We All Enjoy the Privilege of Rapid Online Deliveries – But There’s a Significant Road Accident Cost to Our Shopping Habits
Online shopping has evolved over recent years, and it’s now possible to order an item and have it delivered the next (sometimes even the same) day.
Yet, while you may have to pay a fee for this rapid-fire service, motorists also have to pay by suffering much busier roads – with delivery trucks not only clogging up the freeways but causing a high proportion of accidents.
As part of our study, we look at the number of large- and semi-delivery trucks on the roads, the cost in terms of accidents and driver conditions, and the kinds of measures that might be taken to lessen delivery-drive issues for motorists and drivers.
More Deliveries Means More Driver Fatigue and Truck Accidents
According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) study data, just over 2.9 million semi trucks registered in the United States cover 184 billion miles of U.S. road every year.
In 2023 large and semi-trucks were involved in 159,967 road accidents. Those accidents caused 153,452 injuries and 5,472 fatalities. There are numerous reasons behind the accidents, injuries, and fatalities. They include:
Driver Mistakes
Drivers are human beings: they make mistakes when they’re tired and stressed or under duress to fulfill a lot of deliveries in a narrow timeframe.
Under such circumstances, they may commit speeding offenses, perform illegal maneuvers, go to the wrong locations due to an unfamiliarity with an area, and fail to properly observe the road – all among the main causes of trucking accidents.
Vehicle Issues
Serious truck problems can lead to serious truck accidents. Truck crashes often occur due to braking and tire problems, insufficiently secured cargo, engine blowouts, and numerous other calamitous vehicle malfunctions.
Substance Abuse
Drivers using drugs while driving is a major concern in the trucking industry – as study statistics will show.
Environmental Factors
Though less prominent than other issues, weather conditions, roadway conditions, and construction issues can be significant factors.
The Online Shopping Boom – And Its Wearying Impact on Drivers
Study data shows that over 247 million Americans shopped online in 2023 (81% of the population), spending over 1.1 billion dollars in the process. Here are some key online shopping habits:
- 31% of people buy something online once a month
- 24% do so every two weeks
- 20% do so once a week.
While this is great for the consumer, the rise in online shopping and deliveries also represents longer hours on the road for delivery drivers, who are increasingly fatigued, stressed and unfocused – and therefore much more likely to crash their delivery vehicle.
Study data also confirms that such huge delivery numbers mean more trucks navigating city traffic – an environment in which, statistically, more accidents are likely. As e-commerce numbers continue to grow, the pressure to meet increasingly demanding delivery windows will only exacerbate the number of preventable crashes on our roads.
Analysis of Yaguara.co data reveals the scale of modern-day online shopping, which has exponentially expanded in just a few short years.
U.S. shoppers spent $1.243 trillion online in 2023 – a 12.3% increase on 2022 figures, with the number of online shoppers increasing by 1.91% over the same period, and further increases projected for 2025 (1.7%) and 2026 (1.68%). Here are the top five online retailers – the biggest beneficiaries of the online shopping boom.
Selling items is one part of the equation, and delivering them is another. The top five truck/cargo companies in terms of deliveries are:
- Amazon
- Walmart
- FedEx
- UPS
- Old Dominion
But how do those companies – and their drivers – deal with the enormity of delivery demands?
The Cargo Companies That Crash (And Commit Other Violations) Most
In 2023 alone, there were 5,795 truck crashes tied to major delivery fleets with many resulting in injuries and fatalities. Behind every parcel delivery is a complex combination of factors, including tight deadlines, driver fatigue, and overloaded routes.
As the popularity of online shopping continues to soar, it’s important to consider the knock-on permutations of such expansion: namely, thousands of crashes involving delivery giants like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx.
As study data confirms, the addition of same-day shipping to online delivery services has transformed consumer expectations—and wrought havoc on urban infrastructure.
City freeways now routinely feature incessant cavalcades of delivery vans and trucks; the same vehicles clog narrow streets, block bike lanes, and double-park across already congested areas. Such a high-volume, high-speed logistics model allows little room for error, and pushes drivers to cut corners, increasing the risk of accidents, delays, and road rage.
Traffic systems originally designed for commuters, public transit, and minimal freight are now overwhelmed by freight companies battling out a frenetic race to fulfill consumer deadlines
The number of crashes and other driving violations committed by each delivery company is a useful measure of its capabilities and capacities. Study data suggests that most trucking/cargo companies seem stretched beyond their limits – with inevitably negative results.
UPS
UPS leads emphatically across most violations, suggesting overreach and significant problems dealing with demand and compliance – and a highly compromised service featuring pressurized, weary drivers.
During 2023, UPS drivers were involved in the highest number of crashes (2,483), hours of service violations (947 hours), and vehicle maintenance violations (5,328), and were second behind Amazon on drug and alcohol violations (12).
FedEx
FedEx delivery vehicles crashed 1,583 times over 2023, committed 498 hours of service violations and 4,218 vehicle maintenance violations, with the company’s drivers guilty on 13 occasions of drug or alcohol violations.
These statistics put the company in second place for crashes and violations – and signal a gulf between order numbers and the ability to consistently and safely fulfill those orders.
