Driver Detention Times in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations

TR Number

Date

2014-12

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

United States. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Office of Analysis, Research, and Technology

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to quantitatively identify detention times in the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry. Although there is currently no standard definition, the industry commonly defines detention time as “any time drivers have to wait beyond 2 hours, which is the average time it takes to load or unload their cargo." Results indicated that drivers experienced detention time on approximately 1 in every 10 stops for an average duration of 1.4 hours. This represents the length of time the driver was detained beyond 2 hours; thus, he/she was loading/unloading at that delivery location for 3.4 hours in total. Medium-sized carriers (51-500 power units) had similar average detention times as large carriers (more than 500 power units); however, they experienced driver detention about twice as often as large carriers. For example, 19 percent of stops made by medium-sized carriers were accompanied by detention time compared to 9 percent of stops made by large carriers. The calculation of odds ratios (ORs) provided similar results for medium-sized carriers when compared to large carriers. The odds of a driver being detained were 2.17 times greater for medium-sized carriers than for large carriers. Operation type did not have much impact on the average length of detention time; however, operation type influenced how frequently drivers experienced detention time, with for-hire truck load (TL) carriers experiencing detention time more than twice as frequently as for-hire less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers and four times more often than private carriers. The OR analysis also indicated that for-hire TL carriers were worse off than for-hire LTL or private carriers. The odds of a driver being detained were nearly 5 times greater for for-hire TL carriers than for private carriers and 2.6 times greater than for for-hire LTL carriers. The odds of a driver being detained were 6.3 and 1.9 times greater for temperature controlled freight carriers than for dry bulk carriers, and liquid bulk/tank freight carriers, respectively.

Description

Keywords

Detention time, Waiting time, Commercial motor vehicles, Commercial trucking, Fatigue, Hours of service

Citation

Dunn, N. J., Hickman, J. S., Soccolich, S. A., & Hanowski, R. J. (2014). Driver detention times in commercial motor vehicle operations. (DOT HS 811 442). Washington, DC: United States. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Office of Analysis, Research, and Technology. Retrieved from http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54300/54378/13-060-Detention-508C-Dec14.pdf.