Truck drivers among the deadliest occupations in the U.S.

The 2023 workplace fatality report shows truck drivers and other transportation workers are among the leading groups with the highest number of deaths.

Truck driving is one of the professions that presents the most dangers for workers in the United States. According to the latest report from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck drivers and other transportation workers are among the leading groups with the highest number of deaths compared to private-sector employees.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics report breaks down the number of fatalities in the workplace for the year 2023. The data reveals that a total of 1,495 transportation and material handling workers tragically lost their lives in workplace accidents. Although this figure remains high, it represents a 12% decrease compared to the fatalities reported in 2022.

The report also shows that the vast majority of these deaths were the result of transportation incidents. Only 7% of the fatalities related to contact accidents and 6% caused by exposure to harmful substances or environments. In terms of occupational breakdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that truck drivers had the highest number of deaths recorded in any specific occupation.

Truck driver mortality rate ranks seventh

Within the statistics, it is noted that drivers and sales workers, as well as truck drivers, were the civilian occupations with the most fatalities in the workplace, with nearly 1,000 deaths in total. Furthermore, for every 100,000 full-time workers, the mortality rate for truck drivers was 26.8%, placing them in seventh place on a list led by forestry, fishing, and hunting workers, as well as roofers.

In general, transportation and material handling workers were the occupational group with the highest number of fatalities in the workplace. Also recording the second-highest mortality rate at 13.6% per 100,000 workers, surpassed only by agriculture, fishing, and forestry workers at 24.4%. By sector, the transportation and warehousing sector reported 930 deaths, a 12% decrease from 2022, while the construction sector had 1,075 fatalities, the highest number in the private sector.

Transportation incidents were responsible for more than a third of all workplace fatalities, with 72% of fatal accidents occurring in the transportation and warehousing sector. The majority of these tragic events were road collisions, with a particularly high incidence on highways and interstates.

Finally, the report details that in 2023, a fatal workplace accident occurred every 99 minutes, emphasizing the severity and frequency of these tragic events. However, despite these alarming figures, it is concluded that fatalities from workplace accidents in the private sector decreased slightly by 4% compared to the previous year, totaling nearly 5,300 fatalities.