Analysis Used:The odds ratios (OR) and development percentage of the test measurements were calculated in the descriptive statistics. The binary logistic regression and Pearson correlation test were used for the data analysis.Results:The results of this study showed that the WRMSDs among the truck drivers were higher than those among the bus drivers. The bus drivers were more likely to develop pain in their arms, while the truck drivers were more likely to suffer from neck, shoulders, legs, lower back, and upper back pain. Results from statistical analysis indicated that age, driving hours, physical fatigue, vehicle design, domestic pressure, and growth opportunities had a significant impact on the development of WRMSDs in the bus drivers. While, in the case of truck drivers, it was found that driving hours, tenure, vibration, physical fatigue, mental overload, and job dissatisfaction were significant.Conclusions:The study concludes that the work stressors are associated with different types of MSDs, and the level of MSDs differs significantly between the bus and truck drivers.

We performed a retrospective analysis of commercial drivers to clarify the background of incidents of sudden illness while driving. The analysis used reports submitted by employers to the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism regarding commercial drivers who had been ordered to stop driving owing to health problems. Of 211 cases with an average work history of 15.2 years, there were 88 bus drivers, 70 taxi drivers, and 53 truck drivers, 36.0% of who had died as a result of their disease. Among taxi and truck drivers, more than 70% of incidents were due to cardiac, aortic, and cerebrovascular disease. More than 80% of these were unable to avoid traffic accidents caused by sudden illness. However, among bus drivers, cardiac, aortic, and cerebrovascular disease accounted for only 23.5% of incidents, and accidents were avoided in more than half of the cases. The duration between starting work and the incident time was significantly shorter among bus drivers [mean 3.3 hours, standard deviation (SD) 3.1] than taxi (7.7 hours, SD 5.8) and truck (7.2 hours, SD 6.3) drivers (P<0.01). The difference between the sudden illness rates of taxi and truck drivers and those of bus drivers is due to both reporting bias and differences in the awareness needed to prevent disabling events while driving. As a precaution, physicians should advise commercial drivers to stop driving as soon as they detect slight discomfort. To prevent accidents, more assertive health promotion aimed at professional drivers is needed.

While other research has shown that higher paid truck and bus drivers are safer, this is the first study showingwhyhigher paid drivers are safer. We estimate the labour supply curve for long-haul truck drivers in the United States, applying two-stage least squares regression to a national survey of truck drivers. We start with the standard model of the labour supply curve and then develop two novel extensions of it, incorporating pay level and pay method, and testing the target earnings hypothesis. We distinguish between long-haul and short-haul jobs driving commercial motor vehicles. Truck and bus drivers choose between long-distance jobs requiring very long hours of work away from home and short-distance jobs generally requiring fewer hours. The labour supply curve exhibits a classic backward bending shape, reflecting drivers’ preference to work until they reach target earnings. Above target earnings, at a ‘safe rate’ for truck drivers, they trade labour for leisure, working fewer hours, leading to greater highway safety. Drivers work fewer hours at a higher pay rate and likely have less fatigue. Pay rates also have implications for driver health because worker health deteriorates as working time exceeds 40 hours.

Pakistan currently reports a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Concern over the potential for an expanded HIV epidemic in the country is mainly due to segments of the Pakistani population who engage in high-risk practices a low level of public knowledge about HIV/AIDS dangerous blood transfusion and inoculation practices and Pakistans proximity to India a country which has experienced a rapid increase in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The limited data currently available on HIV/AIDS prevalence in Pakistan are presented. By November 1996 64 cases of AIDS had been reported to Pakistans National AIDS Program. However the World Health Organization estimated that by the end of 1994 there were really 40000 people infected with HIV. Data from point-prevalence studies suggest that foreign and Pakistani nationals who have either worked abroad or as seafarers may comprise a sizeable proportion of the recognized HIV/AIDS cases. The studies also documented cases of HIV infection among people with multiple sex partners blood transfusion recipients and prisoners. Heterosexual contact appears to be the dominant mode of viral transmission. Lifestyle risk factors and health care practices which contribute to HIV transmission are described.