For more than a decade, researchers operating under the aegis of the federal governments of the U.S. and Canada have been working to develop an all-encompassing program aimed at reducing driver fatigue.

The results of their efforts in the form of a comprehensive training program that involves not only drivers but also dispatchers, driver management personnel, fatigue counter measures, sleep-disorder screening and treatment, and new technologies could be released in the next year or so, says one of the nations leading large vehicle safety researchers.

"The main thing we are doing is developing a training program," said Dr. Ronald Knipling, principal with Safety for the Long Haul, a transportation research, consulting and training company based in Arlington, Va.

"Its something that will be available to you probably a year from now, but it may slip to 15 months."

The North American Fatigue Management Program will be available to motor carriers in the United States and Canada as both a PowerPoint presentation, and as an online computer-based training program, Knipling said.

"Carriers need to adopt a more comprehensive proactive approach, centered around drivers, involving education, medical screening for obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, and trying to be more alertness friendly in scheduling and dispatching," says Kipling.

The overarching goal of the research taking place under Kniplings guidance is to develop, implement, evaluate and finalize a comprehensive, integrated fatigue-management program for motor carriers.

Key program components will include commercial driver training and education on sleep need and fatigue countermeasures; training for dispatchers and driver management personnel on improved scheduling which takes into account individual sleep need; sleep disorder screening and treatment, and fatigue management technologies.

The research project is jointly sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Transport Canada, and has been in the works for more than 10 years.

Fatigue is a major problem among commercial drivers, with 31 percent of fatal crashes involving fatigue, said Knipling, author of what many consider to be the definitive textbook on over-the-road truck safety and accident prevention, Safety for the Long Haul.

Just over a year ago, Knipling became the first American awarded the Order of Merit from the International Road Transport Union, the Geneva, Switzerland-based international organization representing highway users.

Knipling says that while hours-of-service rules address fatigue to a certain degree, much more needs to be done.

"Hours-of-service compliance is legally required, and its a good thing, but its very insufficient as fatigue management," he said. "If youre violating your hours of service, chances are you have a fatigue problem.

"If youre obeying your hours of service, you can still have a big fatigue problem. . . . There are many factors in fatigue that are not addressed by hours of service," he said.

At least one federal agency is already on the record as advocating that the North American Fatigue Management Program become mandatory for motor carriers.

Deborah Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, submitted written testimony to a Senate subcommittee last year, saying it had made a recommendation to the FMCSA "to require all motor carriers, including motorcoach operators, to adopt a fatigue management program" based on the North American Fatigue Management Program.

Hersman delivered her testimony at a hearing on motorcoach safety held by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

In addition to more than 30 years experience in traffic safety with emphasis on driver human factors and motor carrier safety, Knipling also is a former senior research scientist and senior transportation fellow at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and former research division chief at the FMCSA.