Honk If You Love A Good Work Environment! A Study On The Work Environment Of European Truck Drivers

Abstract

Driver satisfaction has been subject to research for quite some time, whereas earlier studies focused on the health aspects of drivers, and work-life balance in terms of time away from home, and stress. However, studies concerning drivers and motivational theories such as the self-determination theory have had little to no focus since the theory became accepted widely by psychological professionals in the beginning of the 2000’s century. Addressing driver satisfaction and its correlated working environment requires multi-stakeholders collaboration, and trade-offs between rigorous contractual terms and perceived basic psychological needs satisfaction for the drivers. The study reveals that a set of drivers has perceived medium autonomy, low relatedness, and high competence, although the high competence and corresponding skill are reached in approximately seven years, addressing the need for new pathways for life-long learning to gain new skills outside the normal existing pathways. Examining the current system was done by interviews and literature reviews connected to the driver’s working environment.