FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION

FMCSA Contact: Chuck Rombro, MC-RIA, (202) 366-5615

Cost of Large Truck- and 

Bus-Involved Crashes

Introduction

Crashes involving trucks and buses with gross weight ratings over 10,000 pounds impose a

variety of costs on the drivers of those vehicles; other drivers, involved either directly or 

indirectly in the crashes; and society as a whole. Such costs include medical expenses, 

emergency services, property damage, lost productivity, travel delays, and the monetized

value of pain, suffering, and quality-of-life lost. 

Safety analysts use crash cost data for a variety of purposes, from analyzing the effectiveness of a roadway enhancement to measuring the impact of seatbelt use. Such data are 

critical when comparing the relative efficacy of crash countermeasures and calculating the

cost-effectiveness of proposed safety regulations. Efficient allocation of resources for

research, enforcement, and analysis depends on reliable crash cost data.

This analysis brief summarizes the results of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

(FMCSA) study on the cost (in 1999 dollars) of highway crashes involving large trucks and

buses. The study final report is available at http://ai.volpe.dot.gov.

Methodology

The following section provides a broad overview of the methodology used in the study; for

a more detailed analysis, refer to the complete report. 

In order to determine the costs associated with large vehicle crashes, analysts considered the

following factors: estimates of the number of people and vehicles involved in a crash, the

severity and cost of each person’s injuries, and the cost of associated vehicle damage and

travel delay. 

Incidence and Severity Estimation

To estimate injury incidence and severity (i.e., the number of people and vehicles involved in

a crash and the severity of each person’s injuries), analysts used adjusted data from the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System

(FARS) and General Estimates System (GES). FARS is a census of fatal crashes, but it does not

always accurately describe the injuries to crash survivors. GES provides a sample of crashes

by police-reported severity for all crash types. Police generally use the KABCO scale, which

classifies crash victims as:

• K – killed, 

• A – disabling injury, 

• B – evident injury, 

• C – possible injury, or 

• O – no apparent injury. 

KABCO ratings are coarse and inconsistently coded between states and over time. To 

minimize the effects of variability in police-reported injury descriptions, analysts used NHTSA

data sets that included both police-reported KABCO ratings and medical descriptions of

injuries in the Occupant Injury Coding system. Analysts used both the 1988–91

Crashworthiness Data System (CDS), which describes injuries to passenger vehicle 

The goal of the Federal Motor

Carrier Safety Administration

(FMCSA) is to reduce the 

number and severity of large

truck-involved crashes

through more commercial

motor vehicle and operator

inspections and compliance

reviews, stronger enforcement

measures against violators,

expedited completion of 

rulemaking proceedings, 

scientifically sound research,

and effective CDL testing,

recordkeeping, and sanctions.

The Office of Data Analysis

and Information Systems

develops and maintains 

systems for collecting and

analyzing motor carrier data,

and disseminates information

on the motor carrier industry. 

This Analysis Brief was 

produced by the Analysis

Division in FMCSA’s Office of

Data Analysis and Information

Systems. The division analyzes

motor carrier data pertaining

to crashes, inspections, 

compliance reviews, and 

drug and alcohol testing, and

supports research on the

effectiveness of FMCSA

inspections and compliance

review programs.

Office of Research and

Technology

400 Seventh Street, SW

MC-RT, Room 3107

Washington, DC 20590

Analysis Brief
occupants involved in towaway crashes, and the 1982–86

National Accident Sampling System (NASS), which provides the most recent available medical descriptions of

injuries to large truck and bus occupants, non-occupants,

and other crash victims not included in the CDS. 

The 1988–1997 GES data were used to weight the data

from the CDS and NASS so they represented the annual

estimated GES injury victim counts in large vehicle 

crashes by sample strata in the two systems. The process

resulted in a hybrid CDS/NASS file with weights that

summed to the estimated annual GES incidence by

police-reported injury severity and other relevant factors. 

Trucks and buses with a gross weight rating of over

10,000 pounds were grouped into the following 

categories: 

• straight truck, no trailer; 

• straight truck with trailer; 

• straight truck, unknown if with trailer; 

• truck tractor, no trailer (bobtail); 

• truck tractor with one trailer; 

• truck tractor with two or three trailers; 

• truck tractor with unknown number of trailers;

• large truck, unknown if with trailer;

• all large trucks; and 

• transit/inter-city bus. 

