Unfortunately, most of Armstrong's fellow truckers don't have that option. Nearly 56 percent of drivers say they have worked more hours than they logged in the previous 30 days, according to a University of Michigan survey. The resulting death toll is staggering. The DOT says that driver fatigue is a factor in an average of 755 fatalities and 19,705 injuries per year. Making deliveries on time often requires not only cheating on hours but also speeding and other forms of reckless driving.
Truckers can rightly claim that four-wheelers cause most fatal accidents with trucks.
But in more than a quarter of such accidents, police reports show that at least one error was made by the truck driver. The problem will probably worsen. Most long-haul drivers get paid by the mile, so the time required to load and unload the truck amounts to unpaid labor. If you don't hire the lumpers, they have ways of delaying you. You can be there all day.