Trucks

Effects of Truck Driver Wages and Working Conditions on Highway Safety: Case Study

Daniel Rodríguez
Rocha, M
Khattak, AJ
Belzer, MH
2003

The role of human capital and occupational factors in influencing driver safety has gained increased attention from trucking firms and policy makers. The influence of these factors, along with demographic factors, on the crash frequency of truck drivers is examined. A unique driver-level data set from a large truckload company collected over 26 months was used for estimating regression models of crash counts. On the basis of estimates from a zero-inflation Poisson regression model, results suggest that human capital and occupational factors, such as pay, job tenure, and percentage of...

Pay Incentives and Truck Driver Safety: A Case Study

Daniel Rodríguez
Targa, F
Belzer, MH
2006

This paper explores the safety consequences of increasing truck driver pay. The test case the authors examine involves a large over-the-road truckload firm that on February 25, 1997, raised wages an average of 39.1%. An analysis that controls for demographic and operational factors, including prior driving experience and experience acquired on the job, suggests that for drivers employed during the lower pay regime and retained in the higher pay regime, crash incidence fell. A higher pay rate also led to lower separation probability, but this indirect effect only translated into fewer...

The Effects of Truck Driver Wages and Working Conditions on Highway Safety: A Case Study

Daniel Rodríguez
Rocha, M
Khattak, AJ
Belzer, MH
2006

The role that human capital and occupational factors play in influencing driver safety outcomes has gained increased attention from trucking firms and policy-makers. This paper examines the role of these factors, in addition to demographic factors, in influencing crash frequency at the driver level. A unique driver-level dataset from a large truckload firm collected over a period of 26 months is used for estimating regression models of crash counts. Based on estimates from a zero inflated Poisson regression model, results suggest that human capital and occupational factors, such as...

Virtual Commercial Vehicle Compliance Stations: A Review of Legal and Institutional Issues

Rodier, Caroline J.
Susan Shaheen
Cavanagh, Ellen
2006

In the past five years, commercial vehicle travel has increased 60 percent on California’s highways, without a corresponding increase in compliance inspection station capacity or enforcement officers. Commercial vehicles that do not comply with regulations impose significant public costs including, for example, pavement and structure damage to roads and catastrophic crashes. In response to these problems, the California Department of Transportation is investigating the potential application of detection and communication technology in virtual compliance stations (VCS) to cost-effectively...

Commercial Vehicle Parking in California: Exploratory Evaluation of the Problem and Solutions

Rodier, Caroline J., PhD
Susan Shaheen
Allen, Denise M.
Dix, Brenda
2010

California is home to major international ports in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland, as well as the second largest border crossing between Mexico and the U.S. California’s highways are critical commercial links from these ports of entry to the nation and carry more commercial vehicle truck traffic than any other state in the U.S. Given the high volume of truck travel in California, it is not surprising that there is a serious shortage of truck parking in the state. This shortage negatively impacts economic productivity, roadway safety, air quality, and public health. This report begins...

Forecasting Truck Parking Using Fourier Transformations

Sadek, Bassel A.
Martin, Elliot W.
Susan Shaheen
2020

Truck-based transportation is the predominant mode used to transport goods and raw materials within the United States. While trucks play a major role in local commerce, a significant portion of truck activity is also long haul in nature. Long-haul truck drivers are continuously faced with the problem of not being able to secure a safe parking spot since many rest areas become fully occupied, and information about parking and availability is limited. Truck drivers faced with full parking lots/facilities either continue driving until a safe parking spot is located or park illegally....

California’s Freeway Service Patrol Program: Management Information System Annual Report Fiscal Year 2018-19

Mauch, Michael
Alexander Skabardonis
1985

The Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) is an incident management program implemented by Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local partner agencies to quickly detect and assist disabled vehicles and reduce non-recurring congestion along the freeway during peak commute hours. The first FSP program was piloted in Los Angeles, and was later expanded to other regions by state legislation in 1991. As of June 2018, there were fourteen participating FSP Programs operating in California, deploying 328 tow trucks and covering over 1,823 (centerline) miles of congested California freeways. The...

The Optimal Placement of FSP Tow Trucks

Petty, K F
Alexander Skabardonis
Varaiya, P P
American Society of Civil Engineers
1997

Freeway service patrols (FSPs) are a popular means of incident management and control. The authors address the question of the correct placement of FSP tow trucks as a scarce resource allocation problem. They present a methodology for determining where to place FSP tow trucks so as to maximize the expected reduction in congestion. They illustrate this approach using the I-880 database.

Estimation of Truck Traffic Volume from Single Loop Detectors with Lane-to-lane Speed Correlation

Kwon, J
Varaiya, P
Alexander Skabardonis
Transportation Research Board
2003

An algorithm for real-time estimation of truck traffic in multilane freeways was proposed. The algorithm used data from single loop detectors--the most widely installed surveillance technology for urban freeways in the United States. The algorithm worked for those freeway locations that have a truck-free lane and exhibit high lane-to-lane speed correlation. These conditions are met by most urban freeway locations. The algorithm produced real-time estimates of the truck traffic volumes at the location. It also can be used to produce alternative estimates of the mean effective vehicle length...

Estimation of Truck Traffic Volume from Single Loop Detectors Using Lane-to-Lane Speed Correlation

Kwon, Jaimyoung
Varaiya, Pravin
Alexander Skabardonis
2003

An algorithm for real time estimation of truck traffic in multi-lane freeway is proposed. The algorithm uses data from single loop detectors-the most widely installed surveillance technology for urban freeways in the US. The algorithm works for those freeway locations that have a truck-free lane, and exhibit high lane-to-lane speed correlation. These conditions are met by most urban freeway locations. The algorithm produces real time estimates of the truck traffic volumes at the location. It can also be used to produce alternative estimate of the mean effective vehicle length, which can...