ATRI Finds Short-Term Benefits from Truck Simulator Training

Training truck drivers on simulators shows some safety benefits, but the benefits do not last very long, the American Transportation Research Institute said.

ATRI’s research found that drivers who received simulator training were safer than their counterparts for the first six months after the training, the group said in a white paper it released Feb. 12. But 12 months after the training, the safety benefits “dissipated.”

“While driver turnover may play a role in the declining significance, the white paper suggests that carriers examine the frequency of sustainment training for drivers,” ATRI said in a statement.

The group suggested that carriers use simulators to focus simulator training efforts on specific behaviors that have a high crash risk, in an attempt to reduce the chances of crashes.

ATRI’s research is available through its website, www.atri-online.org.