Driver Fatigue Is Everyone's Business – Employers Included

Heavy vehicle drivers are not the only ones responsible for managing their fatigue. The decisions made by the various parties involved in the freight and passenger transportation industry can cause fatigue among heavy vehicle drivers.

Driver fatigue, in brief

Fatigue leads to a gradual decline of physical and mental alertness that can result in drowsiness or sleepiness.

Fatigue impairs our faculties, and we often do not even realize it. Just like alcohol, accumulated fatigue reduces our ability to concentrate and affects our judgment and reflexes, therefore impacting our ability to drive.

Although all drivers are subject to fatigue at the wheel, heavy vehicle drivers are especially prone to this problem, in particular due to:

• long work hours
• irregular schedules
• night shifts
• the long distances covered

Operators, owners and employers: you also have a part to play

You cannot rely solely on legislation governing driving and off-duty time to prevent driver fatigue-related accidents. Your decisions and your actions can also help reduce fatigue for heavy vehicle drivers.

What can be done to prevent driver fatigue?

To prevent fatigue at the wheel as an employer, you can adopt the following measures:

• make safety and fatigue management core values of your company
• make your drivers' health and quality of life a priority
• provide training to drivers, dispatchers and schedule managers to address the issue of driver fatigue and make them aware of ways to prevent it
• implement "biocompatible" schedules that:
  • better suit the internal biological clock
  • are as regular as possible
  • are predictable and maximize the driver's recuperation periods
  • take into account recent and upcoming work and rest periods
  • follow, if necessary, a clockwise rotating pattern (day-evening-night)
  • limit night shifts
• carefully manage overtime
• provide enough rest time between two work shifts:
  • most people require 7 to 9 uninterrupted hours of sleep every 24 hours, preferably at night
• follow on any incident or accident with the driver involved

Useful tools

To help employers raise awareness among their employees, the SAAQ has developed a toolkit (in French only) that includes checklists, related articles and a PowerPoint presentation.

For more information

Consult the guide for heavy vehicle owners and operators regarding fatigue at the wheel (PDF, 2.9 MB)⁠ ⁠ (in French only) and make the Driver Fatigue – Fatigue Management Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB) (PDF, 1.0 MB)⁠ available to your employees.

North American Fatigue Management Program

The goal of the North American Fatigue Management Program is to reduce driver fatigue, improve the quality of life of drivers, and lower the rate of accidents caused by fatigue and the related costs. The program is particularly intended for heavy vehicle drivers and their families, employers, shippers, dispatchers and carrier safety managers.

The main goals of the program are to understand fatigue and to convey the importance of proper sleep hygiene and a healthy lifestyle.

Consult the Driver Fatigue – Fatigue Management Guide (PDF, 1.0 MB)⁠.