Cost Estimation

Analysts then generated estimates of crash costs by

severity. Cost per injury by Maximum Abbreviated Injury

Scale (MAIS) score and body region injured were adapted

from the costs in two previous studies and merged onto

the GES-weighted CDS/NASS file (Miller, 1997; Miller 

et al., 1999). Analysts determined the present value, 

computed at a 4 percent discount rate, of all costs over a

victim’s expected life span that result from a crash. The

following five major categories of costs were identified.

• Medically Related include hospital, physician, 

rehabilitation, prescription, and related expenses; 

coroner and burial costs; and claims processing costs 

of medically related loss compensation through 

insurance and the courts. Analysts computed the 

total medical costs of crashes in 1996, then used that

aggregate information to adjust prior detailed cost

estimates by MAIS score and body region injured. 

Then they estimated the incidence of injury in motor

vehicle crashes and computed medical costs for each

crash victim. 

• Emergency Services are made up of police, fire, 

ambulance, and helicopter services. The cost per 

transport was calculated using published helicopter

medical transport statistics and other data. Analysts

computed fire and police costs from assumed response

patterns by crash severity and vehicle involvement,

constrained by data on total responses. 

• Property Damage is the cost to repair or replace 

damaged vehicles, cargo, and other property, including

the cost of damage compensation. Analysts based

these costs on crash reports (which were not audited

for accuracy) filed by motor carrier owners with the

former Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety. Analysts then

inflated the costs using the Consumer Price Index. 

• Lost Productivity includes wages; fringe benefits;

household work lost by the injured; cost of processing

productivity loss compensation claims; productivity 

lost by people delayed in crash-related traffic jams;

and productivity lost by coworkers and supervisors

investigating crashes, recruiting and training 

replacements for disabled workers, and repairing 

damaged company vehicles. Earnings lost by family

and friends caring for the injured and the value of

schoolwork lost are not included in this category. 

• Monetized Quality-Adjusted Life Years value the pain,

suffering, and quality-of-life lost because of a death or

injury. A quality-adjusted life year is a health outcome

measure that assigns a value of 1 to a year of perfect

health and 0 to death. Quality-adjusted life years 

generally are assessed along seven dimensions: 

cognitive; mobility; bending, grasping, lifting; sensory;

cosmetic; pain; and the ability to work. Analysts 

determined the monetized value of quality-adjusted

life years lost by considering the amount people 

routinely spend—in dollars or time—to reduce their

risk of death and injury. Such expenditures include

auto safety features, pedestrian safety, smoke 

detectors, and extra wages paid to workers who 

take risky jobs. In determining the percentage of 

quality-adjusted life years lost over an injured victim’s

lifetime, analysts averaged the fraction of perfect

health lost during each year the victim recovers from a

health problem or lives with a residual disability. 

Findings

The following findings are based on the latest data 

available and include costs that represent the present

value, compounded at a 4 percent discount rate, of all

The estimated cost of police-reported crashes 

involving large trucks in 1997 averaged $76,000 per

crash (in 1999 dollars).

photo courtesy of the Federal Highway Administration
Table 1. 

Per-Crash Cost for Select Vehicles in 1997 by Vehicle Type and Crash Severity 

(in 1999 dollars)

SEVERITY OF CRASH

Property AVERAGE

TYPE OF VEHICLE Damage Only Injury Fatal PER-CRASH COST

All Large Trucks $11,299 $217,005 $3,419,202 $75,637 

Straight Truck, No Trailer 11,605 182,404 3,315,062 64,667

Straight Truck With Trailer 11,851 200,662 3,215,199 69,203

Bobtail 11,233 229,565 3,437,995 74,695

Truck Tractor, 1 Trailer 11,025 245,472 3,367,873 84,588

Truck Tractor, 2 or 3 Trailers 9,940 328,008 3,542,774 117,309

Transit/Inter-City Bus 11,253 131,214 3,351,173 54,455

Table 3. 

Per-Crash Cost for All Large Trucks in 1997 by Cost Type and Crash Severity

(in 1999 dollars)

SEVERITY OF CRASH

Property

TYPE OF COST Damage Only Injury Fatal

Medical $182 $8,448 $28,429

Emergency Services 70 343 1,757

Property Damage 2,764 6,409 17,975

Lost Productivity 7,565 65,739 969,247

Monetized Quality-of-Life Years 718 136,066 2,401,793

TOTAL 11,299 217,005 3,419,202

Table 2. 

