Pre-Survey Notification Letter

FMCSA Driver and Management Research Study

Initial Recruitment Letter for Telephone Survey

To be Printed on VTTI Letterhead

[Date]

[Contact Info of Potential Participant]

Dear Owner/General Manager:

I work at a university research center at Virginia Tech. Our research center, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), studies ways to save lives, time and money in transportation. We are studying the safety of van and limousine companies. Our study, called the “Driver and Management Research Study” will help the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) conduct safety related outreach to van and limousine companies.

For this study, we will call 50 companies across the U.S. that operate vans and limousines. We chose your company from the USDOT’s list of companies that operate these vehicles. We plan to call you to participate in the telephone survey. The telephone survey will take about 30 minutes and can be done when you have time. The questions cover how you conduct your transportation operation and train your drivers.

The only purpose of the survey is research. Although we would appreciate your participation in the survey, your participation is optional. We will not share your name or company’s identity with anyone. Your responses to the survey questions will not be linked to you or your company. The survey is completely voluntary, anonymous and confidential. We cannot compensate you for participating in the study. Your participation, however, will benefit your industry by helping USDOT to conduct safety related outreach to companies like yours.

A researcher from VTTI will call you in the next several weeks about the study. If you would like more information on this study, please contact me or David Moore, PhD, Chair, Virginia Tech Institutional Review Board (phone: 540-231-4991 or [email protected]). We hope you will help us with this research.

Sincerely,

Doug Wiegand

Senior Research Associate

Center for Truck and Bus Safety

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute