Psy 409a - Driving Psychology, March 13, 2006
Truckers: A Hidden Danger on the Road
Tiare MacDonald
J. Peter Rothe. Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems that Make Traffic Suffer. Pages 143-159
Instructions for this
activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/g24-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
I. There are many dispatched vehicles on the road at any given time.
II. Many of the drivers of these vehicles are pressured and constantly monitored by their dispatchers, who serve as the intermediary between drivers and management.
a. Important factors that dispatchers closely regulate:
b. Getting to a destination on time
c. Maximizing Profits
III. Thus, the actions of truck drivers are dictated by their bosses.
a. There are negative consequences if these drivers do not follow their dispatcher’s rules.
b. However, there are also negative consequences to the pressures that drivers face; often the safety of the drivers and other drivers on the road is compromised.
IV. Dispatchers have a lot of power over drivers, so drivers feel like they must obey.
a. If truckers do not obey orders, it may lower their paycheck or they risk losing their job.
b. Thus, both drivers and dispatchers are motivated by acquiring more wealth.
i. If a driver is late, s/he will lose money and be fined.
c. The pressure to be on time comes from the corporate level as well.
V. People in the truck driver industry often believe that the rules of the road can be bended.
a. Dispatchers expect drivers to “cut corners”
b. This is justified through heavy loads, time constraints, and the fact that “everyone else does it.”
VI. Drivers are often dishonest in their logbooks so that they can violate rules.
a. As a result, they often drive for more hours than is safe or legal.
b. Companies are aware that this occurs. They do not (probably purposefully) closely monitor these logbooks.
c. In order to cheat on logbooks, drivers use certain strategies:
i. Having more than one logbook.
ii. Throwing their logbook away and claiming it was lost.
VII. Safety issues for truckers
a. Fatigue
i. Sleepiness, although a risk, is not honored by the driving companies.
b. Road Rage
ii. Drivers may have negative interactions with their dispatchers, which may lead to road rage, and risky driving.
iii. Truckers put in these emotionally-charged situations can get very upset behind the wheel and this may carry on when off the job.
c. Overweight loads make trucks less easy to maneuver.
i. Truckers are expected to carry these illegal loads.
d. Speeding on the road
i. Trucks driving at high speeds in order to reach their destination are a major hazard.
Related Links:
Motor Vehicle Accidents: Truck Accidents
http://www.sheller.com/Practice.asp?PracticeID=76
I chose this link because it talked about truck drivers and the types of accidents that they are typically involved in. It was interesting (and not surprising after reading this chapter) that the three most common reasons why an accident involving a truck occurred are “speeding, running off the road or out of the traffic lane and failure to yield the right of way.”
Truck Driver Fatigue
http://www.saferoads.org/issues/fs-truckdriverfatigue.htm
I chose this site because it covered one of the major issues in this chapter –- truck driver sleepiness behind the wheel and the dangers associated with it. It proposed a rule to combat this driving hazard, but unfortunately, drivers will probably bend this rule anyway.
America's 10 Most Dangerous Jobs
This site was interesting because when most people think about dangerous jobs, they may think of policemen (probably influenced by the media). However, most of these dangerous jobs were like fishers or farmers. Truck drivers were #9 on the list, the reason being they spend so much time on the road, which is a dangerous place.
My Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/macdonald/macdonald-home.htm
Class Homepage: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm