Risky business: Investigating influences on large truck drivers' safety attitudes and intentions

Introduction: Safety research in the U.S. motor carrier context remains important, as the trucking industry employs approximately 1.7 million large truck drivers. Drivers face many competing pressures in this unique high risk, high regulation, and low direct supervision context. They represent the cornerstone of safe carrier operations. Methods: Using a multi-theoretical approach, this study investigates how drivers' perceptions of carrier safety climate influence their safety-related attitudes and intentions. Results: Responses from nearly 1500 over the road drivers provide evidence that safety climate directly influences drivers' attitudes toward safety, safety norms, and driver risk avoidance, and indirectly influences drivers' intentions to commit unsafe acts. These findings replicate previous findings and also extend the nomological network of theory in this context, adding driver risk avoidance as a central factor to the driver safety theoretical framework. Additionally, carrier managers are encouraged to reflect on the study's evidence and pursue a better understanding of their drivers' risk perceptions and tolerance, while minimizing avoidable risk through prudent safety and operational policies, procedures, and processes. Future research in this area is highly encouraged. •Safety attitudes, norms, control, and risk avoidance influence large truck drivers' intentions to commit unsafe acts.•Safety climate directly influences drivers' safety attitudes, norms, and propensity to avoid risk.•Safety climate indirectly influences drivers' intentions to commit unsafe acts.•The likelihood drivers will commit unsafe acts in the future increases as they progress through their career stages.