Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999 27

Trucker Fatalities

PEGGY SUAREZ

The Unforgiving Road:

Trucker Fatalities

Peggy Suarez is an economist in the Office of

Safety, Health, and Working Conditions,

 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Guy Toscano of the

same office provided guidance.

Telephone: (202) 691-6175

E-mail: Suarez_P@bls.gov

Winding roads, severe weather, and fatigue take their toll

on truckdrivers. Between 1992 and 1998, over 3,500

truckdrivers were killed on highways alone. In fact, in

1998, these workers were 6.5 times more likely to be

killed in job-related incidents than the average worker.

Approximately 75 percent of all

goods sold in the United

States are transported at some

point by trucks.1 With over 3 million

truckdrivers plying the highways and

streets, delivering goods and services

through congested traffic and inclement weather, accidents abound. Between 1992 and 1998, over 3,500

truckdrivers were killed on highways

alone according to data collected in the

Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of

Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).2

Traffic incidents aren’t the only

hazards lurking on a truckdriver’s

path. Robberies, injuries while loading and unloading a truck, and being

struck by another vehicle while out of

their truck also account for a substantial number of occupational deaths

each year. In 1998, truckdrivers were

6.5 times more likely to be killed in

job-related mishaps than the average

worker.3 (See table 1.)

Total (all workers) .................................................. 6,026 4.5 1.0

Timber cutters ................................................. 109 141.6 31.5

Fishers ............................................................ 71 137.3 30.5

Structural metal workers .................................. 52 82.5 18.3

Aircraft pilots ................................................... 91 80.5 17.9

Extractive occupations ..................................... 60 48.0 10.9

Construction laborers ...................................... 335 40.7 9.0

Taxicab drivers ................................................ 82 30.0 6.7

Truckdrivers .................................................... 879 29.2 6.5

Farm occupations ............................................ 592 28.6 6.4

Roofers ........................................................... 50 20.7 4.6

Index of

relative risk Fatalities Rate 2 1 Occupation

1

 Rate equals (fatal work injuries / employment) X 100,000 workers. 2 Index of relative risk equals fatality rate

for a given group / fatality rate for all workers.

NOTE: Employment estimates are based

on the 1998 Current Population Survey. Data

may not sum to total because of rounding and

the omission of miscellaneous categories.

 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

TABLE 1. Number, rate, and index of relative risk of fatal injuries by selected occupation,

1998
28 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999

Working conditions

Throughout the 1990s, truckdrivers

traveled over 150 billion miles each

year,4 the equivalent of going to the

sun and back 80 times. The trucking

industry employs over 2 percent of the

labor force and encompasses a diverse

group of drivers who do an assortment

of physically demanding work.5 The

most rudimentary division of the industry is to classify these workers into

interstate and intrastate drivers.

Interstate, or long-distance, drivers account for approximately 73 percent of the ton-miles driven each

year.6 These workers face many hazards on the road. They must often

travel through congested areas, mountainous terrain, and difficult weather

conditions. They usually remain on

the road for days and sometimes

weeks, enduring boredom, fatigue,

and loneliness.7

 The rigs these workers drive can weigh as much as 80,000

pounds (about 30 times the weight of

a standard automobile) and stretch

from 70 to 100 feet. Because of the

large size of these vehicles, visibility

and maneuverability may be impaired,

and drivers must be concerned with

the possibility of their load shifting,

causing their truck to overturn.

Although interstate drivers are not

covered by the Fair Labor Standards

Act8 like most workers, there are Federal regulations governing their work

schedule. These regulations, issued by

the U.S. Department of Transportation

(DOT), govern the number of hours a

driver can remain on duty. They permit an interstate truckdriver to drive

up to 60 hours in a 7-day period or 70

hours in an 8-day period, and require

a driver to rest 8 hours for every 10

hours of driving time. Furthermore,

DOT regulations allow drivers to work

up to 5 additional hours loading or unloading their trucks before or after

driving a 10-hour shift.

