Driver stress and wellbeing to come under spotlight at Fleet Live

The hazardous impact of stress and fatigue on company drivers will come under the spotlight at Fleet Live, the most important event for fleet decision-makers in the fleet calendar.

Dr Paul Jackson, head of impairment research at TRL, which includes TRL’s Driver Wellbeing Programme that is designed to help fleets manage driver mental wellbeing, will speak in the Discover Fleet theatre at Fleet Live.

He said: “There is increasing evidence that one of the main contributors to fleet costs is poor driver mental wellbeing, primarily as a result of stress and fatigue."

The combination of shift patterns, stiff key performance indicators around delivery times, and heavy workloads is exacerbating stress and mental health issues among fleet drivers, explained Jackson.

Failure to manage these risks can lead to higher accident risks in the short term. In the longer term, businesses that fail to resolve stress and fatigue issues among their drivers could face staff being signed off sick, difficulties in recruiting replacement staff, and damage to their corporate reputations. They are also likely to find that the quality of their customer service falls, he added.

Jackson specialises in the design and delivery of fatigue risk management systems, and has created both Shell’s driver fatigue training and BP’s online training programme, Fatigue Risk Management for Shiftworkers.