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Home » Consumer Information » Occupational Safety » Highways

Large Trucks

Large trucks are tractor-trailers, single-unit trucks, and cargo vans with a gross weight of more than 10,000 pounds. These trucks are responsible for a disproportionate amount of highway fatalities at a rate of 2.4 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a rate 50% higher than that of all other vehicles. In fact, the annual death toll from truck crashes is equivalent to twenty-six major airplane crashes.

People in passenger vehicles are especially at risk in collisions with large trucks because of the enormous difference in weight. There are more than 200,000 collisions involving passenger cars and large trucks each year in the United States. In these crashes, 98% of the fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Overweight trucks are even more dangerous as they take longer to brake, are more prone to roll over in crashes, and damage roads and bridges.

In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sets the standards for new truck equipment and has some jurisdiction over equipment standards, while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) oversees the safety of commercial vehicles in interstate commerce and regulates equipment, licensing, hours of service, vehicle inspections and maintenance.

The following are safety tips for driving near large trucks:

  • Remember that trucks have large blind spots and need additional room to turn. If you cannot see the truck operator in the vehicle's outside mirrors, then the truck driver probably can't see your vehicle.
  • At night, use low beam headlights when following large vehicles.
  • Maintain a minimum four-second following distance.
  • Remember that passing a large truck will take longer than passing a car. Maintain a constant speed when passing and make sure you can see the front of the truck cab in your rear-view mirror before pulling back into the lane in front of the truck.
  • Slow down slightly when being passed by a large truck.
  • Be very careful when driving alongside a truck pulling a trailer, as the trailer can swing into your lane.
  • Never try to squeeze into the space next to a large truck that is making a turn.
  • When traveling on multilane highways, do not position your vehicle in between two or more large vehicles, as you are then in the blind spot of both trucks.
  • If stopped behind a large truck on an incline, leave space between the truck and your vehicle in case the truck operator allows the vehicle to drift backwards slightly when it starts to move.