The Federal Government also regulates the licensing of trucks weighing

over 26,000 pounds and drivers transporting hazardous material. Requirements specify that drivers have a commercial driver’s license from the State

in which they live. In addition to Federal regulations, some States place

additional requirements on drivers of

large trucks.9

Because truckers are mostly paid by

the number of miles driven, and are

sometimes given bonuses for on-time

deliveries or penalized for late deliveries, they are encouraged to reach

their destinations quickly and, therefore, usually drive the maximum number of hours legally allowed.10 In order to maximize the hours driven,

interstate workers may drive 10 hours,

rest 8, and immediately begin their

next 10-hour shift. This schedule

leads to irregular sleeping patterns

because drivers begin their shift each

day 6 hours earlier than they did on

the previous day. 11

Long-distance drivers usually are

not required to unload their trucks

upon reaching their destinations, however, most short-distance drivers do

unload their own trucks. Thus, short

turn-around drivers have a greater

chance of being fatally injured by

events such as falls and contacts with

objects than do long-distance drivers.12

Table 2 shows that 9.7 percent of truckers who were injured in the State in

which they were employed—primarily

short-distance drivers—died because

of contact with objects or equipment.

In contrast, 5.1 percent of truckers fatally injured in a State other than the

one in which they were employed—

primarily long-distance drivers—died

in the same way.

These differences in the distributions of fatalities by event may, in part,

be due to the differences between the

work of interstate and intrastate drivers. However, the distribution may

also be skewed because the data do not

reflect the fact that some trucking

firms incorporate in a State other than

the one in which their workers reside.

Region and season

Other perils truckers face have to do

with road conditions. Because of snow,

sleet, and ice, winter driving can be

especially challenging. However, traffic fatalities during the winter months

in the Northeastern and Midwestern

regions are the lowest of all the seasons. (See table 3.)

Because of the high volume of traffic during holidays and the summer

months, driving during this time can

be particularly hazardous. And, accordingly, fatalities during the summer months are somewhat greater than

during other parts of the year.

The terrain of each State can also

have a large effect on the number of

fatalities that occur within it. Some

very mountainous areas can be deadly,

as can stretches of long, monotonous

highways.13 Additionally, States with

larger numbers of truckdrivers traveling through them also have a higher

number of fatalities. Other differences

between States, such as the regulations

placed on drivers of large trucks, can

also influence the number of fatalities

TABLE 2. Distribution of truckdriver fatalities by event, 1992-98

Event

Fatalities when State

of injury is not State

of employment

Number Percent

Fatalities when State of

injury is State of

employment

Contact with objects ..................................... 332 9.7 65 5.1

Falls ............................................................. 99 2.9 20 1.6

Exposure to harmful substances

 or environment ......................................... 105 3.1 32 2.5

Transportation accidents .............................. 2,714 79.0 1,078 85.1

Fires and explosions .................................... 32 .9 12 .9

Assaults and violent acts ............................. 133 3.9 55 4.3

Number Percent

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal

Occupational Injuries
 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999 29

Trucker Fatalities

that occur within the State. (See table

4.)

Assuming that drivers who travel

greater distances are more likely to be

involved in a traffic incident, a better

measure of the frequency of deaths

would be the fatality rate with respect

to the number of ton-miles driven

within a State. In 1993, the Western

States accounted for 47.5 percent of

all truckdriving fatalities resulting

from traffic accidents. When considering number of ton-miles driven in that

region, they were also twice as likely to

have an occupational fatality resulting

from a traffic accident than were the

Midwestern States. (See table 5.)

Experience

According to the National Safety

Council, “Drivers of large trucks

should undergo improved training because experience and better driving

skills help compensate for large vehicle size.”14 Notably, the number of

trucker fatalities is inversely related

to the time spent working with the current employer. Over 20 percent of fatal truckdriving injuries during 1992-

98 occurred to individuals who

worked with their employer 1 year or

less at the time of the accident. It is

likely, however, that a large percentage of truckers have been employed

for less than 1 year, partially due to

the large number of job openings in

the occupation each year.15 From 1996

to 2006, trucking is expected to be one

of the occupations with the largest job

growth.16 Additionally, because of

hazardous working conditions and

decreased wages due to increased

competition from other transportation

segments, job turnover rates have been

high.

Trends

The total number of fatalities for all

occupations greatly fluctuated during

the 1992-98 period, dropping to its

lowest point in 1998 with 6,026 fatalities. Fatality rates for these years,

however, have steadily decreased from

a high of 5.3 in 1994 to 4.5 in 1998.

In contrast, among truckdrivers, both

the number of fatalities and the fatality rates have followed an increasing

trend. (See chart and table 6.)

