These Are America’s Most Dangerous Trucking Companies… and Some are Right Here in Michigan!

You know those monstrous tractor-trailers and tour buses you see roaring down Michigan’s highways on a daily basis? Cargo vans, dump trucks, and box trucks are also among the enormous vehicles that are frequently involved in crashes with much smaller passenger cars and SUVs across the Great Lakes State. Weighing 20-30 times more than typical passenger cars, speeding semis can result in some truly devastating collisions. And accidents involving trucks and buses happen multiple times daily, everywhere across Michigan.

Consider that in 2022 (the latest year for which statistics are available from the state’s Office of Highway Safety Planning), there were a whopping 15,802 accidents involving trucks and buses statewide. In addition, cargo vans accounted for 6,684 crashes that year, and dump trucks were involved in 1,144 collisions. The previous year, the Institute for Safer Trucking reported 5,788 truck-accident-related deaths nationwide, 111 of which took place in Michigan. Of those Michigan truck-related fatalities in 2021, 20 victims were truck drivers or passengers, while 82 were drivers or passengers in other vehicles, and the remainder were pedestrians or bicyclists. (For reference, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 1,136 total traffic deaths statewide in 2021, meaning nearly 10 percent of Michigan highway fatalities that year involved truck accidents.)

Those may sound like huge numbers, but you might be surprised to hear that Michigan is actually considered the safest state of all in America when it comes to truck accidents. As CBS News recently reported, trucks are involved in relatively few fatal accidents in Michigan compared to other states. For example, in Wyoming, the state with the highest incidence of truck-related fatalities, the number is nearly 19 percent!

Nevertheless, if you’re one of the many unfortunate Michiganders who are seriously injured in a collision with a semi-truck, bus, delivery van, gravel hauler, or other massive vehicle, you might want to know if the company operating it is one of the nation’s most dangerous trucking firms. To look up a specific company’s crash statistics, you can visit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website and use a search tool appropriately called SAFER (an acronym for Safety and Fitness Electronic Records). It permits you to enter the trucking company’s name to see, among other important details, its corporate information on file with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its reported crash data over the past two years.

Browse Safety Information on Michigan’s Biggest Package Delivery Services

For example, the FMCSA’s SAFER system reports that United Parcel Service employs 128,306 drivers nationally (nearly 6,000 in Michigan) who operate the company’s fleet of 112,386 dark brown delivery vehicles. In 2022, those vehicles drove nearly 3.5 million miles altogether. Over the past 24 months UPS trucks were involved in 2,694 crashes nationwide, resulting in 70 fatalities and 909 injuries.

Another familiar delivery firm, Fedex, has 42,218 drivers on its payroll, and operates 32,897 vehicles that clocked over 1 million miles in 2022. During the past 24 months, SAFER reports the firm’s trucks have been involved in 350 accidents, which resulted in nine fatalities (including this one near Kalamazoo) and 125 injuries.

Here’s How Prominent Michigan Trucking and Logistics Companies Rate for Accidents, According to SAFER

In addition to UPS and Fedex, Glassdoor, a firm that helps match prospective employees with companies based on current workers’ opinions and other insights, lists some of the top trucking and logistics companies in Michigan. When we checked several of those trucking companies’ ratings on the SAFER system, this is what we found:

Ryder Truck Rental’s vehicles traveled a total of over 1 billion miles in 2022, with a total of 766 accidents reported in the past 24 months – 12 of which resulted in fatalities, and 253 in injuries.

DHL Supply Chain, another prominent name on the Glassdoor list, reported 62 million miles traveled during that same year, logged by its fleet of 872 trucks. The firm had 65 crashes over the past 24 months resulting in just a single fatality and 17 injuries, including this Michigan incident.

Fastenal, a company headquartered in Minnesota but with a large Michigan presence mentioned by Glassdoor, has 933 drivers who collectively drove more than 43 million miles in 2022. Its trucks were reportedly involved in 36 crashes over the last 24 months, without a single fatality and only eight injuries.

XPO Logistics Freight, based in Ann Arbor, has 12,806 drivers responsible for a fleet of 8,896 trucks. The company’s vehicles covered nearly 687 million miles in 2023. In 710 crashes over the past two years, XPO trucks were linked to 19 deaths and 178 injuries.

Another prominent company on the Glassdoor Michigan trucking and logistics list is Penske Truck Leasing, which has its corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania. It employs 17,199 drivers who traveled nearly 23 million miles in 2023 according to SAFER. In 386 reported crashes through the past 24 months, there were 10 deaths (including this one in Warren) and 119 injuries involving Penske Truck Leasing vehicles.

(It’s important to note that while trucks from these companies were involved in the accidents listed, there is no reason to automatically presume their drivers were at fault. Data from SAFER doesn’t include that level of detail.)

What Should I Do if I’m Injured in an Accident with a Truck?

As we’ve noted elsewhere on our website, there are several potentially responsible parties against whom you can consider taking legal action if you’ve been hurt in an accident that wasn’t your fault involving a semi (tractor-trailer), cargo van, delivery truck, passenger bus, or other commercial vehicle.

The truck driver might be held individually liable for your pain and suffering, especially if they were speeding or driving recklessly at the time the accident took place, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or it can be proved they had exceeded federal hours-of-service regulations.

The trucking company may also bear some responsibility for your injuries if it failed to properly maintain the truck or cargo van that was involved in the crash or hadn’t ensured its drivers were licensed and adequately trained. A legal concept called vicarious liability can often permit accident victims and their personal injury attorneys to file lawsuits which attempt to hold companies responsible for the negligent actions of their employees.

Even the corporation that manufactured the truck which was involved in a crash might be found responsible for your injuries if it’s proved that a defect or manufacturing flaw resulted in an accident where you were seriously hurt.

No-Fault Insurance Doesn’t Disqualify You from Seeking Compensation

Being involved in an accident with a truck or another large vehicle can impact your life forever. It can devastate your future, and leave you asking for answers to questions you’ve never before imagined. But remember – even though Michigan has No-Fault auto insurance, you’re still permitted to file suit under state law against the person, company, or organization responsible for your injuries if you or someone you love have experienced “serious impairment of bodily function” or “permanent serious disfigurement.” That’s also true in the event of a wrongful death caused by the negligence, irresponsibility, or bad actions of a truck driver or trucking company.

If that happens to you or a member of your family, the first step in protecting your rights and seeking the compensation you deserve for your pain and suffering, lost wages, unpaid medical bills, or other damages resulting from the accident is to call us at 855-MIKE-WINS (855-645-3946). Or if you’d rather let us know in writing, you can complete our online contact form. Either way, you can be sure that we’ll start working for you right away, and that we’ll keep on truckin’ until we win your case! And remember – it costs you nothing upfront to have our legal representation.

Content checked by Mike Morse, personal injury attorney with Mike Morse Injury Law Firm. Mike Morse is the founder of Mike Morse Law Firm, the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. Since being founded in 1995, Mike Morse Law Firm has grown to 150 employees, served 25,000 clients, and collected more than $1 billion for victims of auto, truck and motorcycle accidents. The main office is in Southfield, MI but you can also find us in Detroit, Sterling Heights and many other locations.