According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace death rates for the truckingindustry were 28 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees. This agency also reports ondeaths according to the specific industry of the truck drivers, which includes employeeswho are not working for major trucking companies. Some of these employees work withthe logging company; this occupation is dangerous with 97.5 fatalities per 100,000.
Trucking is not only dangerous to just the drivers, but about 80% of deaths in accidents on the road involving 18-wheelers were the people outside of the truck. So, what is the answer to the deadliness of trucking? Should we ban big trucks from traveling on the highways? This would prevent so many goods from getting delivered across the United States and the economy would come to a stop. The bright side?18-wheeler deaths are down 36% since 1980, even though the annual miles traveled by the trucking industry increased.
Big truck accidents make up a large portion of accidents resulting in death on the highway. Small-vehicle drivers are also responsible for some of the accidents that are caused and result in fatalities due to issues such as blood-alcohol levels will most likely be higher. This truck driving occupation still remains as one of the more dangerous in the United States and these statistics serve as a reminder.
Surprisingly trains may possibly be the answer to the dangerous trucking problem, but according to statistics trains are generally pretty deadly themselves. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, 795 people died from train accidents in 2018. The railways have been a transportation device for some time and they are more environmentally friendly than big trucks. The main issue with trains is there are a lot more places that big trucks can get to than trains can.
One possible solution for making the trucking industry more safe is self driving technology. This could be a much safer idea since it would eliminate the human error aspect of driving. Although, using this technology would be putting millions of truck drivers out of a job.
The biggest issue we need to face is how dangerous roads are in the United States as a whole.