Non-fatal injuries

Not only are trucker fatalities a major

concern, non-fatal injuries result in

thousands of days missed from work

to recuperate each year.17 These injuries are serious enough to require

truckdrivers take 4 more days-awayfrom-work to recuperate than the median for all workers (5 days). Like

fatal injuries, there are more non-fatal injuries to truckers than to workers in any other occupation. The most

common event causing these non-fatal injuries is overexertion, mostly in

lifting. (See table 7.) Still, like fatal

injuries, a large number of non-fatal

injuries in which truckers were involved resulted from a traffic, highway, or other type of transportationrelated incident accounting for almost

20,000 lost worktime injuries in

1997.18 Other major causes of nonfatal injuries are attributed to contact

with objects or equipment, falls, and

repetitive motion. In 25 percent of the

TABLE 3. Truckdriver highway fatalities by

season, 1998

Western ................... 359 100

Winter ................. 25

Spring .................. 25

Summer............... 32

Fall ...................... 18

Southern .................. 159 100

Winter ................. 25

Spring .................. 25

Summer............... 27

Fall ...................... 22

Midwestern .............. 134 100

Winter ................. 19

Spring .................. 30

Summer............... 26

Fall ...................... 24

Northeastern ............ 70 100

Winter ................. 14

Spring .................. 20

Summer............... 36

Fall ...................... 30

NOTE: Data may not sum to total because

of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal

Occupational Injuries

Region and season Fatalities Percent

TABLE 4. Truckdriver highway fatalities by

State, 1998

All States ................... 722 100

Texas ................... 93 13

California .............. 75 10

Florida .................. 59 8

North Carolina ...... 51 7

Pennsylvania ........ 47 7

Illinois ................... 34 5

Ohio ..................... 31 4

Alabama ............... 27 4

Mississippi ........... 27 4

Virginia ................. 26 4

Indiana ................. 26 4

All other States ..... 226 31

NOTE: Data may not sum to total because

of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

State Fatalities Percent

TABLE 5. Truckdriver traffic accident fatality rates in ton-miles by region, 1993

All regions ..................................... 488 100.0 869,616 5.61

Western .................................. 232 47.5 299,363 7.96

Midwestern .............................. 110 22.5 291,384 3.77

Southern ................................. 104 21.3 193,231 5.38

Northeastern ........................... 42 8.6 85,638 4.90

Region Percent

Number of tonmiles1 driven

(billions)

Fatalities Rate

1

 Ton-miles are equal to the number of

miles traveled times the number of tons of

merchandise transported.

NOTE: The rate of fatalities is equal to the

number of fatalities divided by the number of

ton-miles (in billions) multiplied by 10,000.

Fatalities and ton-miles are for the following

industries only: Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and wholesale trade.

Data may not sum to total because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
30 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999

fatalities than any other occupation,

accounting for 14 percent of all jobrelated fatalities in 1998. Truckdrivers

also have the largest number of nonfatal injuries. In 1997, a trucker had

Rate

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

NOTE: Fatality rate = (fatal work injuries/employment) X 100,000 workers.

Employment is based on the1992-98 CPS.

Truckdriver fatality rates, 1992-98

Rate

cases in 1997, the source of the incident was a vehicle. (See table 8.)

Conclusion

Truckdrivers have more work-related

TABLE 6. Fatalities among truckdrivers by event, 1992-98

All events ...................................................... 699 739 766 758 796 862 879 100

Contact with objects ................................. 66 64 69 52 67 72 76 8.6

Falls ...................................................... 17 21 18 16 35 25 22 2.5

Exposure to harmful substances .............. 27 17 28 22 25 22 21 2.4

Transportation incidents (highway) ........... 532 590 618 629 626 702 722 82.0

Collision between vehicles (highway) .. 149 192 171 182 183 180 218 24.8

Moving in opposite direction........... 44 66 62 60 60 66 73 8.3

Moving in intersection .................... 18 23 22 15 23 17 22 2.5

Moving in same direction ............... 26 41 47 52 52 39 54 6.1

Vehicle struck object on side of

 roadway (highway) ........................... 67 75 125 125 119 152 165 18.7

Vehicle struck object in

 roadway (highway) ............................ 13 15 13 11 15 12 11 1.3

Noncollision incident ........................... 145 168 189 167 175 203 191 21.7

