Lax hiring and training practices by the U.S. trucking industry have contributed to a crisis on our roads and highways.
On interstates and freeways across the country, preventable crashes, injuries and deaths involving large trucks are at or near record levels. The 5,601 fatality crashes involving large trucks reported in 2021 reflect a more than 50% increase since 2009, according to the most recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grim statistics have increased despite decades of safer vehicles, better-engineered lanes, drunken driving crackdowns and government-sponsored safe-driving campaigns.
"When the trucking industry cuts corners on safety, roadway deaths increase. It is that simple,” said trial lawyer Frank L. Branson, founder of Dallas-based Law Offices of Frank L. Branson. “Drivers are overworked and many lack experience and basic safety training. When trucking companies put inexperienced and unqualified drivers on the road, you get what you asked for. It is a real recipe for disaster, and the transportation industry bears responsibility for allowing it to happen.”
We hold negligent trucking companies accountable when they hurt our clients."
Branson, who founded the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, has been representing victims in serious truck wrecks—exposing dangerous practices by trucking companies—since the 1980s when he began a streak of record-setting jury verdicts and settlements. His work has raised awareness about truck safety and helped numerous victims and their families earn compensation for their injuries and loss. Too often, these tragedies are linked to fatigue, lack of training and inadequate supervision. In addition, investigations routinely find drug and alcohol abuse by drivers that could have been caught by proper background checks and screening during the hiring process and required DOT (Department of Transportation) drug and alcohol testing.
“Thanks to lax legislative oversight and a powerful lobby, many of these companies see no incentive in investing in safety. Preventable deaths and serious injuries have become a cost of doing business for them,” Branson said. “This is occurring because of the trucking industry is putting profit over safety, pure and simple.”
“There’s no excuse for ignoring safety when 40-ton 18-wheelers are sharing the roads with motorists,” Branson said. “Transportation companies place safety last because they understand that government regulation and oversight is largely toothless.”
In 2023, motorists are more vulnerable than ever and must exercise caution and be aware of the limitations of large commercial trucks and their drivers. And, says Branson, “When negligent or unsafe truck companies and their drivers hurt my clients, we stand up for them and hold bad truckers accountable.”
