New research suggests that business drivers are at a heightened risk of seasonal stress during the winter months…

Business Drivers at Risk of Seasonal Stress

New research, conducted by RED Driver Training, has revealed that business drivers are at a heightened risk of seasonal stress. Using its Wellbeing Profiler, it analysed data from more than 3,000 business drivers. It discovered that 20% of the drivers felt ‘tired’ during the winter months. Disturbingly, 12% admitted to feeling ‘exhausted’. A further 10% said that they also suffer from increased levels of anxiety when driving in darker conditions. 

RED has labelled the phenomenon as ‘Seasonally Affective Driver Disorder’ (SADD). Crucially, it claims that all types of business drivers are affected by it; whether they be driving company cars, vans or HGVs. Crucially for fleets, it’s been noted that it can increase the chances of road collisions and significantly reduced productivity. 

‘Tough During the Winter’ 

Ian McIntosh, RED Driver Training CEO, commented on the research. He said, “we ask 79 different questions that look at areas such as tiredness, anxiety, employee engagement, mental clarity, decisiveness, self-esteem and lifestyle, and in every single metric, there is clear evidence that drivers struggle more in winter than other seasons”. He continued, “anybody who drives a lot knows that it can be especially tough during the winter. From the moment you get out of bed in the dark and have to scrape the ice off in the cold, we know that business motoring in the winter months is hard work. But this is the first time we have been able to definitively get a picture of the scale of it”. 

McIntosh also had some advice for fleets. He said, “for employees who really struggle with this, employers could do a number of things. They could try and reduce their mileage by doing more video-conferencing, or reschedule appointments so employees are not doing long drives in the morning or evening when the risks are higher”. 

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