FACT SHEET

The Dangers of Large Trucks

Large trucks - including tractor-trailers, single-unit trucks, and certain heavy cargo vans with gross weight of more than 10,000 pounds - account for a disproportionate share of traffic deaths based on miles traveled. The fatal crash rate for large trucks is 2.4 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled - more than 50 percent greater than the rate for all vehicles on the roads. People in passenger vehicles are especially vulnerable in collisions with large trucks because of the great difference in weight between cars and large tucks. In two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles and large trucks, 98 percent of the fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicle.

Overweight trucks are even more dangerous than trucks that stay within the current federal weight limits. Overweight trucks not only take longer to brake and are more prone to roll over in crashes, but they also damage roads and bridges at rapidly increasing rates even when slightly overloaded.

LARGE TRUCK CRASH FACTS

• 5,190 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2004, representing 12 percent of all traffic fatalities. Of these, 77 percent were occupants of another vehicle, 14 percent were large truck occupants, and 8 percent were non-occupants. An additional 116,000 people were injured in those crashes. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA) 2005).
• Nearly one-quarter of occupant deaths in passenger vehicles that had multi-vehicle collisions were the result of crashes involving large trucks. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).
• Large trucks make up just 4 percent of all registered vehicles and 7 percent of all vehicle miles traveled, but are involved in 11 percent of all crash fatalities. (NHTSA).
• The annual death toll from truck-related crashes is the equivalent of twenty-six major airplane crashes every year.
• The large number of truck-related deaths and injuries carries an enormous personal and financial price tag. The costs of large truck crashes in a year exceed $19 billion.
  (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)).

WHY FREEZE TRUCK SIZE AND WEIGHT?

Bigger Trucks Compromise Safety. The chances of a big truck crash resulting in deaths and serious injuries increase with each extra ton of weight over the 80,000 pound gross vehicle weight (GVW) limit in federal law. These federal weight limits are used by many states as the upper limit on truck weight even on most of their state roads. A big truck weighing even a legal 80,000 pounds is more than twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a truck weighing about 50,000 pounds. (University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) 1988).

Cost. One legal 80,000 pound GVW tractor-trailer truck does as much damage to road pavement as 9,600 cars. (Highway Research Board, NAS, 1962). Overweight trucks chronically underpay their fair share of taxes and user fees for the repair of U.S. roads and bridges. By damaging roads, large trucks further degrade highway safety. (U.S. DOT, 1997).

Bigger Trucks Still Mean More Trucks. Increases in truck size and weight will not decrease the number of trips, result in fewer miles traveled, or improve safety by reducing the number of trucks on the highways. Past increases in truck size and weight have not resulted in fewer trucks, fewer trips, or fewer miles traveled. The number of trucks on U.S. highways has consistently grown, even after increases in both the sizes and weights of large trucks.

TRB Study Supporting Increase in Truck Size and Weight is Fundamentally Flawed. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Special Report No. 267, Regulation of Weights, Lengths, and Widths of Commercial Motor Vehicles (2002), has been rebutted by every truck and highway safety organization. The study supports two specific configurations as larger, heavier vehicles of choice without a single argument as to why these configurations are better than others. The Committee undermines any possible support for these combinations by pointing out that virtually nothing is known about the relationship between any specific design configurations, crash risk, and truck handling and stability. The Committee also issued warnings about the unintended consequences that may accompany the use of larger combination trucks with higher axle and gross weights.

Trucks Keep Getting Bigger. Trailer lengths for combination vehicles (tractor-trailers) have continued to grow over the past few decades, moving from an industry standard of 40 feet in the 1960s, to 48 feet in the 1970s, to 53 feet in the late 1980s. Some states even allow 57- and 59-foot trailers.

Infrastructure Cannot Support Bigger Trucks. A survey conducted in the early 1990s by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) showed that many ramps on even Interstate highways were unable to accommodate the off-tracking, swept path width of a tractor-trailer pulling even a 48-foot long semi-trailer. Many combination trucks currently pulling 53-foot long trailers cannot safely negotiate such ramps, especially elevated ramps bordered by bridge parapets or guardrails. These trucks also intrude into the traffic lanes used by passenger cars and threaten their safety.

Bigger Trucks Require More Stopping Time. A truck weighing 100,000 pounds with unadjusted brakes travels 25 percent further after the driver steps on the brakes than an 80,000 pound truck. A 120,000 pound truck can travel as much as 50 percent further before stopping than an 80,000 pound truck. (UMTRI, 1983; TRB; National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 1990).

Americans Don't Want Bigger Trucks. By an 88 percent majority, the American public is opposed to allowing bigger and heavier trucks on the highways. (Lou Harris Poll, 1996). Seventy-eight (78) percent of Americans are willing to pay higher prices for goods shipped in trucks in exchange for tougher truck safety standards. (Caravan Poll, 1999).

September 2005