7
and referred to the original transcripts as needed. To ensure
trustworthiness of the coding and reduce potential bias, two
researchers performed the coding independently [20]. The
coding results were compared between the two research-
ers, and all disagreements were resolved through discussion,
with a third researcher serving as a tiebreaker. The agree-
ment between original two researchers was substantial with
a Cohen Kappa of 0.654 (p0.0001) [21].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Theme Prevalence
Theme prevalence was measured in two ways first by the
number of cases from which the theme emerged, and sec-
ond, by the number of times the theme appeared within
the full data set. “Know your truck,” “situational aware-
ness,” and “safety first” were the most prevalent themes
across all participant incidents. All three occurred in 20
of the 21 participant incidents. They were also the most
frequently occurring across all incidents (Figure 2). “Share
your stories,” “communicate effectively,” “stay calm,” “be a
team player,” and “no distractions” emerged in 17, 14, 8, 4,
and 2 of the 21 cases respectively. The examples in Table 4
illustrate interview quotes researchers associated with the
top three emergent themes. The following sections further
explore these themes, and ideas proposed by participants.
Know Your Truck
This theme exemplifies the critical requirement that haul
truck operators possess domain-specific knowledge and
skills. Given the rapidly changing environment, short time-
frames, and complex situations, haul truck operators need
to be able to make quick, definitive decisions and execute
them at a mastery level. This includes performing pre-shift
inspections, assessing the truck’s status, understanding the
truck’s capabilities, appreciating the truck’s size, knowing
how the truck responds, and understanding how this all
applies to the current situation. Overall, haul truck opera-
tors talked often of different aspects of operator competen-
cies, where competency is defined as the observable ability
of a person to integrate their knowledge, skills, values, and
attitudes to achieve a specific goal [22]. In this case, the
goal is to safely operate a haul truck. Operators often spoke
about how their decisions and actions were motivated by
how they “knew” the truck would respond with respect to
different conditions, taking into consideration things such
as truck type, truck condition (e.g., age, maintenance), road
conditions (e.g., slope, material), weather conditions (e.g.,
rain, ice snow), and load. For example, one haul truck oper-
ator spoke to the importance of appreciating the enormity
of the truck and its capabilities: “if you think you can beat
me or…you think that you’re gonna sneak through…one
of these days you won’t. A truck doesn’t stop on a dime...the
maneuverability of it, when it’s loaded is totally different
than when it’s empty.” Operators also suggested that some
decisions might not be based on the familiarity of given
“rule” but rather on understanding developed through their
experience with the truck. Several participants spoke about
needing to know which and how much brake to use when
stopping in an emergency. For example, it was mentioned
that sometimes even though an alarm might sound, it
would be necessary to use the service brake to stop quickly
to avoid a collision or that depending on road conditions,
too much braking could send the truck into an uncon-
trolled slide. Additionally, many operators mentioned the
need to make these decisions often in fractions of a sec-
ond. This suggests operators need to be competent enough
in predicting their truck’s behavior so that they are able to
react reflexively.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Know your Truck
Safety First
Situational Awareness
Share your Stories
Communicate Effectively
Stay Calm
Be a Team Player
No Distractions
Decisions
Figure 2. Percentage of emergent themes coded for all decisions (N =203) across all participant incidents (N =21)
and referred to the original transcripts as needed. To ensure
trustworthiness of the coding and reduce potential bias, two
researchers performed the coding independently [20]. The
coding results were compared between the two research-
ers, and all disagreements were resolved through discussion,
with a third researcher serving as a tiebreaker. The agree-
ment between original two researchers was substantial with
a Cohen Kappa of 0.654 (p0.0001) [21].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Theme Prevalence
Theme prevalence was measured in two ways first by the
number of cases from which the theme emerged, and sec-
ond, by the number of times the theme appeared within
the full data set. “Know your truck,” “situational aware-
ness,” and “safety first” were the most prevalent themes
across all participant incidents. All three occurred in 20
of the 21 participant incidents. They were also the most
frequently occurring across all incidents (Figure 2). “Share
your stories,” “communicate effectively,” “stay calm,” “be a
team player,” and “no distractions” emerged in 17, 14, 8, 4,
and 2 of the 21 cases respectively. The examples in Table 4
illustrate interview quotes researchers associated with the
top three emergent themes. The following sections further
explore these themes, and ideas proposed by participants.
Know Your Truck
This theme exemplifies the critical requirement that haul
truck operators possess domain-specific knowledge and
skills. Given the rapidly changing environment, short time-
frames, and complex situations, haul truck operators need
to be able to make quick, definitive decisions and execute
them at a mastery level. This includes performing pre-shift
inspections, assessing the truck’s status, understanding the
truck’s capabilities, appreciating the truck’s size, knowing
how the truck responds, and understanding how this all
applies to the current situation. Overall, haul truck opera-
tors talked often of different aspects of operator competen-
cies, where competency is defined as the observable ability
of a person to integrate their knowledge, skills, values, and
attitudes to achieve a specific goal [22]. In this case, the
goal is to safely operate a haul truck. Operators often spoke
about how their decisions and actions were motivated by
how they “knew” the truck would respond with respect to
different conditions, taking into consideration things such
as truck type, truck condition (e.g., age, maintenance), road
conditions (e.g., slope, material), weather conditions (e.g.,
rain, ice snow), and load. For example, one haul truck oper-
ator spoke to the importance of appreciating the enormity
of the truck and its capabilities: “if you think you can beat
me or…you think that you’re gonna sneak through…one
of these days you won’t. A truck doesn’t stop on a dime...the
maneuverability of it, when it’s loaded is totally different
than when it’s empty.” Operators also suggested that some
decisions might not be based on the familiarity of given
“rule” but rather on understanding developed through their
experience with the truck. Several participants spoke about
needing to know which and how much brake to use when
stopping in an emergency. For example, it was mentioned
that sometimes even though an alarm might sound, it
would be necessary to use the service brake to stop quickly
to avoid a collision or that depending on road conditions,
too much braking could send the truck into an uncon-
trolled slide. Additionally, many operators mentioned the
need to make these decisions often in fractions of a sec-
ond. This suggests operators need to be competent enough
in predicting their truck’s behavior so that they are able to
react reflexively.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Know your Truck
Safety First
Situational Awareness
Share your Stories
Communicate Effectively
Stay Calm
Be a Team Player
No Distractions
Decisions
Figure 2. Percentage of emergent themes coded for all decisions (N =203) across all participant incidents (N =21)