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According to the
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, from 1986 - 1996:
- Medium and heavy truck miles driven rose 40%.
Fatal accident rate for medium and
heavy trucks fell 35%.
Trucks were involved in only 12%
of fatal accidents nationally in 1996.
In 71% of fatal accidents
involving a truck and another vehicle, police have determined the other vehicle to be at
fault in the accident.
In 1996, the intoxication rate for
passenger car drivers involved in fatal accidents was 18.8%; for large truck drivers, it
was 1.4%.
According to the Tennessee Department
of Safety:
From 1987 - 1995, the number of
fatal accidents involving medium and heavy trucks in Tennessee dropped 22%, while the
number of miles traveled increased.
In 1996, Tennessee conducted more
than 100,000 truck safety inspections, placing it second in the nation for inspections.
The trucking industry & Tennessee
Trucking Association have worked for these measures:
A law creating a single, national
Commercial Driver's License, with stringent standards to test and license commercial truck
drivers.
A more than ten-fold increase in
the number of inspections of heavy trucks.
Drug and alcohol testing to ensure
drivers are free of substance abuse.
Tennessee Trucking Association is
providing safety leadership with the following activities:
Providing defensive driver
training and safety seminars for truck drivers.
Supporting safety legislation,
including speed limits in commercial construction zones and a 55 mph speed limit for all
drivers.
Providing public education to
adults and students on safely sharing our roads.
Jobs
The trucking industry employs
203,144 people in Tennessee, or one out of every 12 workers.
From 1990 - 1995, trucking
industry employment jumped 28%, adding 44,162 jobs to Tennessee's economy.
Tennessee is home to over 10, 620
for-hire and private interstate trucking businesses.
The total annual payroll for the
trucking industry in Tennessee is $6.3 billion.
The average annual wage paid to
trucking industry workers in 1995 was $ 31,105.
Commerce
Trucks stock 100% of Tennessee's
retail stores and service enterprises.
Trucks are the only means of
supply to 85% of Tennessee communities.
Tennessee ranks sixth in the
nation and first in the Southeast for cargo ton-miles and value of commodities carried by
truck.
Trucks carry approximately 80% of
all manufactured freight transported in Tennessee.
Taxes
In 1995, trucks represented only
1.6% of all vehicles registered in Tennessee.
Forty-six percent of taxes
collected from the trucking industry in 1996 went to the state.
In 1997, an operator of a typical
five-axle tractor semitrailer paid $10,428 in state and federal highway user taxes.
Environment
While medium and heavy trucks
represent 1.6% of vehicles registered in Tennessee, they produce only 1.3% of total
hydrocarbons and 1.4% of total carbon monoxide.
Since 1987, nitrogen oxide
emissions from new heavy-duty trucks have decreased 70% and particulates have decreased
90%.
Source: American Trucking
Associations Statistics Department. Data derived from the most recent information from the
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Census, and Federal Highway Administration.
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