Jack-knifed or overturned .............. 101 125 146 127 139 161 159 18.1

Ran off highway ............................. 41 28 34 27 24 26 18 2.0

Worker struck by vehicle ..................... 52 62 60 31 57 57 63 7.2

Collision between railway and

 other vehicle .................................... 26 27 17 23 22 36 23 2.6

Assaults and violent acts .......................... 38 32 27 29 36 32 30 3.4

a 1 in 21 chance of incurring a nonfatal injury compared to only a 1 in 70

chance for all occupations. With the

high number of occupational injuries

and fatalities resulting from traffic incidents, public sentiment for regulating trucking is high. New safety regulations may go into effect. Being

considered is a change in the number

of hours drivers are allowed to work.19

In addition, various attempts are being made to make the road safer: With

advanced technology, some vehicles

are now being equipped with devices

such as collision avoidance systems;

organizations are providing literature

on effectively “sharing the road” with

large trucks; some employers are sending their drivers to driving schools;20

and some States are identifying and

working to improve areas where repetitive traffic incidents occur.

Whether these attempts will make the

roads safer remains to be seen.

1998

1992 Percent

Event

Fatalities

NOTE: Data may not sum to total because of rounding and the

omission of miscellaneous categories.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Fatalities

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999 31

Trucker Fatalities

TABLE 7. Truckdriver nonfatal injuries involving days away from work by event or exposure, private industry, 1992-97

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Total ...................................................................... 145,934 154,663 163,808 151,338 152,803 145,536

Contact with object, equipment ............................. 30,454 30,877 29,744 30,396 28,070 24,527

 Struck by object ................................................. 14,400 15,473 14,918 15,635 13,545 12,220

 Struck against object ......................................... 9,169 8,547 8,037 7,616 7,945 6,514

 Caught in object, equipment, material ................ 4,351 4,098 3,752 4,0412 4,084 3,404

Fall to lower level ................................................... 13,290 13,069 12,821 13,791 14,460 12,827

Fall on same level ................................................. 14,408 15,531 19,224 15,565 15,964 14,991

Slips, trips............................................................. 6,329 6,880 6,829 5,979 5,076 5,820

Overexertion ......................................................... 40,034 44,541 46,760 43,605 43,618 44,565

 Overexertion in lifting ......................................... 21,884 25,020 26,882 26,232 23,895 24,546

Repetitive motion .................................................. 1,281 1,420 1,287 1,059 1,171 1,614

Exposed to harmful substance .............................. 2,612 2,705 2,778 1,706 2,316 2,306

Transportation accidents ....................................... 17,396 18,236 22,074 18,475 17,736 19,736

Fires, explosions ................................................... 226 174 116 153 251 68

Assault, violent act ................................................ 1,334 1,072 810 968 1,145 1,120

 by person ........................................................... 847 671 484 456 267 844

 by other .............................................................. 487 401 325 512 878 276

Other .................................................................... 18,573 20,159 21,367 19,642 22,996 17,965

TABLE 8. Truckdriver nonfatal work injuries involving days away from work by source of injury or illness, 1992-97

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Total injury or illness cases .................................. 145,934 154,663 163,808 151,338 152,803 145,536

 Chemicals, chemical products .......................... 1,229 1,427 1,252 606 1,374 1,389

 Containers ........................................................ 24,846 26,881 31,519 28,426 26,704 29,570

 Furniture, fixtures .............................................. 3,704 4,904 3,604 3,525 3,639 2,954

 Machinery ......................................................... 5,335 5,240 5,025 4,687 5,102 3,561

 Parts and materials ........................................... 13,939 14,386 13,337 13,410 13,621 12,622

 Worker motion or position ................................. 16,364 20,202 21,620 19,453 20,330 20,268

 Floor, ground surfaces ...................................... 27,737 28,260 32,247 28,511 29,903 27,174

 Handtools ......................................................... 1,530 1,545 1,459 1,840 2,271 1,617

 Vehicles ............................................................ 34,887 35,330 38,982 37,392 34,906 35,741

 Health care patient ............................................ 49 166 130 86 127 51

 All other ............................................................ 16,314 16,322 14,633 13,402 14,826 10,589

Event or exposure

Event or exposure

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

NOTE: Days away from work include injuries which result in

days away from work with or without restricted work activity. Data

may not sum to total because of rounding and the omission of

miscellaneous categories.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
32 Compensation and Working Conditions Winter 1999

1 1993 Commodity Flow Survey (U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, 1995). 2 The CFOI program, which has collected

occupational fatality data since 1992, uses diverse

data sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal

work injuries. Information about each workplace

fatality (industry and other worker characteristics,

equipment involved, and circumstances of the

event) is obtained by cross-referencing source

documents such as death certificates, workers’

compensation records, and reports to Federal and

State agencies. This method assures that counts

are as complete and accurate as possible. 3

 Fatality rates are used to compare the risk of

incurring a fatal work injury among worker groups

with varying employment or exposure levels.

