Travis Perkins driver behaviour study to help enhance fleet safety

A driver behaviour study commissioned by Travis Perkins has identified three major areas to focus on to improve driver safety.

They are skill decay, stress and performance, and attention lapses and distractions.

Travis Perkins employs 3,000 drivers who deliver building materials to customers across all segments of construction and are often required to drive specialist vehicle types including LCVs and HGVs.

It commissioned research from Dr Lisa Dorn, associate professor of driver behaviour at Cranfield University and founder of PsyDrive; a company that specialises in accredited training for road safety professionals, research, assessment and interventions for improved road safety.

The study that was commissioned involved a review of existing research and took into consideration studies in other industries, such as aviation, bluelight (emergency services), marine, military and the rail industry to review their learnings and adapt them for use with the Travis Perkins’ fleet, and potentially also with a wider driver community to improve safety.

Dr Dorn said: “It’s perhaps no surprise that when we have something on our mind, performance is affected, and as this study shows, stress causes distraction and can impact driver safety.

“Attention lapses and distractions are a significant cause of crashes.

“The research also concluded that without practise, people experience skill decay, and cognitive skills like decision-making are particularly vulnerable. This has implications for safety when driving for work.”

Travis Perkins safety director, Richard Byrne, says that the business will use the findings to guide its driver strategy; informing areas, such as policies, intervention, training, recruitment and wellbeing.

He added: “Nothing is more important to us than safety, and so as members of several key transport forums, and the leading partner to the construction industry, we will also consider how we can share these learnings more widely, to breed best practice and encourage a cultural shift where drivers feel able to come forward to discuss any life challenges they may be going through, and promote more regular training beyond compliance requirements.”

The results of this study were first presented by Karl Wilshaw and Dr Lisa Dorn at the recent Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) annual safety forum conference.