Trucking By the Numbers 2025: Safety and cargo theft
This is the fourth web gallery for FleetOwner's 2025 Trucking By the Numbers. Check out the full list of TBN 2025 galleries here.
According to the latest Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data, large trucks were involved in 168,118 crashes in 2024, which brought about 74,314 injuries and 4,868 fatalities.
NHTSA estimates that there were about 39,345 total fatalities from motor vehicle crashes in 2024, meaning large truck-involved fatalities accounted for about 12% of overall motor vehicle fatalities.
In 2022 and 2023, large trucks accounted for about 10% of overall vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Extending that statistic to 2024, large trucks likely accounted for only slightly more fatalities per VMT compared to overall motor vehicle activity.
Crash totals are decreasing
Comparing the number of crashes to previous years, it seems carriers have been steadily reducing the number of large truck crashes since the pandemic. From 2021 to 2024, the average change in large truck crash totals was -3%.
The rate of fatal truck crashes by VMT would tell a more appropriate story about truck safety, but the metric's most recent data was from 2023. From 2021 to 2023, fatal crashes by VMT also decreased. However, it is worth noting that the rate in 2023 (1.63) is still much higher than about a decade ago (1.34 in 2014).
Over 3 million commercial vehicle inspections
In the pursuit of safer carrier operations, FMCSA recorded over 3 million inspections in 2024, leading to 5.1 million recorded violations. State law enforcement accounted for over 97% of those inspections, with FMCSA personnel accounting for the other <3%.
This inspection volume was mostly unchanged from 2023, when FMCSA recorded 3,011,902 inspections.
The rate of violations per inspection was almost identical between 2024 and 2023 as well. In 2023, the rate of violations was 1.712, and in 2024, the rate grew ever so slightly to 1.724.
Weekday vs. weekend crashes
When the majority of crashes occur is something that changes throughout a week. According to NHTSA's 2023 data on the time of truck accidents, crashes during weekdays were most likely (70%) to occur at daytime, while crashes during weekends were most likely (64%) to occur at nighttime.
Insurance payments
Insurance costs for for-hire truckload fleets are a significant operational cost. However, looking at this table from the American Transportation Research Institute's 2024 survey data, the makeup of insurance costs varies quite a bit by fleet size alone.
The largest fleets paid the most out of pocket and the least premiums per mile. Fleets with fewer than five power units and fleets with 100-250 units tended to pay the least overall for insurance per mile.
Cargo theft remains an industry issue
The annual cost of cargo theft is a valuable but murky number. This type of theft isn't monitored or reported equally across the nation by any single authority.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau's estimate—$35 billion annually—is a common starting point. The nonprofit organization publishes frequent warnings about cargo theft.
But NICB's estimate is merely a reference to the high end of a much broader, unsourced cost estimate provided by the Department of Homeland Security: $15 billion to $35 billion.
Digging even deeper, that unsourced DHS cost estimate is likely very stale. References to the "up to $35 billion" national cost of cargo theft stretch back as far as 2020—long before the purported boom in thefts since the pandemic, not to mention inflation.
ATRI's latest report on cargo theft shared data from cargo theft protection company CargoNet, finding that theft reports exploded in 2023.
CargoNet stated that it received reports on 2,852 incidents from participating carriers in 2023. The incidents led to an average loss of $116,397, leading to roughly $332 million in stolen cargo by one company's count alone.
In 2024, the company noted 3,625 reported incidents—a 27% increase from 2023. The estimated average value per theft rose to $202,364.
CargoNet reports that the top locations where cargo theft occurs are warehouses, distribution centers, and parking spaces.
Among several organizations' measures of the top cargo theft targets, the most common stolen goods are food/beverages, electronics, and household goods.
ATRI's cargo theft report also included a heatmap of the hottest states for cargo theft.
Though data on the thefts is clearly still sparse (plenty of states here have an index score of 0), the hottest states were Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
About the Author
Jeremy Wolfe
Editor
Editor Jeremy Wolfe joined the FleetOwner team in February 2024. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with majors in English and Philosophy. He previously served as Editor for Endeavor Business Media's Water Group publications.