Four less-than-truckload companies have agreed to participate in a five-year study of the relationship between diesel exhaust and possible health effects on truck drivers.

The study will be done by researchers Eric Garshick and Thomas Smith, who completed a feasibility study funded by the Health Effects Institute, an independent peer review group of scientists. The study was developed through the cooperation of ABF Freight System, Consolidated Freightways, Roadway Express and Yellow Freight System, along with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Teamsters Central States Health and Welfare Fund.
The agreement of the companies to participate in the study allows Garshick and Smith to go ahead with submitting a full research proposal to the National Cancer Institute and the Health Effects Institute.
"If funded, Dr. Garshick and his team will have access to an unprecedented library of dieselization data and employment records, something no other previous research has ever had," said Tim Lynch, president and CEO of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, of which the participating LTL companies are members.
Garshick is with the VA Boston Health Care System, Channing Laboratory Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. Smith is with the Harvard School of Public Health.