The rise of Amazon and online shopping has led to dramatic increases in the number of delivery trucks on Washington’s roads. Unfortunately, this surge in truck traffic, combined with the pressure truck drivers face to meet demanding delivery timetables, has also contributed to an increase in truck accidents caused by driver negligence.
Immense Pressure to Deliver Packages Quickly
Amazon Prime and other online retailers promise incredibly fast delivery timeframes, sometimes just hours after an order is placed. To meet these tight deadlines, delivery companies push their drivers to meet intense quotas and schedules. Truck drivers face pressure to drive for longer hours without adequate breaks while also speeding and cutting corners to deliver packages as fast as possible.
This pressure contributes to negligent driving behaviors like speeding, distraction, fatigue, and failure to properly inspect equipment and loads. When drivers are pressured to deliver hundreds of packages per day within short time windows, safety often gets sacrificed.
Driver Fatigue
Truck driver fatigue is a major factor in many accidents, and the demands of e-commerce delivery schedules frequently lead to excessively tired drivers. Trucking companies and drivers paid per delivery have financial incentives to work long hours with limited rest. Drowsy driving greatly impairs reaction times, attention, and decision-making. Fatigued big rig drivers who doze off even briefly can cause catastrophic accidents.
Speeding and Aggressive Driving
Speeding is ubiquitous among truck drivers paid by volume and delivery rate rather than hourly. Excessive speed exponentially increases the risks of crashes and injuries. Large trucks already take much longer distances to brake than passenger vehicles. Higher speeds make stopping even less possible when a dangerous situation occurs.
Additionally, the pressure to deliver loads rapidly leads some drivers to follow too closely, make unsafe lane changes, fail to yield the right of way, and otherwise drive aggressively around passenger vehicles. This aggressive behavior raises accident risks.
Insufficient Truck Inspections and Maintenance
Truck drivers focused on quick deliveries frequently neglect thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspections of their equipment. They may fail to detect and repair defective brakes, tires, lights, and other essential components. Skipping inspections also often means ignoring hours of service logs, falsifying records of breaks and off-duty time, and exceeding legal limitations on driving hours without rest.
High Driver Turnover
The demands placed on truck drivers lead to extremely high turnover rates. New, inexperienced drivers rushed through minimal training are more prone to errors, take longer to react, and have higher accident rates. The shortage of qualified, experienced drivers and the push to hire new drivers quickly works against road safety.
Truckers Have Minimal Accountability
Unlike passenger vehicle drivers who face penalties like insurance rate hikes after accidents, truck drivers often escape serious consequences. Trucking companies have financial incentives to keep accident-prone drivers rather than replace them in a tight employment market. The companies themselves usually see little fallout beyond higher insurance costs after crashes.
Without accountability, some truck drivers develop habits of negligent driving. They know they likely won’t lose their job or livelihoods even after causing horrific crashes. This lack of consequences facilitates the dangerous driving fueled by delivery time pressures.
What You Can Do If You Are Injured by a Negligent Truck Driver
Have you been injured in an accident caused by a truck driver who was speeding, fatigued, distracted, aggressively driving, or otherwise negligent? At Monge & Associates, our experienced Washington truck accident attorneys can help you recover damages. With 32 offices in 19 states, including Washington, Georgia, and Kansas, we assist clients nationwide who were harmed by delivery trucks driven unsafely under pressure to meet unreasonable deadlines.
Call our office for a free consultation on (888) 477-0597.