Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Nov. 12, 2021:
Large truck fatal accidents rose slightly in 2019
The number of fatal accidents involving large trucks, defined as vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds, increased slightly from 2018 to 2019, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recently updated Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts.
While the actual number of fatal crashes rose, the number of fatalities in crashes involving large trucks dropped by one from 2018 to 2019.
Of the approximately 510,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks in 2019, there were 4,479 (1%) fatal crashes and 114,000 (29%) injury crashes. That’s compared to 4,461 fatal crashes and 107,000 injury crashes in 2018. The total number of fatalities in crashes involving large trucks fell by one from 5,006 in 2018 to 5,005 in 2019. Additionally, there were an estimated 158,000 people injured in crashes involving large trucks, according to FMCSA’s data.
The total number of fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2019 was the highest since 2005, which saw 4,551 fatal crashes involving large trucks.
There were 892 large truck occupant fatalities in 2019, an increase of less than 1 percent from the 890 fatalities in 2018. In 2019, 86% of these occupant fatalities were drivers of large trucks, and 14 percent were passengers in large trucks.
FMCSA also determined that approximately 57% of all fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred in rural areas, 25% occurred on interstate highways, and 13% fell into both categories by occurring on rural Interstate highways.
Additionally, 36% of all fatal crashes and 22% of injury crashes occurred at night between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., and 83% of fatal crashes occurred on weekdays.
FMCSA also collected data on the age of drivers involved in fatal crashes. Of the 4,949 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal accidents, 345 were between the ages of 18-25 and 306 were between the ages of 66 and 75. The largest percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes were between the ages of 46 and 55 (25%).
KeepTruckin launches new compliance management offerings
Fleet management firm KeepTruckin has launched its new automated compliance management suite, which offers a full view into a fleet’s compliance health to help carriers manage data more efficiently, resolve violations faster and stay compliant, the company says.
Additional features that help fleets solve their most pressing compliance challenges include advanced AI technology to help automatically resolve unidentified trips in real-time, and a native integration with Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) scores to proactively reduce risk and lower costs.
KeepTruckin’s Compliance Hub is a new dashboard that offers fleets deeper hours of service insights with violations breakdowns, driver leaderboards and cycle trends over time. Additionally, critical compliance information can be viewed in the KeepTruckin Fleet App, where managers can see driver logs and duty status on the go.
“Complex regulatory and safety requirements can hold organizations back,” said KeepTruckin Director of Product for Safety, Compliance, and Insurance, Abhishek Gupta. “Our new automated compliance management suite helps unlock the potential of these organizations by maximizing the safety and productivity of their operations. This is another step forward in our continued commitment to helping fleets take a proactive approach to risk management that transforms their operations and ultimately makes our roads safer for everyone.”
