Fontana: Why doubling fleet safety efforts matters for drivers and companies

All of us in the trucking industry are well aware of the rising monetary awards juries have been awarding plaintiffs when there is an accident involving a large truck. The term nuclear verdict—where plaintiffs are awarded more than $10 million in damages—is one we hear all too often.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) recently issued a report, Trucking Litigation: A Forensic Analysis, which examines the scope of tort litigation in the trucking industry. The report identifies several factors contributing to larger monetary awards. One of the factors cited as a reason for higher awards was negligence, including improper hiring and onboarding. It also found that three types of alleged negligence—improper turn, improper merge, and failure to yield—had a correlation to higher awards. The report also cited factors like jury bias as a reason for high monetary payouts.

I spent some time thinking about these findings. I see two paths that the trucking industry needs to take, so I am going to return to two of my favorite themes—trucking’s image and safety.

I think there are ways we can work on both of those issues. It is up to those of us in the trucking industry to teach the general public about what a viable and valuable industry trucking is. According to the American Trucking Associations’ 2025 American Trucking Trends, ”trucking employed 8.4 million people in industry-related jobs, including 3.58 million professional drivers in 2024.” The trucking industry also moved 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024.

Our industry is a great place to work, and it plays a vital role in the U.S. economy. When was the last time you talked to someone outside the trucking industry about what a great industry this is? I am going to challenge myself and all of you to make that one of your New Year’s resolutions.

The other issue is safety, and I have written about that quite extensively in this space. Having safe drivers begins with the recruiting and hiring process. We all know how tough it can be to find drivers, but it is crucial not to lower our standards or overlook red flags just to fill a seat. The job interview is a great place to emphasize your fleet’s commitment to safety.

The next chance we have to impact safe driving is during the onboarding process. This is the time to go over in detail your expectations of what being a safe driver means to your fleet. It is also the time to discuss the investments you have made in safety-related components and equipment for your vehicles.

A word of advice here: Don’t assume a driver knows how a safety system works. Even if someone has been driving for 20 years, if they are new to your fleet, make sure that someone demonstrates the correct ways to use the various safety equipment on the vehicles. In addition, remind drivers that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) do not take the place of safe driving practices. ADAS—as the name says—is there to assist drivers in being safe; it does not replace the driver.

Onboarding should not be the last time you talk to drivers about safety. Safety is a message that needs to be reinforced regularly. As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as talking too much about safety. Make sure safety is talked about in driver meetings and in company-wide communications.

All of us in the trucking industry need to double our efforts to make more people aware of the important role trucking plays in all our lives and of the many things fleets are doing to make safety their number one priority.