Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog
Let’s take a look at which of the large commercial trucking companies cause the most auto accidents and which company has the highest accident rate. Our Baltimore auto accident attorneys see hundreds of traffic accident cases every year. We have first-hand experience with how destructive serious auto accidents can be. Major truck accidents can life-altering events with permanent consequences.
Of all the accident cases we handle, commercial truck accidents are by far the worst and most destructive. Big trucks (e.g., delivery truck, tractor-trailers, and other commercial trucking vehicles) can be 4 or 5 times the size and weight of an average passenger car. When these massive moving objects collide with smaller vehicles, the outcome is often tragic.
The Maryland truck accident lawyers at our firm represent dozens of big truck accident victims every year. There are certain big trucking companies that we run into as defendants in these cases on a fairly regular basis. This is because there are a handful of very large commercial trucking companies that cause a very high percentage of truck accidents. To be fair, this is partly due to the fact that these companies are bigger and have more trucks logging more mileage. But it is also true that certain truck companies place less emphasis on driver safety and training. This post will look at who these companies are and why they account for so many truck accidents.
UPS Truck Accidents
United Parcel Service (UPS) is the biggest trucking company on the planet. UPS has more trucks driving more miles than anyone else in U.S. In 2019, UPS’s fleet of over 125,00 delivery trucks logged 3 billion miles. With this type of volume, it is hardly a surprise that UPS truck accidents are a frequent occurrence. UPS delivery truck accidents cause an average of 25 traffic fatalities each year.
UPS is on this list basically because of the sheer size of its trucking fleet and the volume of miles that their trucks cover. UPS has a fairly good reputation with respect to driver training and safety. The problem is that UPS is just such a big company that they are invariably going to have a certain number of bad drivers in their system. Another problem our lawyers see is that that UPS delivery truck drivers are under significant pressure to meet delivery deadlines which often leads to excessive speeding, risk-taking, and driver fatigue.
FedEx Truck Accidents
Federal Express (FedEx) is second on our list of truck companies that cause the most accidents. FedEx makes it onto this list for essentially the same reasons that UPS does: size and volume. FedEx is the second-largest commercial trucking company in the U.S. FedEx has a fleet of more than 20,000 delivery trucks, which is much smaller than UPS but still considerably larger than anyone else. FedEx delivery trucks delivered 18 billion tons of packages in 2019.
Just like UPS, with a fleet this large traveling billions of miles every year, FedEx truck accidents are bound to occur at a high frequency. Federal Express trucks average just over 300 serious injury auto accidents each year and 20 fatalities. FedEx is generally a good company and, like UPS, is has a solid reputation for emphasizing safety and training for its delivery truck drivers. But the demands of getting packages delivered all over the country with speed and efficiency make a high volume of accidents unavoidable.
Amazon Prime Truck Accidents
Over the last 10 years ( heck, over the last few years the difference has been stunning in Maryland), Amazon has rapidly become one of the largest shipping companies in Maryland and in U.S. Through its new delivery division (Amazon Logistics), this online retail giant delivered 3 billion packages in 2019, which is close to the volume of deliveries made by FedEx and UPS. Hard statistics on Amazon delivery truck accidents are elusive because so many of its drivers are independent contractors. However, common sense tell me they belong on this list based on the volume of deliveries they are making and recent reports from news outlets about Amazon delivery accidents.
Swift Transportation Truck Accidents
Swift Transportation is the biggest commercial trucking and freight transportation company in the U.S. Swift has a fleet of 15,000 tractor-trailers, which is almost as large as FedEx. Swift drivers don’t log nearly as many miles as parcel delivery drivers for companies like UPS or FedEx. However, Swift Transportation truck accidents still happen at a very high rate.
Swift Transportation trucks are involved in around 200 “serious injury accidents” each year and just under 20 fatal accidents each year. Swift’s accident rate (the number of accidents per mile driven) is one of the highest in the trucking industry. This is partly the result of Swift’s size and the volume of miles its trucks travel. However, it is also a reflection of Swift’s hiring and driver training policies. Swift is known as a driver “training company” because they hire and train brand new commercial truck drivers with no prior experience. (Here is some anecdotal evidence.) This invariably leads to higher accident rates.
Contact Miller & Zois About Your Truck Accident Case
If you have been injured in a big truck accident case, our lawyers can help get you financial compensation. Call our Maryland truck accident lawyers today for a free consultation.