The Most Dangerous Trucking Companies in the U.S.

Peter Olszewski

Commercial trucking is a hard job. Sometimes you have to drive across states, and even the country, for days or weeks at a time. That can take a harsh toll on someone’s body and mind, and companies don’t always take care of their drivers as best they can. This can lead to exhaustion, anxiety, and, ultimately, mistakes while driving.

We can tell which trucking companies don’t take as much care of their drivers and vehicles as much as they should based on the number of accidents they have. When a company’s drivers are involved in collisions numbering in the thousands each year, that’s not bad luck.

If you are in a trucking accident with a truck from one of these companies, contact the trucking accident attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. as soon as you can.

The Most Dangerous Trucking Companies in America

While the number of accidents involving drivers from these companies changes each year, the companies that make up the top most dangerous trucking companies are pretty consistent. You may recognize some of them.

FedEx

Possibly the most recognizable trucking company in the country, this company has only one other company competing with them for the highest accident numbers. FedEx may not be what you think of in terms of trucks, but when you consider how much mail they’re shipping, it makes sense – there are always FedEx trucks on the road.

Unlike other trucking companies, FedEx also has a set of smaller trucks that deliver to your house, which can also be a safety hazard as they have to stop and start to do their job.

Between these two types of trucking, FedEx employs over 124,000 drivers and has over 101,000 vehicles, which has led to over 1,000 injury-causing crashes between June 2020 and June 2022. Over 100 of those crashes were fatal.

UPS

After talking about FedEx, talking about their competitor, UPS, may not be so surprising. Like FedEx, UPS has two types of shipping trucks, one for transporting mail and packages across the country and one for delivering to people’s homes. This has led to their employees being involved in over 1,000 accidents and causing nearly 75 fatal accidents between June 2020 and June 2022.

They are just below FedEx in fatalities and injuries, but not by all that much. In previous years, they have surpassed FedEx’s accident rate, and it would not be surprising if they ever do again. UPS has more drivers at 127,000 and more vehicles at 134,000. They certainly have more chances to be involved in accidents than FedEx.

Swift Transportation, Inc.

Swift Transportation is a transportation company that works with many different kinds of products and companies, shipping a multitude of items. They currently have about 15,000 drivers handling approximately 16,000 vehicles.

While overworking drivers is a problem plaguing the shipping and transportation industry, Swift Transportation has a bigger problem. Nearly 15% of their vehicles have been cited for violations, meaning that they are not 100% safe to use for transport. This has likely led to Swift Transportation being involved in 28 fatal crashes and 289 injury-causing crashes from June 2020 to June 2022.

Werner Enterprises

You’re not likely to recognize these trucks, but there are over 10,000 on the road across the United States. Despite only employing 10,000 drivers, their accident rate is incredibly close to Swift Transportations, which wasn’t too far off from UPS and FedEx. Their drivers were involved in 16 fatal accidents and 271 injury-causing accidents from June 2020 to June 2022.

Averitt Express

This trucking company has half the trucks as Werner, but they managed to be involved in the same amount of fatal crashes in the same time period. While their total number of crashes is less, it’s not by much at 118 accidents.

If a Driver From One of These Dangerous Trucking Companies Caused an Accident With You, Contact Our Attorneys

Trucking companies offer incredibly important services to everyone in the United States, but that does not mean they shouldn’t be doing everything they can to reduce the number of accidents that their drivers get into. Some are trying harder than others, but when the accident numbers are so high, it’s not enough.

If a driver from any of these dangerous trucking companies caused an accident that led to the destruction of your property or an injury, you deserve compensation. Don’t let these companies get away with causing your accident, contact the trucking accident attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. today.