Work and rest conditions associated with overfatigue in Japanese truck drivers

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to explore work and rest conditions associated with overfatigue in truck drivers. A total of 1,911 male truck drivers participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their employment conditions, work habits, rest habits, sleep habits, health status, and subjective fatigue. Compared to local drivers who worked during the day (60%), local drivers operating during the night (22:00–5:00) (14%) engaged in significantly higher levels of monthly overtime longer than 100 hours and reported shorter sleep on working days. The local/nightworking drivers also reported a significantly greater level of incomplete recovery from daily fatigue. While long-haul drivers with two or more days away from home (12%) had significantly fewer days off, they engaged in significantly longer sleep on both working days and days off, with similar levels of incomplete recovery from daily/weekly fatigue as those of local/day-working drivers. Among work and rest conditions, shorter (< 7 hours) sleep on days off and fewer (< 4 days) days off were significantly associated with incomplete recovery from weekly fatigue. These results highlight the fact that overfatigue among truck drivers can be prevented by proper management of rest and sleep according to their respective schedules of driving work.