Most drivers share the road with semi-trucks every day. Oftentimes, drivers’ commutes are affected by semi-truck accidents multiple times a week. But have you stopped to consider why these accidents happen so often and how likely they are to happen to you?
In 2023, there were over 5,600 deaths from trucking-related accidents and an ultimate 62% increase of these wrecks since 2009. Commercial motor vehicle accidents are far more common than people realize, and the victim’s only “sin” is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
While there are trucking companies that follow Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and make safety a priority, there is not much to incentivize companies to comply with these regulations if it means they can save and make money.
On episode 61 of After the Crash, Executive Director of the Truck Safety Coalition Zach Cahalan joined truck accident attorney David Craig and spoke about what is wrong with the trucking industry, emphasizing that compliance with safety regulations is the bottom line—companies should strive for a safety culture. You can listen to what he had to say here.
Avoiding Barriers to Entry
To obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL), you must pass a written test and CDL skills exam in a vehicle that represents the class of CDL you plan to receive, as well as a valid Medical Examination Report and Medical Examiner’s Certificate. However, some companies will do whatever it takes to get drivers on the road, including rubber stamping exams.
“Not all do, obviously, but some certainly do. They have a perverse incentive, a conflict of interest here, to pass their own students. And we always advocate for having independent, both, knowledge and skills test administrators. Seems to be common sense, at least to us,” Zach said on After the Crash.
In addition to tampering with exam results, some companies will do what they can to ensure drivers pass a medical exam. If an employee is not medically cleared to drive, companies may send them to a different doctor for a second opinion that will result in an approved exam. In fact, the FMCSA recently removed two chiropractors from the federal register of medical examiners for conducting fraudulent exams, resulting in the potential voiding of 15,000 medical examiner’s certificates issued in a two-year period.
Medical exams are vital for the safety of truck operators and other drivers on the roads. Both epilepsy and sleep apnea are medical conditions that could result in fatal accidents because those affected may not be able to control their vehicles when either seizing or falling asleep.
Craig, Kelley & Faultless handled a case a few years ago where a semi tractor-trailer driver fell asleep at the wheel. He killed several people that were stopped in traffic because of a construction zone. The driver denied falling asleep and blamed the accident on someone pulling into his path.
The man exhibited potential signs and symptoms of someone with sleep apnea: weight, age, neck size, race and snoring. Despite this, he was never tested for sleep apnea. He was required to drive through the night.
Scott Faultless and David Craig, two board-certified lawyers in truck accident law, got a court order requiring a medical examination for the driver. Ultimately, the doctor concluded that he did have sleep apnea and should not have been driving a semi-truck without proper treatment or sleep.
There were efforts made to establish criteria and processes for incorporating sleep apnea screening requirements for truck operators. These plans were withdrawn in 2017 by the FMCSA. This rule would have given clarity on what would prompt a driver to be referred for an in-lab test and how best to treat sleep apnea.
Currently, medical examiners can use their own discretion to decide whether a driver needs a sleep test. But with examiners out there like the previously mentioned chiropractors, in tandem with companies not wanting to pay out-of-pocket costs for sleep apnea referrals, it begs the question: is examiner discretion enough to determine an operator should be behind the wheel?
Truck Size and Weight
A semi tractor-trailer’s size and weight play a large part in the safety of the vehicle. The severity of a crash is determined by the velocity and mass of a vehicle, and an increase in weight leads to more likelihood of severe crash injuries and fatalities. In fact, heavier trucks have a 47 to 400% increase in crash rates. Additionally, the heavier the truck, the higher its center of gravity, which then leads to a higher risk of rollovers.
Some companies may encourage drivers to avoid weigh stations when possible, prioritizing profit over safety. When drivers choose not to have their truck weighed, the only other time those trucks are typically discovered to be overweight is when police officers pull them over and weigh them using a portable scale. But this process is extremely tedious. Officers need enough space to pull them over and place the scale, as well as a scale operator to weigh them. In many cases, the conditions needed to do this simply are not available. Most trucks are not discovered to be overweight until after a wreck has occurred.
The New York City Department of Transportation in 2024 decided to use weigh-in-motion (WIM) sensors on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to see how many trucks using the expressway were overweight and how they affected the structural integrity of bridges. The data ultimately found that 10% of truck traffic went over the legal limit. Some of those trucks were overweight by more than 115,000 pounds.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) states that the federal weight limit for trucks on the Interstate System is 80,000 pounds. Heavier trucks also have higher out-of-service (OOS) rates and a higher brake violation rate—18% higher than a CMV at or below 80,000 pounds.
On the podcast, Zach mentioned that based on inspection data, the industry average of trucks that should be OOS is 1 in 5. And trucks with any OOS violation are 362% more likely to be involved in a wreck. Stop and consider how many semi-trucks you pass every day and what number of those trucks are not safe to be on the road.
Speed Limiters
Speed is a significant factor in fatal crashes. The FMCSA found that 10,440 people from 2003 to 2013 were killed in crashes where speeding CMVs likely contributed to the accident’s severity, with an increase in fatal accidents of 50% between 2009 and 2019. Over 1,000 lives are lost every year to speeding semi-trucks. However, speed management has been proven to reduce serious injuries and fatalities. The key to this is speed limiters.
