Trucking Fleet Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Managing Mixed Fleets − Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The goals of this project are to: (1) demonstrate the safe integration of automated driving system (ADS)-equipped trucks into the U.S. on-road transportation system; (2) provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with data for safety analysis and rulemaking to help modernize regulations; and (3) demonstrate how to integrate ADS-equipped trucks into the existing road freight ecosystem in a productive, cooperative way. Read More
Trucking Fleet Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Managing Mixed Fleets − Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
This goals of this project are to: (1) demonstrate the safe integration of automated driving system (ADS)-equipped trucks into the U.S. on-road transportation system; (2) provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with data for safety analysis and rulemaking to help modernize regulations; and (3) demonstrate how to integrate ADS-equipped trucks into the existing road freight ecosystem in a productive, cooperative way. These objectives are being accomplished through hands-on demonstrations (roadshows) on live U.S. roads for three different use cases (truck queuing, exit-to-exit, and yard-to-exit). This project differs from other demonstrations of level 4 ADS technologies in that we are not developing or demonstrating an idealistic autonomous deployment of a one-off “robot truck.” Rather, we are demonstrating a realistic autonomous deployment that relies on a mixed-fleet model in which truck fleets simultaneously own and operate trucks with different levels of ADS. This project focuses on the development and demonstration of a CONOPS for ADS-equipped trucks, which will ensure the results translate directly to real-world settings that are of practical importance to the trucking industry, regulators, and the public at large. The project is addressing eight specific areas: (1) maintenance and installation; (2) ADS inspection procedures; (3) driver state monitoring technology and protocols; (4) commercial motor vehicle guide to insuring ADS-equipped trucks; (5) safety metrics and variables; (6) ADS road readiness rating system; (7) data security/transfer protocol for ADS-equipped trucks; and (8) cybersecurity best practices for ADS-equipped trucks.
Video Analytics – Federal Highway Administration
During the past decade, naturalistic driving studies (NDSs) have led to great advances in the understanding of real-world driver behavior and its relation to crash involvement. However, drawing conclusions from NDS data typically requires the manual reduction of large quantities of data by humans, which is labor intensive, time consuming, and costly. The goal of this project is to develop a system that can analyze naturalistic driving videos and automatically produce annotations and descriptors for events, behavior, and driving scenarios that relate to transportation safety and operation. Read More
Video Analytics – Federal Highway Administration
During the past decade, naturalistic driving studies (NDSs) have led to great advances in the understanding of real-world driver behavior and its relation to crash involvement. However, drawing conclusions from NDS data typically requires the manual reduction of large quantities of data by humans, which is labor intensive, time consuming, and costly. The goal of this project is to develop a system that can analyze naturalistic driving videos and automatically produce annotations and descriptors for events, behavior, and driving scenarios that relate to transportation safety and operation. Using large datasets obtained in NDSs and through recent advancements in the field of machine learning, particularly deep neural networks, VTTI is developing a set of computer vision algorithms with four primary objectives: (1) characterization of high-level driver behaviors such as eating, attending to a phone, and outside distraction; (2) perception of extravehicular context, including construction zones, pedestrian crossings, and signalized intersections; (3) understanding the interactions and dependencies between drivers and the surrounding environment (e.g., looking at a passing vehicle or a billboard); and (4) demonstration of how the video analytics techniques developed under objectives 1 through 3 enable human factors researchers to address key research questions in novel ways. The developed set of algorithms will provide a powerful tool to analyze millions of miles of NDS videos in a finite time.
Electronically Controlled Braking Systems (ECBSs) – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The goals of this research effort are to:
(1) perform a comprehensive literature review and market review and engage industry to document the state of ECBS technologies, market and regulatory barriers to their development and deployment, international approaches to ECBS deployment, and cost
factors in ECBS deployment; (2) perform a comprehensive review of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 121’s implications for ECBS development
and deployment, how changes to FMVSS 121 and related FMVSS requirements since 1998 have affected deployment, and the real-world representativeness of FMVSS 121 burnish requirements and test procedures; (3) identify the most likely configurations of ECBS implementation and perform functional
safety and risk analyses on these configurations; and (4) develop preliminary test procedures for ECBS that are compatible with the results of objective (2) and could be used to evaluate the safety concerns or risks identified in objective (3). Read More
Electronically Controlled Braking Systems (ECBSs) – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The goals of this research effort are to:
(1) perform a comprehensive literature review and market review and engage industry to document the state of ECBS technologies, market and regulatory barriers to their development and deployment, international approaches to ECBS deployment, and cost
factors in ECBS deployment; (2) perform a comprehensive review of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 121’s implications for ECBS development
and deployment, how changes to FMVSS 121 and related FMVSS requirements since 1998 have affected deployment, and the real-world representativeness of FMVSS 121 burnish requirements and test procedures; (3) identify the most likely configurations of ECBS implementation and perform functional
safety and risk analyses on these configurations; and (4) develop preliminary test procedures for ECBS that are compatible with the results of objective (2) and could be used to evaluate the safety concerns or risks identified in objective (3).
