The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released a report on workplace deaths in 2018 and ranked the industries with the highest fatality rates. Residents of New York should know that the truck transportation industry came at the top with a rate of 28 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers.
This was followed by the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry (23.4) and the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction fields (14.1). Construction came in fourth with 9.5 deaths per 100,000 FTE workers. Of course, high fatality rates do not mean high numbers of fatalities because some industries have a smaller workforce.
The importance of the trucking industry
Around 1.5 million people work in the truck transportation industry. Then there are 3.6 million who are sales workers and truck drivers. While they compose 2.3% of the entire workforce, the industry makes up 18.4% of all worker fatalities. About half of these 3.6 million drive tractor-trailers. These drivers are essential to the economy, and nothing will supplant trucking any time soon as the primary way to transport goods.
The trucking industry is fraught with dangers, though, with drivers working long and sometimes unusual hours and becoming drowsy as a result. Many truck drivers are old, too, and the industry has no mandatory retirement age. Dangerous roads and the lax enforcement of traffic laws may also be contributing to the trend.
Legal assistance for truck crash victims
Perhaps you suffered workplace injuries on the highway as a long-haul trucker or as a driver out on a simple errand across town. Whatever the situation, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if you can show that the injuries were indeed work-related. You don’t need to prove that anyone’s negligence caused them. Nevertheless, you may want a lawyer on your side in case the claim is denied.
