Using data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System, we model crashes as a function of firm characteristics, with a focus on the employment relationship. We find that very small firms (one driver, one truck) and firms that contract with owner operators have fewer crashes than employee-only companies, once other firm characteristics and exposure are controlled. Additionally, though v...

BACKGROUND Truck driver sleepiness is a primary cause of vehicle accidents. Several causes are associated with sleepiness in truck drivers. Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are associated with sleep disorders and with primary risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). We analyzed the relationship between these conditions and prevalence of sleepiness in truck drivers. METHODS We anal...

This paper describes an approach towards an adaptive software and system architecture for driver assistance systems (DAS). Rather than assuming a static configuration of electronic control units and software components used in current automotive systems, we propose an architecture approach to handle the diversity arising from dynamically changing software configurations as they will emerge in f...

This paper describes the application of dynamic simulation to evaluate material handling resource utilization for a stamping plant in the automotive industry. The other objective of this study was evaluation of throughput relative to press schedules, shift patterns, the number of material handling resources (i.e. fork truck and tugger train drivers), and storage inventory levels. This dynamic s...

BACKGROUND Trucks represent 6% of all vehicles, but truck crashes account for 20% of road deaths in Israel, even though travel distances are usually short (<200 km) and overnight travel is uncommon. OBJECTIVE To determine occupational and individual predictors of fatigue, falling asleep at the wheel, and involvement in crashes with injuries and deaths in truck drivers. SETTING AND METHODS W...

A 53-year-old truck-driver, symptomatic for headache, was diagnosed [computed tomography (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI)] with a 4 cm intraluminal aortic mass arising 3.5 cm above the sinu-tubular junction (Fig. 1A and B and Supplementary Video 1). After epiaortic ultrasound scanning (Fig. 2A and Supplementary Video 1), the ascending aorta was resected on femoral bypass, foll...

BACKGROUND Sleep-related problems are known risk factors for road accidents. However, very few studies have investigated the role played by insomnia and its components, and no data are available for a population of occupational drivers at risk, such as the truck driver category. OBJECTIVE To measure the prevalence and impact of insomnia on motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and near-miss accident...