Managing Fatigue in Transportation Edited by Laurence Hartley. 1998, 458 pages, $130.50 Oxford, England: Elsevier Science Ltd. (Pergamon) ISBN 0-08-043357-X

Abstract

THISVOLUMEREPRESENTS the proceedings of the 3rd Fatigue in Transportation Conference held in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1998, with some additional invited papers. The contributors include prominent researchers from the academic, industry, civilian government, and military communities in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. (The omission of researchers from other nations is not explained.) The book is organized into four sections addressing the scope of the fatigue problem, sleep loss and other causes of operator fatigue, the assessment and monitoring of fatigue, and approaches to managing fatigue. The 24 chapters provide a fairly thorough review of recent research in each of the four areas addressed and make clear the complexity of operator fatigue issues and the challenges of managing fatigue in the transport industries in today's 24-hour society. The book is an excellent source of information for readers who need to "come up to speed" in the area of transportation operator fatigue and to familiarize themselves with the current state of research programs. It should be a valuable resource for researchers, transport industry managers, and regulators. Although most articles are written on an academic level, some are more practically oriented, especially in the final section on fatigue management strategies. Transportation modes represented here include commercial (trucks, taxis) and noncommercial road transport, commercial air transport, and maritime operations, but trucking is the mode given the greatest emphasis. Some chapters discuss more generic issues not related to a single transport mode (a survey of sleep in a commuter population, a work-related fatigue model, etc.). The scope of the papers varies from broad literature and research program reviews to reports of specific research projects. The production quality of the book is disappointing. Some articles have numerous typographical errors or poor graphics, and a few are in real need of technical editing. The rudimentary index might as well have been omitted. For the most pan, these flaws do not affect the utility of the volume, but a reader/buyer has a right to expect more in a book offered at this price.