Truck Miles Up; Fatalities, Fatality Rate Down in 2014, 

ATA Analysis Shows inShare  Print This   E-mail This MoDOT Large trucks drove 4 billion more miles in 2014 than during the previous year, but 61 fewer people died in crashes involving trucks, according to an analysis of federal government data by American Trucking Associations. With trucks driving more than 279 billion miles and 3,903 truck-involved fatalities occurring, the fatality rate fell for a second straight year to 1.40 per 100 million miles. The fatality rate has sunk 40.6% over the past decade according to statistics compiled by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that ATA reviewed. Similarly, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported that fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses declined 4.5% in 2014 to 3,649, while fatalities from those accidents declined 2.73% to 4,161. Though deaths were down, FMCSA also said that the number of non-fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses resulting in injuries has been increasing. FHWA and NTSA have yet to publish their large-truck crash rate figures for 2014.

 “The short-term decline is welcome news, but the important figure is the long-term trend,” ATA President Bill Graves said. “Short-term changes, whether they’re increases or declines, can be blips — and just like you shouldn’t track your 401k on a daily basis, they shouldn’t be the primary lens truck safety is viewed through. The long-term trend — in this case, a more than 40% improvement – is of paramount importance.” Henry Jasny, general counsel for the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, welcomed the rate’s decline but sounded a cautionary note. “It’s a marginal improvement, but we don’t know that it will last for the long term,” Jasny said. “We don’t put a lot of stock in the fatality rate because the rate can go down even as the number of crashes and the number of fatalities go up. We’re happy that the rate was down and that there were fewer deaths in 2014, but we’d like to see that continue.” 

Speaking at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting Jan. 11, FMCSA Chief Safety Officer John "Jack" Van Steenburg said that while fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses are down since 2004, they generally have been rising since 2009, the bottom of the recession. Illinois and New York had the largest decreases in 2014, while Oklahoma and California had the largest increases. “Our industry has worked hard, and invested in technology and training to improve highway safety, not just for our drivers but for all motorists,” said Dave Osiecki, ATA chief of national advocacy. “And while there is more work to do, it is gratifying to see those efforts paying off in safer roads for all of us.”  Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said he couldn’t comment on ATA’s report because his group hasn’t been able to independently review the 2014 fatality data. IIHS' numbers exclude camper and motor home crash deaths, which typically  are grouped in the federal statistics on large trucks and buses.