Truck Transportation Deaths Drop 8% in 2013

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Deaths in the truck transportation industry declined 8% to 461 in 2013, according to a preliminary report on fatal occupational injuries by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Of the truck transportation deaths, 67% were roadway incidents, which include deaths from traffic accidents, incidents on the roadway and fatalities on the shoulder and surrounding area. Homicides accounted for 1% of deaths in the truck segment.

Truck drivers and drivers/sales (including food and newspaper delivery) accounted for 748 deaths of the 1,184 who died with transportation and material-moving sector jobs, according to the Labor Department’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, which was released Sept. 11.

Transportation and material-moving sector deaths declined 5%, but the Labor Department said it expects sector deaths to increase when updated data is released in the spring.

The biggest cause of death in 2013 was transportation incidents, which includes everything from parachute failures to sinking ships. The 1,740 transportation deaths made up 40% of the total, while violence from people and animals caused the second-most deaths.

Deaths from transportation incidents dropped 10% but accounted for two out of every five fatal work injuries in 2013, according to the Labor Department.

Of the transportation-related deaths, 991, or about three out of five, were roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles.

Total deaths declined 4.82% to 4,405 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2013.