Commercial Driver Safety Risk Factors Study – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The objective of this study was to prospectively examine a wide array of driver personal and situational factors to determine the prevalence of these factors as well as their relationship to being involved in a crash. This study involved the collection of driver medical, demographic, and other personal factors to examine the relationship between these factors with various safety outcomes. Read More
Commercial Driver Safety Risk Factors Study – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The objective of this study was to prospectively examine a wide array of driver personal and situational factors to determine the prevalence of these factors as well as their relationship to being involved in a crash. This study involved the collection of driver medical, demographic, and other personal factors to examine the relationship between these factors with various safety outcomes. Interested drivers completed initial study materials during a driver orientation session with the participating carrier at one of eight different recruitment sites across the United States. Safety outcomes included crash data from the participating carrier and crashes and moving violation convictions from national datasets. Depending on the analysis, exposure included the driver’s tenure at the participating carrier during the study or the amount of time under observation during the study. Data from over 21,000 drivers were collected, and 20,753 of these drivers were included in the analyses. Many of the prevalence rates for several of the medical conditions were similar to or above the U.S. averages. In general, those receiving treatment for a medical condition were no riskier in terms of safety outcomes than drivers without the medial condition and, in several cases, were less risky than those who did not have the medical condition. When there was an increase in risk in one or more of the safety outcomes, it was usually associated with the driver not receiving treatment or the driver not being clinically diagnosed with the medical condition (and thus not receiving treatment).
Sharing the Road with Large Trucks: Teen Driver Education – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Safety Council (separate projects)
The objective of these projects is to provide novice drivers with information and hands-on learning experiences about sharing the road with trucks. VTTI researchers visit driver education programs to conduct free, onsite demonstrations about proper procedures for sharing the road with trucks. Read More
Sharing the Road with Large Trucks: Teen Driver Education – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Safety Council (separate projects)
The objective of these projects is to provide novice drivers with information and hands-on learning experiences about sharing the road with trucks. VTTI researchers visit driver education programs to conduct free, onsite demonstrations about proper procedures for sharing the road with trucks. The hands-on program is designed to be completed in a single class period and consists of two parts: a 10-minute in-class presentation and an outside truck demonstration (in the school parking lot). During the truck demonstration, objects and vehicles are strategically placed around the truck to demonstrate the blind spots of large trucks, and students are walked around the truck to demonstrate the danger areas that should be avoided when driving. The students then take turns sitting in the truck cab to experience the blind spots first hand from a truck driver’s perspective.
Although VTTI’s Sharing the Road with Trucks program is designed to be completed in person, this is not always possible. With funding from the National Safety Council, VTTI created a video series to further educate all drivers on how to safely share the road with large trucks. This series consists of four short videos and is designed to present the same information covered during the hands-on demonstration. The videos comprise a mix of real-world examples from VTTI research, driving examples recorded on the Virginia Smart Roads, and animations. Interactive videos with pre- and post-video questions can be found on VTTI’s Sharing the Road website. The non-interactive videos can be found on VTTI’s YouTube website.
Fast Dash Program – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Advanced System Testing utilizing a Data Acquisition System on the Highways (FAST DASH) program conducts efficient, independent evaluations of promising safety technologies aimed at commercial vehicle operations. The Center for Truck and Bus Safety at VTTI was selected to complete three technology evaluations focusing on the efficacy of safety systems, as measured through: crash reduction effectiveness (i.e., safety improvements), unintended consequences (i.e., safety disbenefits), and user (e.g., drivers and safety managers) acceptance. Read More
Fast Dash Program – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Advanced System Testing utilizing a Data Acquisition System on the Highways (FAST DASH) program conducts efficient, independent evaluations of promising safety technologies aimed at commercial vehicle operations. The Center for Truck and Bus Safety at VTTI was selected to complete three technology evaluations focusing on the efficacy of safety systems, as measured through: crash reduction effectiveness (i.e., safety improvements), unintended consequences (i.e., safety disbenefits), and user (e.g., drivers and safety managers) acceptance.
VTTI applied the following approaches to evaluate each technology:
- Controlled Performance Testing: CTBS performed preliminary shake-down testing of the technology on the Virginia Smart Roads to demonstrate and assess the performance capabilities reported by the vendor.
