Sleepful Drive: The development of a comprehensive sleep management programme in commercial drivers

The aim of the project was to co-develop (with target users and stakeholders) an app-based intervention to improve sleep quality and quantity in commercial drivers within the road freight sector in the UK.

Research Objectives:

One of the main objectives of the project was to inform the legal, regulatory, managerial and occupational context within which the sleep improvement app will be deployed. The research questions for this part of the project therefore were:

1. Is there support for the hypothesis of widespread sleep problems in the commercial driver population?

2. Is there a significant impact of work schedules and environments on sleep health?

3. What components of the proposed sleep app fit the job profile/lifestyle/industry policies?

Research Design and Method:

The research employed a qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews as the method for data collection. Participants were commercial drivers of any vehicle size (HGV, LCV) who distribute goods in the UK, and employees at the management or policy level within the UK industry (non-driver industry employees). Recruitment of commercial drivers and non-driver industry employees occurred through social media, or via email to existing industry contacts, either to recruit that person or for a request for recruitment posters/leaflets to be distributed across their networks. Twenty commercial drivers and eleven non-driver industry employees took part in one-to-one interviews conducted between January – March 2022. Most drivers (75%) operated HGV vehicles with a quarter operating LCVs, and all drivers worked full-time. Non-drivers were employed by logistics companies, an industry union, a road safety government agency, an accident prevention charity, and a national logistics trade association.

Data Analysis:

Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim before undergoing thematic analysis within NVivo (version 12.0) software. Published data analysis procedures were followed throughout the process to preserve the empirical adequacy and descriptive validity.