Industry Insight: Why Training Breaks Down Under Pressure and What Actually Holds

Across transportation and logistics, training has never been more accessible. Fleets have more content, more platforms, and more compliance tools than ever before.

And yet many of the same safety risks persist, especially in moments of fatigue, distraction, or time pressure.

Behavioral science helps explain why.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, describes how people operate under cognitive strain:

“When people are tired or mentally overloaded, they are more likely to rely on automatic, intuitive behavior rather than deliberate reasoning.”

In other words, when pressure is high, people don’t default to what they’ve been taught. They default to habit.

This aligns closely with what safety research has observed on the ground. According to the National Safety Council, the majority of serious workplace and roadway incidents are not caused by a lack of safety knowledge, but by human factors such as fatigue, distraction, complacency, and rushing.

Rules matter. Training matters. But knowledge alone doesn’t reliably show up in high-pressure moments.

That’s why many organizations are beginning to rethink how learning supports safety, not as a one-time transfer of information, but as a steady reinforcement of everyday behaviors.

Behavior scientist BJ Fogg, author of Tiny Habits, emphasizes that sustainable behavior change doesn’t come from pressure or motivation:

“People change best by feeling successful, not by being forced or overwhelmed.”

This insight is especially relevant in safety-critical work. When learning is broken into small, repeatable moments, brief reflections, familiar scenarios, simple choices, it becomes easier to carry into real work. Confidence grows. Habits form. Behavior holds.

We’re seeing fleets experiment with approaches that reflect this shift:

• Short, routine learning touchpoints instead of large, infrequent sessions
• Reflection prompts tied directly to real driving situations
• Coaching conversations that emphasize awareness over correction
• Training that acknowledges fatigue, distraction, and human limits

This isn’t a move away from compliance. It’s an evolution toward compliance that holds up when conditions are imperfect.