Unsafe Trucks on Our Highways

Most Americans are unaware that approximately 16.1 million large trucks were registered in the United States in 2024. Safety violations involving these vehicles can include allowing unqualified or untrained drivers behind the wheel, failing to maintain tires and brakes, overloading trucks, and pressuring drivers to exceed speed limits and maximum driving hours.

While the issues of large truck and 18 wheeler safety violations may go unnoticed, the effects of these violations can be deadly. Large trucks accounted for approximately 5% of registered vehicles in 2024. Crashes involving large trucks killed 5,340 people and injured an estimated 161,201 that year. The injury estimate includes injuries of all severities, not exclusively serious injuries. These figures cover commercial and noncommercial trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, excluding buses and motor homes. They do not establish that truck drivers or safety violations caused every crash. Truck accidents occur for a variety of reasons, but many are preventable. NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts: 2024 Large Trucks

Motor carrier safety information is available through FMCSA's public systems. A conditional safety rating means a company lacks adequate safety management controls, creating the potential for violations of the safety fitness standard. An unsatisfactory rating means inadequate controls have resulted in violations of that standard. A conditional rating does not automatically prohibit operations; a final unsatisfactory rating generally prohibits interstate commercial motor vehicle operations. A company's safety rating should not be confused with individual inspection violations or an out-of-service order. FMCSA Safety Measurement System Help Center

In May 2026, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducted its International Roadcheck inspection initiative across North America. Inspectors completed 54,575 commercial motor vehicle and driver inspections. The reported vehicle out-of-service rate was 19%, while the driver out-of-service rate was 5.8%. These percentages describe the inspections conducted during the event, not all trucks or drivers on the road. CVSA International Roadcheck Results

Cutting corners on safety can result in enforcement action and put road users at risk. Inspection-event results do not establish how likely every violation is to be detected or what percentage of all trucking companies operate unsafely. Trucks are vital to the U.S. economy, hauling freight throughout the United States. Trucking companies face operating costs and competitive pressures, but those pressures do not excuse violations of safety requirements.

Since trucks are far larger and heavier than cars, they generally take longer to stop and can cause substantial damage in collisions. It's important that our reliance on trucks, and the trucking industry's efforts to keep its costs down, do not override the need to maintain the highest possible safety standards. There are safety problems in the trucking industry, and the public needs to know the true state of truck safety. Much needs to be done to make our highways as safe as possible.

Truck accidents can result from trucking companies violating safety standards to cut corners and maximize profits. Safety violations can occur in both small and large fleets operating tractor-trailers, cargo tank trucks, and other commercial vehicles. Passenger carriers, such as motor coach and school bus operators, are separate categories and should not be counted as trucking companies without explaining the distinction.