Total Cost of Large Truck Bus Crashes in 1997 by Vehicle Type and Cost Type

(in 1999 dollars and millions of dollars)

TYPE OF COST

Monetized

Emergency Property Lost Quality-of-Life

TYPE OF VEHICLE Medical Services Damage Productivity Years TOTAL

All Large Trucks $941 $58 $1,520 $8,731 $13,127 $24,376

Straight Truck 460 25 676 3,492 4,913 9,566

Truck Tractor 477 32 835 5,205 8,188 14,738

Unknown 4 0 9 34 25 72

Transit/Inter-City Bus 36 3 93 433 412 978

TOTAL 977 61 1,613 9,164 13,539 25,354 
Researcher

Pacific Institute for Research 

and Evaluation

8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 220

Landover, MD 20785

Contract No. DTFH61-99-P00328

Distribution

This Analysis Brief is distributed

according to a standard 

distribution. Direct distribution is

made to the Resource Centers

and Divisions.

Availability

This Analysis Brief is available 

at http://ai.volpe.dot.gov and

from the Office of Data Analysis

and Information Systems, 

(202) 366-1861.

Key Words

bobtail, bus, cost, crash, truck

Notice

This Analysis Brief is disseminated

under the sponsorship of the 

U.S. Department of

Transportation (USDOT) in the

interest of information exchange.

The Analysis Brief does not 

establish policies or regulations,

nor does it imply USDOT 

endorsement of the conclusions

or recommendations. The U.S.

Government assumes no liability

for its contents or their use.

Web Site

All FMCSA Tech and Analysis

Briefs are available at

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov. 

Please send us your comments

and suggestions about the Tech

and Analysis Briefs. 

Technical Writer

Wendy Grzywacz, Avalon

Integrated Services

costs over a victim’s expected life span that result from a crash. The cost estimates are provided in 1999 dollars and do not include mental health care costs for crash victims, roadside

furniture repair costs, or cargo delays.

Cost Per Crash

The estimated cost of police-reported crashes involving large trucks averaged $76,000 per

crash in 1997. Of all large vehicles, truck tractors with two or more trailers had the highest

per-crash cost—$117,000 per crash. Crashes involving truck tractors with one trailer cost

$85,000 per crash. The average cost of crashes involving transit and inter-city buses was

$54,000 per crash—the lowest cost among all large vehicles. Crashes involving bobtails had

higher average costs than straight truck crashes. Bobtail crashes cost $75,000 per crash, 

compared to $65,000 for crashes involving straight trucks without trailers. (See Table 1.)

Total Cost in 1997

The cost of large truck crashes in 1997 was $24.4 billion, including: 

• $13.1 billion in quality-of-life losses, 

• $8.7 billion in productivity losses, 

• $1.5 billion in property damage, 

• $941 million in medical costs, and 

• $58 million in emergency services.

Of the total, crashes involving truck tractors with one trailer cost the most—$13.2 billion.

Combination trucks with two or more trailers accounted for an additional $1.2 billion in

crash costs. Single straight truck crashes made up about one-third—$8.2 billion—of truck

crash costs. Crashes involving straight trucks with one trailer cost $1.4 billion. Bus crashes

cost much less than truck crashes—$978 million. (See Table 2.)

Cost by Crash Severity

Fatal crashes had the highest per-crash cost than any other crash: the per-crash cost for 

fatal crashes for all large trucks was $3.4 million in 1997. Fatal crashes involving transit and

inter-city buses also cost $3.4 million per crash. The cost per crash with injuries averaged

$217,000 for all large trucks and $131,000 for buses. The cost per crash with only property

damage was $11,000 for both large trucks and buses. (See Tables 1 and 3.)

Cost Per Truck-Miles

The crash costs per 1,000 truck-miles were $259 for single-unit trucks, $138 for singlecombination trucks, and $134 for multiple combinations. Although their crash costs per 

mile are less, combination unit trucks travel three-to-four times more miles per vehicle than

single-unit trucks and have higher average annual crash costs.

Conclusion

This study provides economically sophisticated and reliable estimates of the average cost of

large truck and bus crashes with differing levels of severity. The FMCSA will use the data for

a variety of purposes, from improving safety regulations to ensuring the efficient allocation

of resources. 

Reference

Miller, T.R. “Societal Costs of Transportation Crashes,” The Full Societal Costs and Benefits of

Transportation, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp. 281–314, 1997.

Miller, T.R., Spicer, R.S., Lestina, D.C., and Levy, D.T. “Is It Safest to Travel By Bicycle, Car, or Big Truck?”

Journal of Crash Prevention and Injury Control, 1:1, pp. 25-34, 1999.

Zaloshnja, E., Miller, T., and Spicer, R. Costs of Large Truck- and Bus-Involved Crashes, FMCSA,

Washington, D.C., Nov. 2000.

March 2001

Publication No. FMCSA-MCRT-01-005 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration