UPS Truck Accident Causes
Over the past decade, Americans have increasingly turned to online shopping as a means of purchasing goods and services. Large online retailers such as Amazon offer consumers an easy way to purchase goods from the comfort of their own homes and have them delivered to their doorstep. In order to keep up with the delivery demand, national delivery companies like UPS have been forced to increase the size of their delivery fleets.
UPS employs roughly 60,000 drivers who log almost 900 million miles annually, and those numbers are expected to increase. As a result, accidents are bound to happen. However, some think the company's "efficiency" leads to more accidents than should be expected.
Some of the leading causes of truck accidents include:
All of these hazards are unnecessary risks to other motorists on the road. Drivers who are hurried to make scheduled deliveries can be prone to speeding or other reckless driving. Additionally, trucks that are loaded improperly in a rush to get them on the road can affect how the truck handles, making it difficult to maneuver or stop in an emergency.
Past UPS Truck Accident Statistics
Below are statistics from a study of UPS accident data for the two-year period prior to October 2012:
- UPS trucks were involved in 1,448 accidents
- Injuries were reported in 541 of those accidents
- 39 UPS truck accidents resulted in 1 or more fatalities
- 7.5% of UPS trucks inspected over the same 2-year period were declared out of service
While UPS has striven to take measures to improve driver safety and minimize accidents caused by their trucks, their trucks still cause numerous accidents every year. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the UPS fleet increases the risk for truck accidents and the news is commonly littered with stories involving semi-truck accidents.
How Trucking Companies Are Making the Roads Less Safe
This year, around 75,000 people are going to be injured in large truck crashes. At least 1 in 7 of those crashes will occur specifically because the trucker was exhausted. Experts believe fatigue will be a factor in even more crashes but won't be reported. As many as 1 in 4 crashes happen when truckers have been hauling for 17 hours or longer—so tired driving is causing serious harm.
Why are thousands of drivers getting behind the wheels of their rig so fatigued? Because trucking companies want it that way. Trucking companies pay most drivers by the mile, incentivizing them to go as far and as long as possible every day. Because they're paid between 25 cents and 40 cents a mile, long-haul drivers do everything they can to minimize breaks, minimize sleep, and push themselves as hard as possible. Trucking companies win because they create a harder-working employee without affecting their bottom line. The rest of us lose.
- Driving to pick up new loads
- Planning routes
- Abiding by federally-mandated rest breaks
- Waiting for loading
- Waiting for unloading
- Submitting to rig inspections
Hours of every trucker's day can be spent doing vital work that benefits their carrier—but the carrier refuses to pay for any of that work. Between pay-by-mile and traffic, it's not uncommon for a driver to spend 12 hours behind the wheel and lose money. That's why many of them look for ways around hours of service regulations, commonly employing methods taught to them by carrier-employed instructors. Company policies don't officially condone breaking the law, but they don't exactly give drivers an alternative.
All of this results in one thing: it increases the chances of exhausted truckers getting behind the wheel and making mistakes that cost us our health, our careers, and our lives.
Call a UPS Truck Accident Attorney Today: (888) 493-1629
When people are injured in truck accidents, it's virtually never minor. Victims lose their ability to make a living while incurring tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. People live on credit card debt and charity, hoping that the insurance company will pay what they're owed. Meanwhile, trucking companies actively fight against claims, utilizing teams of lawyers and experts against you.
Arnold & Itkin levels the playing field. Our UPS truck accident lawyers give our clients their own team of experts and investigators, strengthening their claim while fighting for every penny that the trucking company owes them. Past and future medical costs, lost wages, loss of earning ability for the future—with our guidance, our clients have claimed all this and more, allowing them to secure billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements.
Let us help you. Speak with us to review your options with a lawyer for free—we cover the cost of filing the claim, and our clients pay nothing unless they win. Call (888) 493-1629!
