Truck driving is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous professions, which may not surprise most people. Long stretches on winding roads, the constant pressure to "make time," which leads to excessive working hours, and operating heavy machinery in isolation can foster a challenging workplace.
Motor vehicle workers are nine times more likely to be injured and 10 times more likely to be while working compared to the average worker, according to federal research. Traffic accidents are a significant reason for these figures.
In 2023, nearly 182,000 trucks were involved in crashes, resulting in about 5,000 deaths and more than 86,000 injuries, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency through which the USDOT tracks such statistics.
Such numbers are doubly concerning, given that truck drivers are essential workers. There is no American economy without truck drivers.
They are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy, moving more than 70% of all freight nationwide. The COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized their importance, notably when air freight and commercial flights were grounded, resulting in supply chain issues. The greater economy had little choice but to lean on the trucking industry for aid.
The push to make driving safer for the trucking industry is ongoing. As of June 2023, the manufacturing of all new heavy-duty trucks must have automatic emergency braking systems, a safety technology the American Trucking Associations supports. AEB can identify potential crashes and brake automatically. The technology can be beneficial in safeguarding against distracted driving and for drivers at risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
To find out more about accidents in the truck driving industry, Truckinfo.net used 2023 data from the Department of Transportation to rank all U.S. states by the per capita number of large truck-involved crashes that occurred in each. The data is preliminary and may be updated.
"Large trucks" typically refers to semis, but it includes all commercial trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds (5 tons). Per capita rankings find the number of crashes per 100,000 residents.
Rural states in the Great Plains/Midwest and Southeast regions are the most brutal for truck drivers, with six of the top 10 states on this list located in the Midwest/Great Plains area. The other four (and much of the top 20 overall) are all located in the Southeast.
Keep reading to see where your state lands among others regarding truck accidents.
