ARLINGTON, Va. --- The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released a study on the relationship between entry-level driver training and safety outcomes. Among the findings is the absence of a significant impact of total training duration on new entrant driver safety performance.

ATRI’s study is among the first ever to examine the overall duration of new entrant driver training, the instructional environment and curriculum topic areas covered, and the relative safety impact of each on new entrant driver safety performance.

ATRI’s research critically examined the statistical relationship between training regimens and safety performance for over 16,500 new commercial drivers, a sample representing nearly 30 percent of the annual new entrant population.

"As a fleet, we have long believed that the litmus test for commercial driver training should be performance-based and not a derivative of hours spent in training; this research bears out our hypothesis," said Chad England, vice president of recruiting, training and safe driving for Utah-based C.R. England. "This study provides a critical benchmark for carriers and driver training schools alike," said Michael O’Connell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association.

O'Connell and England both served as members of the study's Technical Advisory Committee. They, along with others from training institutions, motor carriers and driver groups, provided oversight to ATRI on the research methodology.

The driver training report is available on ATRI's Web site at www.atri-online.org.