There is more than one method to calculate a fatality rate. An employment-based rate measures

the risk for those employed during a given period

of time, regardless of exposure hours.

 Fatal work injury rates included in this article were calculated using 1998 annual average

employment estimates that were collected in the

Current Population Survey (CPS). Rate = (N/W)

X 100,000 workers where:

 N = number of civilian worker fatalities,

 age 15 and older, and

 W = annual average number of employed

 civilians, age 15 and older.

The CPS employment data used to calculate

rates are estimates based upon a sample of persons employed rather than a complete count.

Therefore, the CPS estimates and fatality rates

have sampling errors; that is, they may differ from

figures that would have been obtained if it had

been possible to take a complete census of employed persons. See “Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” in the January 1998 Employment and Earnings for an explanation of CPS

sampling and estimation methodology and standard error computations. The relative standard

errors of the CPS employment estimates can be

used to approximate confidence ranges for the fatality rates. See Guy A. Toscano, “Dangerous

Jobs,” Compensation and Working Conditions,

Summer 1997, pp. 57-60, for more information

on dangerous occupations, fatality rates, and relative risks. 4

 Traffic Safety Facts 1997: A Compilation

of Motor Vehicle Crash Data from the Fatality

Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System (National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, November 1998), table 10, p. 28. 5

 See Employment and Earnings, volume 46,

no.1, January 1999 for an explanation of the scope

and data collection methods of the CPS. 6 For a better understanding of ton-miles, see

“Truck Movements in America: Shipments From,

To, Within, and Through States,” U.S. Department

of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 97-TS/1, May 1997. 7

 Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1998-

99 edition, Bulletin 2500 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 1998), pp. 473-476. 8

 The Fair Labor Standards Act sets minimum

wage, maximum hours, overtime pay, equal pay,

and child labor standards. 9

 Large trucks refer to: Single-unit trucks with

gross vehicle weights greater than 26,000 pounds,

tractor-trailer combinations, trucks with cargo

trailers, or truck-tractors pulling no trailer. 10 Bernard Gavzer, “Is The Long Haul Too

Long?” Parade Magazine, May 16, 1999, pp. 12-

13. 11 Louis Uchitelle, “Economic View,” The New

York Times, August 29, 1999, p. 4. 12 The event “contacts with objects and equipment” includes being struck by falling objects such

as items falling from a truck. 13 Theresa Hanson, “Fatal Work Injuries in the

Mountain States,” Compensation and Working

Conditions, March 1994, pp.1-4. 14 “Wide Trucks Are Out of Bounds,” Traffic

Safety, National Safety Council, May/June 1992,

pp.4-5. 15 Cynthia Engel, “Competition Drives the

Trucking Industry,” Monthly Labor Review, April

1998, pp. 34-41. 16 George T. Silvestri, “Occupational employment projections to 2006,” Monthly Labor Review, November 1997, pp. 58-83.

17 The Survey of Occupational Injuries and

Illnesses (SOII) collects information from a random sample of about 164,000 establishments representing most of private industry. Worker characteristics are collected only for workers sustaining injuries and illnesses that require days away

from work to recuperate.

Because the scope and methodology of CFOI

and SOII are slightly different, comparison of the

fatal and nonfatal data is problematic.

Additional information on either CFOI or

SOII is available on the Internet at http://

stats.bls.gov/oshhome.htm or via e-mail at

cfoistaff@bls.gov. 18 “Lost-worktime injuries: Characteristics and

resulting time away from work, 1997,” USDL 99-

102 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 22, 1999). 19 Bernard Gavzer, “Is The Long Haul Too

Long?” pp. 12-13. 20 Lisa Miller, “People On The Move Are

Going Back To Driving School,” The Wall Street

Journal, May 20, 1997, p. 1.