Truck Driver Jobs Blog

Truck Drivers are Great!

I ran across some interesting stats today. It seems that the trucking industry is actually playing by the rules a little bit better than the rest of the population. The large truck fatal crash rate has dropped by 29% over the past decade. It is now sitting at a record low of 1.9 fatal crashes per 100,000,000 miles traveled. All of this while the total vehicle miles has increased by 42% over that same decade.
When considering fatigue, an amazing 92.2% of fatigue related crashes involved passenger vehicles. While only 3%-6% of fatigue related crashes involved truck drivers. That is an especially amazing statistic when one considers that an over-the-road driver's average run is nearly 500 miles.
After studying data covering 16 years from 1981-1996, it was shown that most fatal accidents are not the result of driver fatigue. One 2002 study showed that 25 percent of large truck fatal crashes occur in the first hour after beginning driving. While 2/3 of fatal crashes occur in the first 4 hours. Only 4% of big rig drivers involved in fatal crashes had driven for more than eight hours at the time of the accident.
Truck drivers are better about drug and alcohol use than the average American worker. The average rate of positive results for non truck driver related drug tests is around 6%. That's four times higher than that of truck drivers who chimed in with a 1.5% positive results when subjected to mandatory random drug tests.
Here is a real hum-dinger. According to 2002 data, 22% of fatal crashes for passenger cars involved intoxicated drivers. The results were slightly higher for light trucks who pulled down 23% intoxicated rate. Some of the least safe vehicles on the road, motorcycles, chimed in with a whopping 31% intoxicated rate for fatal crashes. So, you might ask what was the rate for truck drivers? A measley 2%.
What does all of this mean BigRigJobs? Well, it means for one that if you want to join the elite group of workers who haul 68 percent of total U.S. freight tonnage, you should lay off the sauce. For two it means that if you want to get a truck driving job then you had better quit smokin' dope. For three it means that if you are already a truck driver then you should be proud of the industry in which you work. You guys and gals are the ones who make this country keep ticking. And you are doing it the right way. Since there are over 500,000 trucking companies in the U.S. and 81% of them have 20 or fewer trucks, this means that small businesses should keep on trucking. And keep on running their business the right way.

Much of the data for this came from http://www.truckline.com/NR/exeres/CDD12521-C762-4A59-B8ED-8DF8947B6117.htm

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