Alleviating Burnout From National Policy Change Stress in California Truck Drivers

ABSTRACT Truck drivers play a central role in U.S. supply chains, yet many experience severe burnout. Changes in national policies affect how truck drivers conduct their work, and stress from such an extra‐organizational demand may be a powerful driver of burnout. This study extends the Job‐Demands Resource (JDR) model by considering the buffering effect of a job resource (organizational support for policy change) that directly targets that extra‐organizational demand, on the relationship between the policy change stress and burnout. It further evaluates whether an additional job‐based resource (job discretion), or even a job‐based challenge demand (work pressure) if job‐based resources are unavailable, are needed to enable that buffering effect. Analysis of cross‐sectional surveys from 91 drayage carrier truck drivers reveals the relationship to be attenuated when either (or both) policy support or job discretion were high. Work pressure exhibited no enabling effect, indicating job‐based challenge demands may not be substitutable for job‐based resources. Half of the sample responded to a second survey 2 months later, which was used to evaluate method bias concerns.