Couples traveling together and long-haul truckers’ transport performance: A theory-based empirical test

As the core force in logistics transportation, long-haul truck drivers profoundly impact the global economy. However, the monotonous and demanding nature of the transport task often results in truck drivers neglecting their health and well-being, and the resulting issues of psychological safety and fatigue pose a significant challenge to truck drivers’ transport performance. Couples traveling together as a strategy can increase driver-family interactions and significantly improve driver transport performance. However, there is a gap in research on the specific pathways of the effects of traveling together as a couple on truck drivers’ transport performance. This study combined perceived risk theory, conservation of resources theory, and job demand-resource theory with structural equation modeling to investigate 167 long-haul truck drivers from China. The comprehensive evaluation found that, under the mediating role of psychological capital and job burnout, couples traveling together can reduce the perceived health, financial, social, and performance risks of long-haul truck drivers, thereby increasing the psychological capital of long-haul truck drivers, reducing job burnout, and ultimately improving transportation performance. This study reveals the jurisprudential relationship between truck driver couples traveling together and transport performance. This study also provides useful insights for transportation companies and government departments to formulate business strategies and management policies for truck driver couples traveling together.