Contact:
Frank Moretti - Cell: (202) 262-0714
Paul Haaland, Carolyn Bonifas - TRIP Office: (202) 466-6706

INCREASED COMMERCIAL TRUCKING PROVIDES ECONOMIC BENEFITS, CREATES SAFETY AND CONGESTION CONCERNS; NEW STUDY CALLS FOR NATIONAL FREIGHT POLICY

Eds.: The report contains a new analysis of NHTSA data for all fatal traffic accidents involving large trucks from 1998-2002 (latest data available). Also included are recent and projected trends in commercial trucking and a discussion of the implications and possible solutions to accommodating the steady increase in commercial truck travel. State-by-state data for current and projected levels of trucking and truck-related fatalities are available in appendices A and B.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Traffic accidents involving large trucks kill approximately 4,500 motorists annually (excluding large truck occupants), according to a new report released today by The Road Information Program (TRIP), a national transportation nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C.

TRIP's study, "America's Rolling Warehouses: The impact of increased trucking on economic development, congestion and traffic safety," found that commercial trucking is expected to increase by 49 percent by 2020, creating a substantial impact on highway safety, traffic congestion and economic development. According to the TRIP report, the nation's current transportation network is inadequate to safely and efficiently accommodate the projected increase in U.S. freight movement unless needed improvements to the transportation system are made.

"The establishment of a national freight policy would help the country to safely and efficiently accommodate increased freight movement," said William M. Wilkins, executive director of TRIP. "At this time, Congress has the opportunity to develop a national freight policy that will boost our nation's economic health and provide for the safety of motorists when it reauthorizes the current federal surface transportation legislation," Wilkins said.

The TRIP report found that in two-vehicle accidents between a large truck and a smaller vehicle, for every large-truck occupant killed in a crash, 46 occupants of other vehicles are killed. Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina lead the nation in the number of people killed in accidents involving large trucks, excluding large truck occupants, from 1998 to 2002.

The TRIP report also found that increasing traffic congestion threatens business efficiency, as many businesses rely on logistics processes that require a high level of reliability in the timing of freight movement. Traffic delays have tripled in the nation's largest urban areas from 1982 to 2001, and while travel of large trucks increased by 102 percent from 1980 to 2002, the total lane miles of public roads in the U.S. increased by only 4 percent during that time.

Transportation officials are starting to consider a variety of solutions to accommodate the increase in trucking, including transportation improvements around ports, highway capacity expansion, truck-only lanes, improved rail transport and roadway safety improvements such as wider lanes and medians to separate oncoming traffic.

Additional findings of the study include the following:

• The long-term reauthorization of federal transportation legislation offers an opportunity for a significant increase in funding for improvements that would help safely accommodate the anticipated growth in trucking. The current bill in the U.S. House includes additional funding for freight capacity movements as well as guidance for national freight policy. The current federal transportation legislation expires on February 29, 2004.

• According to the report, the five states with the greatest volume of trucking are California, Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Among highly populated states, the largest increases in trucking by 2020 are expected in Georgia, Washington State, North Carolina, Florida and Texas.

• There were 26,065 people killed in crashes involving large trucks in the U.S. from 1998 to 2002, including 3,647 occupants of large trucks and 22,418 people who were occupants of passenger vehicles or non-motorists.

• Approximately three-quarters (77 percent) of traffic fatalities involving large trucks from 1998 to 2002 occurred on roads with two lanes. Fifteen percent occurred on roads with at least four lanes.