Continuing Risks of Fatal Truck Crash for Truckers and Others on the Road in Illinois or Indiana
Last week, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), as the non-profit research arm of the country’s trucking industry, published its 16th annual “Top Industry Issues” report (read earlier reports here). Both commercial truck drivers and trucking companies participated in the survey seeking to identity the major worries and concerns facing truckers and their employers today. According to ATRI, a record number of responses were completed and returned for inclusion in the report, coming from truck drivers, motor carriers, and “other industry stakeholders” thereby making this year’s study particularly reliable.
- Download the complete twenty-three (23) page 2020 ATRI report here, entitled “Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry – 2020 ” (“Report”).
While the Coronavirus Pandemic created unique circumstances for both carriers and truck drivers, the report reveals that both trucking companies and truckers on the road are worried about issues facing CMV drivers today that exist outside of the COVID-19 situation. However, their perspective on the risks facing today’s commercial truck driver are not the same.
The trucking industry is focused upon the following concerns: (1) driver shortage; (2) driver retention; (3) compliance, safety, accountability (CSA); (4) insurance cost and availability; (5) tort reform; (6) economy; (7) transportation infrastructure/congestion/funding; (8) driver distraction; (9) detention and delay at customer facilities; and (10) hours-of-service (HOS) rules. Report, page 22 (Table 2).
Of particular interest is the motor carriers’ focus upon revenue-producing aspects of trucking operations (things like having enough people to drive rigs; the cost of insurance; and tort reform) with only two issues focusing directly on the health, safety, and well-being of the truck drivers themselves: (a) driver distraction, 8th on the list; and (b) hours-of-service (HOS) rules, the last item on their list.
The Biggest Concerns Facing Commercial Truck Drivers Today
The truck drivers that responded to the ATRI survey had a different outlook on the issues facing the trucking industry today than the motor carriers. From the truckers’ perspective, the major issues to be addressed are: (1) truck parking; (2) driver compensation; (3) detention and delay at customer facilities; (4) hours-of-service (HOS) rules; (5) driver training standards; (6) automated truck technology; (7) compliance, safety, accountability (CSA); (8) driver health and wellness; (9) speed limiters; and (10) ELD Mandate. Report, page 22 (Table 2).
Those driving their own rigs (independent contractors as owner/operators) ranked things a bit differently from the truckers who drive for a company. Rig owners/operators ranked truck parking as their biggest concern, followed by the ELD Mandate and third, driver compensation. Those employed by a carrier saw driver compensation as their first concern, following by truck parking and detention and delay at customer facilities. Report, page 22 (Table 3).
The focus of the commercial truck driver, whose job is to meet his or her delivery deadline while driving big rigs, semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, or 18-wheelers on all sorts of roadways and in all kinds of weather, is understandably upon issues that impact their ability to do their job safely with reasonable compensation.
Driver Fatigue and Detention and Delay at Customer Facilities
Detention and delay at customer facilities impacts the truck driver’s time schedule, for instance. Truck parking is a huge problem in this country for truckers; it correlates with the issue of driver fatigue and drowsy driver dangers. Read, e.g., Crizzle, A.M., Toxopeus, R. & Malkin, J. “Impact of limited rest areas on truck driver crashes in Saskatchewan: a mixed-methods approach.” BMC Public Health 20, 971 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09120-7.
For more, read:
- Commercial Truck Drivers, Fatigue, and the 2014 Naperville Illinois Truck Crash
- Drowsy Truck Drivers: Commuting to Work Contributing to Fatal Truck Crashes
- Drowsy Driving: Do HOS Rules Make Us Safer from Fatal Truck Crashes?
ELD Mandate Pressuring Drivers to Speed
The ELD Mandate also impacts the truck driver’s ability to do his or her job satisfactorily and safely. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) has ruled that truckers must use Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) in their rigs; however, for many drivers this new technology is a danger both to truckers and those who share the roads with them, and will increase the likelihood of a truck crash. See, e.g., “ELD Mandate Enforcement Begins,” written by the American Trucker Staff and published by American Trucker on December 18, 2017. There is a fear that the electronic device will influence drivers to speed, for instance, out of concern they will miss a delivery deadline, all because of the pressure from the ticking of an automated ELD time clock.
For more, read:
- Fatal Semi-Truck Crashes and ELDs: Study Shows an Increase in the Number of Truck Accidents
- Truck Driver Fatigue: Battle Continues Over Tracking Truckers with Electronic Log Devices (ELDs)
The Biggest Concerns Facing the Trucking Industry
In contrast, the motor carriers seem preoccupied with their bottom line. Across the board is their concern for maximizing revenue. They fret about having enough employees to do the job of driving their rigs. They point to insurance costs as a problem. There’s an industry-wide worry about CSA (insurance companies set premiums based upon CSA scores) and the economy overall.
Tort Reform: Carriers Having to Pay Legal Damages for Trucking Accidents
Of importance to anyone involved in a serious or fatal semi-truck crash, the motor carriers are apparently being driven to push for help from state legislatures to lessen their legal exposure to liabilities resulting from severe or deadly commercial motor vehicle accidents.
Tort reform ranked higher than driver distraction, detention and delay at customer facilities, and HOS Rules in the carriers’ list of concerns.
From ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster:
“The impacts of litigation and growth of nuclear verdicts in the trucking industry was really apparent in this year’s list of concerns. Earlier this year, ATRI quantified the growth in nuclear verdicts in the trucking industry, but even without that critical research, the fact that tort reform and insurance issues have resurfaced in the survey are a clear sign the industry is being impacted by rising costs related to litigation and insurance.”
Legal Responsibility of Trucking Companies for Serious or Fatal Truck Crashes
Of course, the reality is that if motor carriers would begin to consider something other than their bottom line when they are making decisions about the health and wellbeing of their truck drivers as well as the repair and upkeep of their machinery and equipment, then their exposure to liability for personal injury and wrongful death claims would decrease automatically.
The motor carrier who meets its duty of care to the truck driver and those sharing the roads with that trucker cannot be held legally liable for any monetary damages and has no need to be concerned about tort liability.
It is the carrier with legal exposure because of putting profits over people that is susceptible to a legal claim for injury damages in the aftermath of a crash involving a commercial motor vehicle (big rig, semi-truck, 18-wheeler, tractor trailer).
This reality is the elephant in the room for any reader of the new ATRI survey. Truck drivers know they are facing dangers on the roadways, while carriers continue to be focused on their revenue.
For more on the dangers facing truckers today, read:
- Danger of More Fatal Truck Crashes Caused by New 2020 Hours-Of-Service Rules
- Coronavirus and Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois: Deadly Truck Crashes During COVID-19 Quarantines
- Commercial Truck Crashes: FMCSA’s New Study Because of Rising Number of Fatal Semi-Truck Accidents
- Inadequate Truck Driver Training and Fatal Truck Crashes in Indiana or Illinois.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious or fatal truck crash in Indiana or Illinois, it is vital that you know there are legal avenues for justice available to you that may include legal claims against the company that owns or operates the commercial motor vehicle involved in the accident. Please be careful out there!