- Field Study: CTBS instrumented commercial motor vehicles with data acquisition systems (DASs) to gather naturalistic data from a revenue-producing fleet operating on public roads with the technology installed. The DASs carry a suite of sensors, including forward radar, lateral and longitudinal accelerometers, gyro, and GPS. The DASs provide access to the vehicle controller area network and collect multiple channels of compressed digital video. Using a before-after methodology, the collected data were used to provides insights into the technology’s potential safety benefits, system performance under real-world conditions, unintended consequences from the use of the system, and drivers’ impressions of the technology.
Safety Technology Evaluation Project #1
Safety Technology Evaluation Project #2
Safety Technology Evaluation Project #3
CMV Driver Restart – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
VTTI conducted this Congressionally mandated naturalistic study to evaluate the operational, safety, fatigue, and health impacts of the restart provisions in Sections 395.3(c) and 395.3(d) of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. A total of 235 commercial motor vehicle drivers representative of the industry contributed data while working their normal schedules, with 181 drivers completing all five months of the study. Read More
CMV Driver Restart – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
VTTI conducted this Congressionally mandated naturalistic study to evaluate the operational, safety, fatigue, and health impacts of the restart provisions in Sections 395.3(c) and 395.3(d) of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. A total of 235 commercial motor vehicle drivers representative of the industry contributed data while working their normal schedules, with 181 drivers completing all five months of the study. Drivers were monitored via electronic logging devices; onboard monitoring systems to detect safety-critical events; wrist actigraph devices for sleep-wake tracking; smartphone apps for self-ratings of fatigue, sleepiness, stress, sleep quality, and caffeine intake; and brief psychomotor vigilance performance (PVT-B) testing. Drivers provided 26,964 days of data (17,628 duty days and 9,336 restart days), and a total of 3,287 restart/duty cycle sampling units were analyzed. Statistical comparisons were performed using linear and non-linear mixed-effects modeling designed to ensure results were free of selection bias. Drivers’ fatigue ratings were higher, and sleep quality ratings were lower, during 1-night versus 2-night restarts [Section 395.3(c)]. Drivers averaged slower PVT-B response times and more PVT-B lapses during restarts after 168 hours than prior to 168 hours [Section 395.3(d)]. During restarts, drivers obtained significantly more sleep (on average, 2 hours more per day) and rated their sleep quality higher and their stress lower as compared to duty days, regardless of provision use. The results indicate that restarts serve to mitigate driver fatigue, stress, and sleep loss.
CAS FOT Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
VTTI conducted a large-scale, naturalistic field test of heavy vehicle crash avoidance system (CAS) performance and reliability. The CAS in the study included Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), which was always enabled, plus a suite of audio/visual alerts to inform the driver of potential conflicts. Read More
CAS FOT Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
VTTI conducted a large-scale, naturalistic field test of heavy vehicle crash avoidance system (CAS) performance and reliability. The CAS in the study included Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), which was always enabled, plus a suite of audio/visual alerts to inform the driver of potential conflicts. The study documented how frequently CAS systems activate under real-world conditions, the environmental conditions in which they activate, and how drivers react to the activations. The research team sampled 6,000 activations for further analysis to determine how many activations were safety critical, advisory, or false in nature. Finally, VTTI characterized CAS activations to provide real-world data that can be used to estimate CAS safety benefits. To conduct the analysis, VTTI collected over 85,000 hours and 2.5 million miles of truck driving data from all 48 lower U.S. states. The results inform how drivers experience CAS activations in the real world and what kinds of circumstances generate unnecessary activations. The findings have helped the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and industry understand how to improve system usability so that drivers and systems work together to achieve the best safety outcomes.
Bus Operator Workstation – National Academy of Sciences
This project was designed to assist transit agencies and bus manufacturers in integrating improved and emerging technologies into current procurement practices and improve bus operator workstation design across the transit industry. VTTI developed updated existing [TCRP Report 25] bus operator workstation guidelines, including tools such as the Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline and a three-dimensional CAD model (Bus Operator Workstation Engineering CAD Model), into products that align with the processes and practices that are common within the rest of the commercial bus and truck industry. To assist in the communication of bus operator workstation requirements with individuals who are not trained in expensive and difficult CAD software, a Bus Operator Workstation 3-D PDF Model was created for anyone who has access to a computer. Read More
Bus Operator Workstation – National Academy of Sciences
This project was designed to assist transit agencies and bus manufacturers in integrating improved and emerging technologies into current procurement practices and improve bus operator workstation design across the transit industry. VTTI developed updated existing [TCRP Report 25] bus operator workstation guidelines, including tools such as the Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline and a three-dimensional CAD model (Bus Operator Workstation Engineering CAD Model), into products that align with the processes and practices that are common within the rest of the commercial bus and truck industry. To assist in the communication of bus operator workstation requirements with individuals who are not trained in expensive and difficult CAD software, a Bus Operator Workstation 3-D PDF Model was created for anyone who has access to a computer.
