Motor Carrier Industry Counts

The U.S. vehicle fleet includes 7.9 million trucks, 750 thousand buses, 137 million cars, 4.9 million motorcycles, and 84 million other 2-axle vehicles. The motor carrier industry, which does not include the intra-city buses of the mass transit industry, consists of three primary stakeholder constituencies:

• The Motor Carrier Freight Industry
  1.2 million motor carriers in the United States,
  9.7 million workers including 3.3 million drivers,
  15.5 million trucks that operate in the United States,
  40,000 new motor carriers annually,
  42,000 HAZMAT trucks, and
  75% of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking for the movement of commodities.
  
• The $5 Billion U.S. Motorcoach Industry
  Scheduled ($1.5 billion/year),
  Charter/Tour ($3.5 billion/year),
  3,600 bus companies (90% are small operators with fewer than 25 buses),
  39,000 buses,
  190,000 jobs provided (122,000 full-time), and
  630 million passengers annually.
  
• The School Bus Industry
  Largest fleet of public vehicles in the United States,
  460,000 school buses,
  Transports 25 million students daily, and
  Travels 4 billion miles annually for an estimated 10 billion student trips.

-- Highway and Motor Carrier Transportation Sector Network Management, Transportation Security Administration

2006 Truck-involved fatal crash statistics fall to all-time low

The large truck-involvement rate in fatal crashes, the fatality rate and the fatal crash rate for large trucks each declined in 2006  to the lowest level since the U.S. Department of Transportation began tracking large truck safety records in 1975. 

The 2006 fatal crash rate for large trucks stood at 1.93 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled. This breaks the previous low of 1.97 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled in 2002. The fatal crash rate measures the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks per 100 million miles traveled.

The large truck-involvement rate fell to 2.12 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from 2.21 a year earlier. The large truck involvement rate measures the number of trucks involved in fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled.

The fatality rate declined to 2.24 per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled, down from 2.34 in 2005. The fatality rate measures the number of deaths in truck-involved crashes per 100 million miles traveled. 

Improving safety figures are set against a backdrop of an increased number of vehicles on the nation’s roadways. According to FHWA, there were nearly 3 million more registered cars and trucks in 2006 than in 2005.

Estimated costs of truck crashes

Estimated costs of police-reported truck crashes are $91,112 (in 2005 dollars), according to a recent study prepared for FMCSA. In crashes involving more than property damage, non-fatal injury crashes cost on average $ 195,258.  Fatal crashes averaged more than $ 3.6 million each.  This report can be viewed at "Unit Costs of Medium and Heavy Truck Crashes". The report considers vehicles weighing over 10,000 gross weight rating as medium and heavy trucks.

Crash Stats

. . . In fatal collisions involving tractor-trailers and passenger cars, 80% of those killed were in the passenger car.

. . . In the US, about 70% of all fatal accidents involving tractor-trailers and cars were the fault of the car driver.

. . . Passenger cars should allow one car length for every 10 mph when merging in front of tractor-trailers.

Truck drivers have one of the most dangerous jobs in America, accounting for nearly 15% of U.S. work-related deaths.  They are also more at risk than average Americans for a number of health problems, including:

• Obesity (Many don't bother to wear their seatbelts because their stomachs get in the way)
• About one in four truck drivers have sleep apnea
• Half of all truck drivers smoke

No-Zone

How does a passenger car SAFELY pass a large truck?

• Do not to pass until you look to the left, to the right and to the front of the truck for anything that might cause the driver to change lanes (ie debris in the road).

Here are some other pointers the Federal Highway Administration gleaned from the pet peeves of truck drivers:

• Don't change lanes abruptly in front of a truck. They can't slow down as quickly as a car.
• Don't change lanes in front of a truck then brake for traffic.
• Don't accelerate too fast from behind the truck and misjudge its speed.
• Don't stay long where the trucker may not see you - such as near the truck's left rear quarter or front right quarter, or directly in front of or behind the truck. These blind areas are referred to as "The No Zone."