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Is the motor carrier industry becoming more dangerous? |
The story that got me started down this rabbit-hole: I read an article recently stating that one of the main reasons trucking companies are going out of business in the US is, fly-by-night motor carriers are hiring illegal aliens. |
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These drivers have practically no expenses, as they live in their trucks. Since a legitimate motor carrier has to pay people enough to own or rent a home, it’s hard to compete with a carrier that hires homeless immigrants and allows them to live in their trucks. There are 68 countries with an annual income less than $2,000, so if people are allowed to come into the US illegally, there is ample reason for them to do this, and driving a truck solves two problems at once; it provides them a stream of income AND a home. The part of the story that was most interesting to me was, the author states this was a significant reason for the upswing in the number of crashes and fatalities. So I set out to find more information about this increase in negative statistics and it was not easy to do. The main question I wanted to find an answer to was this: Are there more crashes per million miles now than, say, 10 years ago. BLUF: (bottom line up front) Yes, there are more crashes and more fatalities. The National Safety Council tells us: In 2023, 5,375 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash. . . a 43% increase in the last 10 years. The involvement rate per 100 million large-truck miles traveled is. . . up 22% in the last 10 years. (Large trucks are defined as any. . . truck, not including buses and motor homes, with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds.) I just read an article from one of the insurance companies that works with trucking companies. “In 2017, commercial trucks were involved in 59% more accidents per mile than in 2010” “The number of people who died in large truck crashes in 2018 was also 31% higher than in 2009” From a blog post, put out by a plaintiff’s attorney: “Fatalities from trucking accidents have increased 62% since 2009” The writer suggested one possible cause is “Many safety regulations are not enforced.” Here is a comment from a used-parts clearinghouse “From 2010 to 2021, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses increased by 52%.” So it seems truck-related crashes ARE up. What can a motor carrier do to ensure the crash rate involving your drivers does not match this trend? Let’s look at root causes of some big payouts, and try to avoid making those mistakes. One CMV operator had a seizure, starting a chain reaction resulting in catastrophic injuries, and leading to a claim north of $40 million.
A CMV operator hit a passenger auto from behind and settled for a million dollars.
A Driver of a garbage truck making a right turn struck a bicyclist, leading to a claim of more than $6 million
There are no easy answers; the best suggestion I can leave you with is, educate your management team, enforce the FMCSRs, and look for root causes of serious crashes, leading to implementation of better safety management controls for your company. Here at DOT Compliance Help, Inc. we can help by educating decision makers. We can also assist you in developing safety management controls; we always recommend starting with the FMCSA’s top-priority issues, then build on that. We have educated thousands of decision-makers and helped hundreds of motor carriers develop and implement better safety controls since we began in 2007. Maybe we can help you next. |
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Stay up to date on current and future developments in FMCSA regulations and how they impact your business; subscribe to DOT Compliance Help Inc. email, check out our website and facebook posts, and follow us on Reddit. If you have new members of your management team, consider sending them to DOT Compliance Help, Inc. 4-day seminar, where they will learn what is most important regarding developing and implementing safety management systems meant to satisfy the DOT regulations and minimize accidents and injuries. Sincerely, Mike England |