Fatalities are more likely in high-speed crashes because the impact is more forceful, and the braking distance needed to avoid a wreck is increased. USDOT concluded that CMVs that use speed limiters are in half as many high-speed collisions as those that do not. Crash Recovery System reports show that an estimated 63 to 214 lives could be saved and 70 to 236 injuries prevented every year when speed limiters are used.
Speed limiters work by controlling an engine’s fuel supply and tire rotations per minute. You can read more about speed limiters here. The U.S. is currently the only leading country where speed limiters are not the standard.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation conducted a study that found speed-limiter requirements brought speed-related, at-fault collisions involving CMVs down by 73%. That same study also found no evidence that driving slower than other cars on the road contributed to inadvertent crashes due to speed differences, despite concerns that rising speed limits for passenger vehicles could cause wrecks for semi-trucks using limiters.
When looking at the statistics, it can be difficult to understand why the trucking industry would be opposed to the use of speed limiters. On the podcast, Zach reveals the terrifying truth: companies are more focused on delivering goods on time.
“When they were initially doing some of these pilot routes with AV (autonomous vehicle) trucks, they’re designed to only go the speed limit. And the partner they were working with had severe doubt that this was going to work because how were they going to get their goods on time if the truck wasn’t speeding,” Zach said on the podcast. “That’s how the routes are actually designed, is that you’re probably going to have to speed to make it on time. Which is ridiculous and goes to show how little safety is prioritized in the first place when it comes to the trucking sector.”
The American Trucking Association policy currently supports speeds of 70 MPH in trucks with automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. For trucks without that equipment, they encourage a max speed of 65 MPH. As an organization, they fight against efforts to implement a speed-limiter rule for setting speeds in the low 60s. Their policies are set by their member companies.
The Truck Safety Coalition reports that limiting the speed of heavy vehicles to 60 MPH would save 162 to 498 lives annually. By choosing not to equip speed limiters in CMVs and advocating for higher max speeds for these vehicles, these companies are choosing to put lives on the line for the sake of profit.
Automatic Emergency Braking
Many new passenger vehicles are equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB), but they are only required in the newly manufactured Class 7/8 vehicles. This excludes over half a million trucks in Classes 3-6 every year. These smaller CMVs are still responsible for injuring upwards of 84,000 people every year, and in 2019 37% of all fatalities from large truck accidents involved single-unit trucks.
Widespread AEB use would result in a significant decrease in crashes and fatalities, specifically in rear-end collisions. One company saw a 71% decrease, and another saw a reduction of 95%. Overall, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that forward collision warning in tandem with AEB could prevent:
- 50% of front-to-rear car accidents
- 56% of front-to-rear wrecks with injuries
- 41% of front-to-rear accidents with large trucks
- 1 million passenger vehicle wrecks and 450,000 injuries in those wrecks
While there have been attempts to pass legislation requiring all newly manufactured CMVs to be equipped with automatic braking, Zach believes it will take years to pass because it will cost trucking companies more money.
Many of the trucks currently on the roads are older. Purchasing new vehicles that already have AEB for an entire company is more expensive than simply having them installed into the older vehicles. According to the Truck Safety Coalition, a new Class 6 CMV can cost $90,000 or more, as opposed to adding an AEB for $270-$290. A small price to pay for a change that would save lives.
Final Thoughts
Zach and the Truck Safety Coalition’s efforts have helped make the trucking industry safer. He and his colleagues work every day to advocate for the victims of semi-truck accidents, ranging from helping victims share their stories to working to pass safety legislation.
Trucking companies are typically focused on profit over the safety and wellbeing of both their drivers and everyone else on the road. You should not assume everything in the large trucking industry is safe. Do not assume you won’t be a victim. Stay aware of semi-trucks while driving and practice safe driving habits.
Craig, Kelley & Faultless financially support the efforts of the Truck Safety Coalition. They fight for the rights of everyone who shares the road with semis and other large, heavy trucks. We encourage you to visit their website.
Attorneys for Truck Accidents and Personal Injury
At Craig, Kelley & Faultless, our team works tirelessly to help the victims of large-truck accidents recover. Our 10 attorneys represent injured survivors and their families nationwide and are licensed in Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa and Tennessee.
We can help you if you were struck by a commercial motor vehicle, like a:
- Semi tractor-trailer
- Dump truck
- Box truck
- Bus
- Farm vehicle
- Flatbed truck
Contact Craig, Kelley & Faultless today for a free case consultation by calling (800) 746-0226 or submitting an online form.
David W. Craig is a nationally recognized truck accident lawyer who sits on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (which requires the board certification in truck accident law). He is the managing partner and one of the founding partners of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is recognized as a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer and Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers, as well as a Top 50 Indiana lawyer by Super Lawyers. He was the recipient of the National Thurgood Marshall “Fighting for Justice” Award for his work helping victims of truck wrecks. David is the author of Semitruck Wreck, A Guide for Victims and Their Families, written to help people navigate a terrible situation by answering questions that come after a tragic wreck. He also hosts the podcast After the Crash, where you can gain valuable information about the dangers involving semis and large trucks that do not follow Indiana law safety protocol regarding speed, weather conditions, maintenance upkeep, etc.
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