The Division of Freight, Transit, & Heavy Vehicle Safety (DHVY) solves complex and meaningful heavy-vehicle problems through deployment, testing, analysis, education, and outreach. With a focus on addressing real-world challenges, this Division follows a research-to-practice philosophy by translating research findings into actionable countermeasures – most recently with a strong focus on cutting-edge driver assistance and automated truck and bus technologies. With a long history of establishing key partnerships across a variety of industry and government stakeholders, DHVY has conducted innovative research-based initiatives that support the safety, health, and well-being of truck and bus drivers and all who share the roads with them.
Rich Hanowski
Division Director
Matt Camden
Research to Practice & Outreach
Rebecca Hammond
Heavy Vehicle Programs & Initiatives
Andrew Krum
Human Factors & Advanced System Testing
Andrew Miller
Fleet Focus & Industry Applications
- POLICY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reduced the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work per week from 82 to 70 hours based on VTTI’s study of its hours-of-service regulations.
- RESEARCH: Texting while driving increases a truck driver’s risk of encountering a safety-critical event 23 times over, according to the VTTI Driver Distraction in Commercial Vehicle Operations study. This statistic has since been cited nationally by the New York Times and AT&T.
- INNOVATION: The Commercial Training and Prototyping (CTAP) Simulator gives fleets and organizations the ability to provide high quality training and allows them to design and evaluate systems and technologies before moving to full-field testing or demonstrations. The I-81 Corridor Coalition is a consortium of stakeholders dedicated to improving the safety, continuity, and efficiency of commercial and personal travel along the I-81 corridor. The focus of the coalition is to study and implement innovative solutions to challenges specific to travel on this freight-intensive highway serving a variety of geopolitical regions and users.
- OUTREACH: Our heavy-vehicle researchers share roadway safety and driver health best practices with those who can derive the most benefit: truck drivers, students in driver's education programs, and the general driving public. Outreach programs include: Tips for Sharing the Road with Commercial Motor Vehicles, Commercial Motor Vehicle Driving Safety, Highway Heroes, Trucking Along: Save Drives, Healthy Lives, and Commercial Motor Vehicle Driving Tips. Contact Rebecca Hammond to get involved.
- RESEARCH 2 PRACTICE: Our researchers have computed a positive return-on-investment (ROI) for several advanced safety technologies, including automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and video-based onboard safety monitoring systems. Calculate your ROI by using our ROI calculator.