Miami professors and students have created a study that looks into the factors affecting truck driver alertness. 

Fadel Megahed, information systems and analytics professor, and Karen Davis, computer science professor, created a study that incorporates analytical tools for modeling the truck driver’s safety. 

The research team: Megahed, Davis, Tuiyott, Harris 

With the help of two undergraduate students, Alison Tuiyott and Lucas Harris, used data from 12,000 trucks from J.B. Hunt Transportation Services. The team analyzes more than just fatigue. They focused on a number of factors including alertness or amount of time spent on the phone, all which can impact changes in driving performance.

The goal of the study was to use trucking information (location, speed, lane switch, etc.) with truck driver information, to build predictive models around driver fatigue. They want to use this information to most effectively intervene with a fatigued worker and pinpoint when a worker is becoming fatigued. 

The main goal of this study hopes to accomplish in the next five years is to utilize the technologies that have been developed by implementing them in the field. The project strives to continue to emphasize the importance of industry safety, and the practices that will need to be continued to keep everyone safe. 

The Miami team has partnered with professors at Auburn University and St. Louis University to continue their research. This project and data analysis with J. B. Hunt will continue into 2020. 

By Maggie Cavanaugh, CEC Communications Reporter