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart delivery vehicles crashed 753 times; the company was also responsible for 910 vehicle maintenance violations. FedEx and Walmart’s number of maintenance violations across their truck fleets raises serious questions about how well these corporate giants prioritize vehicle safety.
As analysis of study data confirms, a vehicle maintenance violation can be anything from faulty brakes to worn-out tires and broken lights – serious red flag issues that can easily cause road fatalities.
With both companies rapidly moving millions of packages across the country’s roads every day, cutting corners on vehicle safety is extremely dangerous. With large fleets, a small percentage of neglected vehicles can create a significant amount of road carnage.
Despite those issues, Wal-Mart showed far better on keeping their staff rested and maintaining discipline, with only 209 hours of service violations and four drug and alcohol offenses.
Amazon
At first glance, Amazon seems to have a comparatively impressive record, particularly in light of its sales numbers, with just 337 crashes, a measly 14 hours of service violations, and only 541 vehicle maintenance violations.
But its drug and alcohol record (17 violations) is the highest of all companies. This statistical anomaly suggests a potentially serious company issue – and an enormous safety hazard: every drug and alcohol delivery driver violation represents a potential crash pile-up with multiple fatalities.
Add to this the fact that Amazon outsources a lot of its deliveries to third-party vendors, and the statistics may not be accurately representative.
Old Dominion
Old Dominion statistics put it in the top two safest companies overall, with 639 crashes, 121 hours of service violations, and 1,072 vehicle maintenance violations. Significantly, Its record of no drug or alcohol problems is a key attribute that suggests zero-tolerance rules on the issue – a considerable safety statistic.
Summary
A booming online shopping demand has put intense pressure on freight companies to move faster, deliver more often, and cover more ground than ever before.
As consumer expectations for same-day and next-day delivery grow, companies like UPS and FedEx are suffering more crashes and safety violations, putting drivers and everyone else on the road at unnecessary risk. To summarize, e-commerce demand seems to be straining operational safety systems beyond safe limits and significantly affecting many traffic epicenters.
Best and Worst States for Truck Crashes
There are huge discrepancies between the best and worst states for truck crashes, and the statistics are more complex than they may initially appear. When it comes to truck crashes, geography is a key differential.
In urban areas featuring tight streets, bumper-to-bumper traffic, frequent stops, and other constant distractions of multiple kinds, sideswipes, rear-ends, and intersection collisions are chief hazards.
Alternatively, rural highways feature their specific dangers – long stretches of road, higher speed limits, limited lighting, and fewer hospitals and rest stops.
In such an environment, fatigue and delayed emergency response times can turn a single-vehicle crash into a deadly incident. So, not all truck crashes are created equal, and location can be the difference between a relatively innocuous and a highly significant accident.
Here are the top ten truck trouble states.
The above states feature some of the busiest interstates and shipping corridors in the country (think I-95, I-10, I-80, and I-5). With millions of cars and commercial vehicles on these roads every day, such congestion dramatically increases the likelihood of a truck crash.
Study data tells us that cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston are key freight and logistics hubs that see higher-than-average truck activity. This means more exposure to risks like fatigue, tight delivery deadlines, and mechanical wear.
Many of these states also struggle with aging roads, narrow lanes, poor lighting, and pothole-ridden highways – all of which are especially dangerous for 18-wheelers. (A quick lane change or swerve on a road in dire need of repair can be catastrophic for a rig.)
At the other end of the accident scale, the likes of Hawaii, Alaska, and South Dakota (with by far the best road accident record) are comparatively uneventful when it comes to trucking accidents. Here are the ten states that feature the least trucking accidents.
So, although California, Florida, and Georgia are the main U.S. hotspots for truck crashes, with states like Alaska, Vermont, and South Dakota bringing up the rear, the differentials are about more than just population size. The rankings are also a reflection of the logistics burden placed on high-shipping states.
With online retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Temu racking up hundreds of millions (billions in Amazon’s case) of monthly visits, states with major transport and distribution hubs and dense, popular delivery routes accommodate more truck traffic and, as a result, suffer more crashes. Whereas, lower-population states with fewer fulfillment centers and less last-mile delivery demand appear way down the truck accident list.
As the demand for deliveries via online shopping continues to rise, accident patterns suggest a growing link between America’s click-and-buy culture and the subsequent strain suffered by delivery drivers in key regions.
In some senses, it’s a simple equation: increased online shopping via the likes of Amazon, Walmart, and Temu results in concomitant demand on America’s trucking infrastructure.
As study data has revealed, states featuring major distribution hubs, such as California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, bear the brunt, and consistently rank among the highest for truck-related crashes and overall motor vehicle fatalities.
Ultimately, the link between online orders and road crash rates is clear. Increasing orders means tighter delivery driver schedules with more freight on the road for longer – and more tired and accident-prone delivery drivers.
And as online shopping growth shows no signs of slowing down, freight companies will need to do much better at looking after their delivery vehicles – and their drivers – to avoid similar growth in truck crash numbers.
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, John Foy & Associates are here to help. Get in touch today for further details.
