TRB's Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 11: Impact of Behavior-Based Safety Techniques on Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers explores various strategies designed to increase safety-related driving behaviors and decrease at-risk driving behaviors of commercial motor vehicle drivers. The report also examines innovative and successful behavior-based safety practices in commercial vehicle settings.

The purposes of this research is to gain an understanding of behavior-based safety (BBS) principals and to determine its applicability to the measurement and management of commercial motor vehicle driver performance and safety. As such, the contractor conducted a series of 3 presentations on BBS in late-August 1998. Two presentations were conducted at the HQ Department of Transportation and one was conducted at HQ American Trucking Associations Foundation, Inc. A question and answer session followed each presentation. As discussed during the presentations, BBS employs "benchmark" behaviors that are identified as safety or productivity-critical. The organization then focuses on these benchmark behaviors for purposes of driver self-management, general management, corrective training and/or rewards. For example, if vehicle highway speed were identified as a safety-critical benchmark behavior, speed would be monitored and both drivers and their managers would receive frequent feedback on the drivers's degree of speed compliance. Gas mileage is another example of a benchmark behavior. BBS methods have been implemented with great success in industrial setting and have tremendous potential for improving safety and productivity in the trucking industry. The potential benefits for the trucking community are even more pronounced if BBS principles are used in conjunction with new or soon to be available, in-vehicle technologies (e.g. actigraphs, alertness monitors and electronic on-board recorders) which potentially provide safety-relevant and/or productivity-relevant behavior/performance benchmark information.

"TRB's Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP) Report 7: Role of Human Factors in Preventing Cargo Tank Truck Rollovers analyzes the causes of the major driver factors contributing to cargo tank truck rollovers and offers safety, management, and communication practices that can be used to help potentially minimize or eliminate driver errors in cargo tank truck operations. The report focuses on three areas of practice--rollover-specific driver training and safety programs, the use of behavior management techniques, and the use of fitness-for-duty management practices--that could have long-lasting benefits for motor carriers of all sizes across the tank truck industry."--Publisher's description.

"TRB's Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 24: Distracted Driving Countermeasures for Commercial Vehicles examines driving distractions, as well as any protective (safety-enhancing) effects of particular devices. Distracted driving for commercial drivers is defined as attending to tasks not directly related to operating the vehicle."--Publisher's description.

There are approximately 4,000 fatalities in crashes involving trucks and buses in the United States each year. Though estimates are wide-ranging, possibly 10 to 20 percent of these crashes might have involved fatigued drivers. The stresses associated with their particular jobs (irregular schedules, etc.) and the lifestyle that many truck and bus drivers lead, puts them at substantial risk for insufficient sleep and for developing short- and long-term health problems. Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health and Highway Safety assesses the state of knowledge about the relationship of such factors as hours of driving, hours on duty, and periods of rest to the fatigue experienced by truck and bus drivers while driving and the implications for the safe operation of their vehicles. This report evaluates the relationship of these factors to drivers' health over the longer term, and identifies improvements in data and research methods that can lead to better understanding in both areas.

"TRB's Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 21: Driver Selection Tests and Measurement synthesizes information on the use of tests, measurements, and other assessment methods used by commercial truck and bus companies in the driver selection process. The report also identifies and describes driver selection methods and instruments and their potential usefulness in predicting driver crash risk."--Publisher's description.

In the three volumes of Major Trends in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, the editors guide the reader through a well-selected compendium of works, presenting a fresh look at contemporary linguistics. Specialists will find chapters that contribute to their fields of interest, and the three-volume collection will provide useful reading for anyone interested in linguistics. The first volume explores theoretical issues dealing with phonetics-phonology and syntax-semantics-morphology. Volume two is organized into three main sections that examine interdisciplinary linguistics: discourse analysis, gender and lexicography; language acquisition, and language disorders. Finally, volume three focuses on applied linguistics - both language teaching/ learning and education.