Driver safety and motor carrier profitability : identifying and understanding drivers in the fleet

Abstract

The objective of the study was to quantitatively explore truck driver safety records in an effort to determine and classify various types of drivers. Six safety variables relating to the number of safety points each driver had accumulated were analyzed using a cluster analysis procedure on 368 active drivers. The results of the study identified three clusters of drivers. Over 49.3 percent of the drivers were identified in a cluster labeled as the “Best Drivers.” The label “Ticket Magnets” was given to 23.6 percent of the drivers, and 27.1 percent of the sample was given the label “Accident Prone.” The individual clusters were also profiled on additional variables. The study findings indicate that most drivers are very good in all aspects of driver safety. Other drivers have some deficiencies which are addressed as managerial implications in the manuscript.