Study: Long Haul Truck Collisions Peak in July

A study by San Diego, Calif.-based DriveCam Inc. shows that collisions and near collisions involving long haul trucks peak in July and remain high through the month of November.

Using its database of more than 18 million driving events from 2 billion driving miles, DriveCam studied the distribution of collisions and near collisions identified in 2009 by month, day and year. It specifically compared commercial long haul trucking fleets to an aggregation of commercial fleets in various other industries, such as construction, distribution, energy, waste, telecommunications, local distribution and transit.

Collisions and near collisions in long haul trucking are very low from January to June – between 1 percent and 5 percent.Beginning in July, the collision/near collision rate spikes – and actually peaks at 18 percent – remaining above 14 percent through November. The collision/near collision rate in the long haul trucking industry is, on average, more than 5 percent higher than other industries from June to November.

Collisions/near collisions peak on Tuesdays by 21 percent and Fridays by 20 percent in long haul trucking. The long haul trucking collision/near collision rate is slightly lower than other industries on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as on Saturday and Sunday.

Collisions/near collision rate in long haul trucking remains below 4 percent from 11 p.m. until 9 a.m. Beginning at 9 a.m., the collision rate begins to climb with a small dip between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. before increasing sharply. The collision/near collision rate peaks between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. at 9 percent, takes a sharp nosedive and then rises to 6.5 percent between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. before starting a decline below 4 percent.

In an earlier study, DriveCam found that the driving practices of following too close and not looking far ahead are more likely to cause risky driving events than distractions in the long haul trucking industry.

Topics Auto Trucking