Jan 22, 2010 10:04 AM

The trucking industry is safer than ever, according to truck Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) figures released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and previously released National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) data on crashes.

The truck-involved fatality rate in 2008 declined 12.3% to 1.86 per 100 million miles from 2.12 per 100 million miles in 2007. This decline marks the largest year-to-year drop ever and the fifth consecutive year the fatality rate has improved.

“These latest figures underscore the trucking industry’s tremendous commitment to safety,” said Bill Graves, president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations (ATA). “We continue to improve our safety performance while operating under the hours-of-service (HOS) rules.”

Since new HOS regulations took effect in 2005, the truck-involved fatality rate has come down more than 20% and is at its lowest since the US Department of Transportation began keeping those records in 1975. The fatality rate has declined more than 66% since 1975.

The total of people injured in large-truck crashes went from 44.4 per 100 million miles to 39.6--an 11% reduction. Injury rates are based on FHWA figures that report VMT by truck increased in 2008 to 227.45 billion miles from 227.06 billion in 2007. During that time, NHTSA reports that the actual number of truck-involved injuries fell to 90,000 from 101,000.

Data on truck-involved fatal crashes can be found by accessing www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811172.pdf. To view ATA’s safety agenda, visit www.truckline.com/safety.