Synthesis of Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Technology Surveys: What Has Been Learned?

Abstract

This paper documents and synthesizes the major qualitative survey efforts within the United States relating to stakeholder design, use, and perspectives of onboard truck safety technologies. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) have conducted a survey synthesis and metaanalysis to consolidate, analyze, and identify gaps in existing survey research on safety technologies. Over the past several years, there has been an increasing interest in onboard truck safety technologies. At different times, entities such as FMCSA, FHWA, American Trucking Associations (ATA), and ATRI have undertaken different survey projects to document and understand onboard safety technology applications. While a wide variety of data has been collected by these projects, there has been little effort to aggregate data across projects. The current synthesis includes analysis of more than 11 survey, interview, and focus group instruments, representing 558 respondents and 56 unique questions. Preliminary results indicate that while existing research addresses many issues related to carrier purchase and use of technologies, there is a considerable gap in research addressing driver attitudes, experiences, and preferences. Satellite or cellular communication between terminal and vehicle and Global Positioning System are the technologies most commonly used by carriers. Most carriers that have a safety technology installed on their fleets have already realized the desired safety benefits, often intangible from a quantitative perspective. Cost and lack of clear data about benefits are the two biggest factors preventing wider installation of safety technologies.