Due to their enormous size, accidents involving large trucks are typically more dangerous when compared to a passenger vehicle. These accidents can cause victims to suffer from substantial physical harm, property damage, and emotional distress. Understanding the safety records of major trucking companies may aid you in your future truck accident lawsuit.
If you have been involved in an accident with a semi-truck, or want more information regarding which truck companies contribute to the most injuries or deaths, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863 5312 for your 100 percent free consultation. You will not pay us anything unless we are successful in winning your case.
WHICH TRUCK COMPANY HAS THE MOST ACCIDENTS?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) keeps track of the number of accidents truck companies get into. The following crash statistics for common truck companies were reported to the FMCSA 24 months prior to 10/18/2022:
- UPS: 2,887 total crashes
- Averitt Express: 389 total crashes
- Werner Enterprises: 918 total crashes.
John (Jack) Zinda
Founder / CEO
Over 100 years of combined experience representing injured victims across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationWHICH TRUCKING COMPANY HAS THE WORST CSA SCORE?
CSA is short for Compliance, Safety, Accountability, and can be found on the FMCSA website. Once you have searched by company name or DOT number, you will then get an overview of the number of vehicles, number of drivers, accidents, investigations, and crash histories associated with that company. The FMCSA uses CSA scores to hold motor carriers and drivers accountable for their role in safety.
The safety ratings for J.B. Hunt Transport Inc, FedEx Ground, and XPO Logistics Freight, for example, are satisfactory. Thus, looking into their out-of-service rating may be more beneficial.
CARRIERS WITH THE HIGHEST OUT-OF-SERVICE (OOS) RATING
The out-of-service rating for different motor carriers include:
- Vehicle: 19.6 percent
- Driver: 1.0 percent
- Hazmat: 1.7 percent
- Vehicle: 16.8 percent
- Driver: 2.2 percent
- Hazmat: 5.4 percent
- Vehicle: 16.9 percent
- Driver: 1.1 percent
- Hazmat: 5.5 percent.
As can be seen, J.B. Hunt Transport has the highest vehicle OOS rating, FedEx Ground has the highest driver OOS rating, and XPO Logistics has the highest hazmat OOS rating.
Neil Solomon
Partner
Real results matter. We do not get paid unless we win your case.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationWHICH TRUCK COMPANY HAS THE HIGHEST FATAL ACCIDENT RATE?
According to the FMCSA Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System, SAFER Web – Company Snapshot (dot.gov), some of the truck companies with the highest fatal accident rate, taken for 24 months prior to 10/18/2022., include:
- UPS: 74 fatal crashes
- FedEx Ground: 72 fatal crashes
- J.B. Hunt Transport: 51 fatal crashes
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
Standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to answer in your time of need.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationCOMPANIES CONTRIBUTING THE MOST TO INJURIES AND DEATHS
With only a few prominent exceptions, America’s largest trucking companies are also its safest. Some carriers boast less than one accident per million miles driven, while several others have comparable accident rates. The most successful companies invest heavily in safety training and promotion and routinely recognize and reward employees for distinguished safety records.
At the other end of the scale, among the 100 companies with safety records so abominable they have triggered alerts from the United States Department of Transportation, 80 percent have fewer than five drivers, naturally devoting all their resources to keeping their drivers and trucks on the road. Even if analysis disqualified them because of intra-state operations, all eight of the remaining top ten companies would satisfy the equation (bigger) = (safer), at least in respect to stats and safety concerns.
In all trucking companies, profit and loss drive their interests. This sometimes causes them to disregard safety in smaller companies. The bigger the company, the more it must invest in safety to keep insurance and labor costs in line; and, of course, they achieve economies-of-scale, as statistics naturally tend to improve as sample sizes increase. Further, in big companies, vehicle damage and operator injuries cost more than strict adherence to safety guidelines.
Moreover, because the top ten companies own their own trucks and pay their drivers hourly wages, they maintain tight supervision of vehicle maintenance, reducing the risk of accidents due to equipment failure; and minimize their risk of accidents due to driver fatigue by refusing to pay overtime.
The exceptions proving the rule: four of America’s top 100 trucking companies have become notorious for violating safety guidelines and exploiting their drivers. Those trucking companies appear on drivers’ watch-lists, as they routinely encourage drivers to violate hours and equipment safety guidelines and are rumored to advise drivers to falsify their logbooks. Their statistics support drivers’ claims of abuse and exploitation, as all four have shown rising fatality rates over the last ten years despite industry-wide declines in fatal accidents.
Even more revealing, statistics show fatalities per number of power units steadily have increased in these companies. The most frequent and flagrant among the four decidedly dangerous carriers over the last decade has sustained an industry-worst one fatality for every 400 trucks in service. That number translates to one fatality for every half-million miles, and it contrasts sharply with the safest company benchmark—less than one accident per million miles.
Cole Gumm
Attorney
We are here to ensure you won’t have to face this difficult time alone.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationTRUCK ACCIDENT RATES, MILES TRAVELED & MORE: BY COMPANY
Below are the truck accident numbers, miles traveled, and more, for different trucking companies. All crash statistics were reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for 24 months prior to 10/18/2022 and include mileage from the MCS-150 registration form in 2021.
- 3,501,751,779
- 127,017 drivers
- 2,887 total crashes
- 74 fatal crashes.
- 380,282,214
- 5,166 drivers
- 389 total crashes
- 12 fatal crashes.
- 864,678,438
- 10,533 drivers
- 918 total crashes
- 17 fatal crashes.
HOW DO I FIND MY TRUCKING SAFETY RATING?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provides a company snapshot, or a Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System, whereas you can find your trucking safety rating, commodity information, and safety record, among other important information. The company snapshot is also free of charge.
HOW LONG DOES A TRUCKING COMPANY HAVE TO KEEP ACCIDENT RECORDS?
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, supporting data for periodical reports of accidents must be kept for 6 months, although you should always err on the side of caution for all business-related record retention.
After an accident, you should maintain all paperwork related to the accident until you have spoken to your legal counsel. Some related paperwork, such as drug and alcohol testing, may have different retention requirements, so contact Zinda Law Group today before disposing of important trucking documents.
WHAT ARE TRUCK DRIVERS’ BIGGEST COMPLAINTS?
Two major complaints are safety concerns and compensation for company drivers. Large companies are known to repeatedly violate safety guidelines and prefer to hire owner-operators as independent contractors, paying them by the mile. For instance, one company pays $0.91 per mile to its long-haul owner operators, and their rates can go up if they stay contracted with the company for more than three years. Company drivers among the top 100 truckers, by contrast, earn only $0.25 per mile.
One key variable turns the contrast on its head, however. Company drivers do not deduct taxes and operating expenses from their per-mile compensation; independents do. The latest, most accurate studies indicate owner-operators net only $0.07 per mile even with contractors paying their insurance, highway taxes, and tolls. Thus, they have an overwhelming incentive to log as many miles as they can. Company drivers average forty-one hours every workweek; owner-operators average sixty hours per week.
The incentive to log as many miles as possible, combined with the repeated violation of safety guidelines, often lead to large-truck accidents.
NEED HELP? CONTACT ZINDA LAW GROUP TODAY
If you have been involved in an accident with a large truck, call a Zinda Law Group personal injury attorney today at (800) 863 5312 to set up your free initial consultation. You do not have to worry about paying us anything unless we are able to win you compensation in your case. That is our “No Win, No Fee Guarantee.”
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
We have successfully represented clients in a wide variety of cases across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free Consultation
