PROCEEDINGS of the Seventh International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design DRIVER SIMULATION-BASED TRAINING OF HEAVY VEHICLE OPERATORS: TARGETED TASK ANALYSIS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRAINING DESIGN

The use of simulation for training operators of heavy vehicles is gaining momentum. However, there still exists a gap in knowledge about the appropriate skills to target, and in particular, with regards to skill areas of a nontechnical nature. By taking a first-principles approach, we first sought to conduct a targeted analysis of the heavy vehicle operator task and, in turn, to assess which of the goal-based tasks identified through the task analysis would be most appropriate for simulation-based training. In general, simulation provides a safe and efficient option for training critical skills that could otherwise be trained on road (e.g., gear shifting). Simulation also provides the opportunity to train critical skills in a structured and formal way that could otherwise not be achieved in a real heavy vehicle, except on an opportunistic or incidental basis (e.g., hazard perception). Nonetheless, the challenge for training system design still remains: what constitutes the appropriate balance between simulator-based and real truckbased practical training, and for which curriculum components and skill sets.