Large-truck fatalities fell 13.7% in 2025 as scrutiny rises

By Amara Osei

Large trucks were involved in 150,800 crashes, 72,936 injuries and 4,330 fatalities in 2025. Fatalities fell 13.7% year over year, while crashes declined 5% and injuries 3%.

FleetOwner’s annual “Trucking By the Numbers” safety section draws on FMCSA, NHTSA, Samsara, ATRI, Linxup and the National Security Council. The lower fatality rate gives shippers and forwarders a better road-risk baseline, but 150,800 crashes remain a substantial operating fact. Fatality is down; the inspection ledger is less convinced.

FMCSA continued updating its 2025 crash estimates after FleetOwner’s October print issue mailed. The agency then estimated 786 fewer crashes, 203 fewer injuries and 39 fewer fatalities than the figures available at mailing. Year over year, large trucks also logged 5% fewer crashes and 3% fewer injuries.

The downward trend appears to have continued into 2026, although the latest evidence remains estimated. Overall motor-vehicle deaths were nearly 10% below both 2025 and 2024, according to National Security Council Injury Facts estimates through August 2026. The council also counted nearly 10% fewer fatal accidents even though miles traveled fell only about 1%.

The source views that trajectory as evidence that improving safety is likely to continue through 2026.

The geography of fatal crashes

NHTSA’s Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool recorded 920 large-truck occupants killed in 2024, the latest year available in that database. Those occupants represented 18% of all fatalities involving large trucks under FMCSA’s broader 2024 count.

NHTSA’s 2024 Traffic Safety Facts placed 55% of fatal large-truck crashes on rural roads. Another 70% occurred on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 5:59 p.m., while only 25% happened on interstates.

Rain appeared in 6.5% of fatal truck crashes. For comparison, rain falls over the average U.S. land area about 8% of the time, a comparison that leaves weather a modest factor in this dataset.

Risk sits with a small group

Samsara’s 2026 Compounding Risk Report found that the highest-risk 10% of drivers accounted for 47% of crashes, while the top 30% accounted for 76%. The associated behaviors were harsh braking, mobile-phone use, distraction, speeding and rolling stops.

For carriers, that concentration offers a stronger case for targeting coaching and incentives at high-risk drivers than for spreading effort evenly. It also makes Samsara’s risk rankings useful for fleet reviews focused on the few drivers carrying a disproportionate share of crash exposure.

The American Transportation Research Institute’s 2026 report, “Trucking’s Use of Telematics Data to Improve Performance,” surveyed 111 motor carriers. Respondents tracked hard-braking events most often, at 92.8%, followed by speeding at 91.0%.

Carriers ranked driver-distraction metrics third in importance, yet actual use placed distraction closer to 10th. That gap suggests fleets collect plenty of safety data without always acting on the most highly valued signals.

Linxup’s 2026 Fleet Safety Survey of 267 commercial fleet drivers found that 82% believed tying pay or bonuses to safety scores would motivate them to improve. Some 77.2% said the benefits of safety technology outweighed privacy concerns, and nearly 44% said dashcams or GPS data helped someone they know in an accident dispute.

What does this change for shippers and forwarders?

The lower fatality rate improves the road-risk baseline, but it does not remove the need to examine carrier safety performance. Shippers and forwarders should expect 2026 scrutiny to remain concentrated on brakes, tires, medical certificates, lighting and hours of service, because those categories dominate federal out-of-service findings.

For carriers, the practical response is targeted coaching, audit-ready inspection records and safety incentives that drivers say they understand. A general safety slogan, as usual, carries less weight.

Enforcement keeps a busy ledger

FMCSA’s January-to-September 2026 inspection data ranked these out-of-service categories first:

• Brakes: 135,875
• Tires: 128,577
• Medical certificates: 64,133
• Lighting: 57,430
• Hours of service: 57,157

Brakes and tires therefore remain the clearest inspection exposure for fleets. Medical certificates, lighting and hours of service form a second tier, each exceeding 57,000 findings and adding a substantial driver-compliance layer.

FMCSA recorded about 48,004 out-of-service violations tied to English proficiency under rule 391.11B since a mid-2025 crackdown. Personnel logged 22,200 in 2025 and 25,804 in 2026 so far.

The series only includes violation descriptions mentioning “English,” so it measures a specific enforcement category rather than every language-related action.

Clearinghouse results

FMCSA’s October 2026 Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse report recorded 58,117 violations in 2025, down 8.5% from 2024, and 46,083 in 2026 so far. Since counting began in 2020, the Clearinghouse has found 411,747 drug violations and 10,574 alcohol violations.

About 15% of total Clearinghouse violations occurred because a driver refused to test. Operationally, that puts test scheduling, refusal handling and documentation among carriers’ continuing compliance tasks.

Among drivers who took a test and failed in 2025, the substance mix was:

• Marijuana: 66%
• Cocaine: 18%
• Methamphetamine: 8%
• Amphetamine: 7%
• Other substances: 1%

Marijuana had the longest detection window among the listed drugs, remaining detectable in urinalysis for one to 45 days. Cocaine remained detectable for only one to two days.

FleetOwner’s broader annual series also covers industry scale and health, combustion-fuel costs, and for-hire versus private fleets and drivers. A section on technology, equipment and tariffs is listed as coming soon.

The death rate improved. The enforcement queue did not. Going forward, the data point to continued safety gains alongside sustained policy pressure on vehicle condition, English proficiency and substance testing, rather than a relaxation in oversight.