Large Truck Accidents According to Truck Configuration

By: Carissa Bisnar

Large truck accidents are a major safety concern among our nation's motorists. There are numerous types and configurations of large trucks, each with differing accident, injury and fatality numbers. Due to the size disparity between commercial trucks and passenger vehicles any collision involving a large truck is expected to result in serious, and often fatal, injuries.

Every year, nearly 500,000 large trucks are involved in traffic accidents in the United States. Large trucks represent over 8 percent of all motor vehicles involved in fatal accidents and over 3 percent of all motor vehicles involved in injury accidents. The following represents the 2005 national large truck accident involvement according to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).

There were 423,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks.
There were 5,212 fatalities in crashes involving large trucks.
There were 114,000 injuries in crashes involving large trucks.
There were 4,932 large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
There were 82,000 large trucks involved in injury crashes.
There were 139,810 large trucks involved in non-fatal crashes.

Large trucks are also referred to as big-rigs, 18-wheelers, semis, doubles, tractor-trailers, etc. A large truck is any vehicle used to transport large amounts of commercial goods with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or more. There are numerous types and configurations; however the Department of Transportation (DOT) classifies all large trucks into two main categories - (1) single-unit trucks and (2) combination-unit trucks.

A single-unit truck is defined as a truck in which the engine, cab, drive train, and cargo area are all on one chassis. Single-unit trucks vary by their number of axles and tires.

Single-Unit Trucks

4-Axle Single-Unit
3-Axle Single-Unit

A combination-unit truck is defined as a truck tractor pulling any number of trailers (including a "bobtail") or a straight truck pulling at least one trailer. It is a truck configuration is which a separate power unit is combined with a trailer. There are numerous types and arrangements of combination trucks.

Conventional Combination Vehicles

5-Axle Tractor Semi-Trailer
6-Axle Tractor Semi-Trailer

Singles are defined as a truck tractor pulling a single semi-trailer.
A "bobtail" is a tractor that is being driven without a trailer attached.
The 5-axle tractor semi-trailer is the most used combination truck. It has a common maximum weight of 80,000 - 90,000 pounds.
Large trucks with 6 or more axles are used to haul heavier goods. They have a common maximum weight of 80,000 - 100,000 pounds.

Longer Combination Vehicles (LCVs)

Rocky Mountain Double
Turnpike Double
8-Axle B-Train Double Trailer Combination
Triple Trailer Combination

A Double-trailer combination consists of a truck tractor pulling two trailers.

A Rocky Mountain Double usually consists of a tractor pulling a full size semi-trailer (48-feet in length) plus a smaller trailer (28-feet in length). It has a common maximum weight of 105,500 - 129,000 pounds.
A Turnpike Double usually consists of a tractor pulling two 48-foot trailers. It has a common maximum weight of 105,500 - 147,000 pounds.
A B-Train Double consists of a tractor pulling two trailers linked together by a fifth wheel. It has a common maximum weight of 105,500 - 137,800 pounds.

A Triple Trailer combination consists of a truck tractor pulling three 28-foot trailers. It has a common maximum weight of 90,000 - 129,000 pounds.

There were 43,443 traffic accident fatalities and 2.7 million traffic accident injuries in the United States in 2005. Of all the people killed and injured in those traffic accidents, 12 percent died and 4 percent were injured in accidents involving a large truck. The following represents the 2005 national large truck accident involvement for single-unit and combination-unit large trucks according to DOT.

Single-Unit Crashes:

There were 1,233 fatal crashes involving single-unit trucks.
There were 1,264 single-unit trucks involved in fatal crashes.
There were 1,381 fatalities in crashes involving single-unit trucks.
There were 32,000 injury crashes involving single-unit trucks.
There were 34,000 single-unit trucks involved in injury crashes.
There were 49,000 injuries in crashes involving single-unit trucks.

Combination-Unit Crashes:

There were 3,378 fatal crashes involving combination-unit trucks.
There were 3,655 combination-unit trucks involved in fatal crashes.
There were 3,920 fatalities in crashes involving combination-unit trucks.
There were 43,000 injury crashes involving combination-unit trucks.
There were 46,000 combination-unit trucks involved in injury crashes.
There were 63,000 injuries in crashes involving combination-unit trucks.

According to DOT, in 2005, Single combination-unit trucks accounted for over 62 percent of all large trucks involved in fatal accidents, Double combination-unit trucks accounted for over 3 percent of all large trucks involved in fatal accidents, and Triple combination-unit trucks accounted for less than 1 percent of all large trucks involved in fatal accidents. The following represents the 2005 national large truck accident involvement by large truck configuration.

Single-unit, 2-Axle

Involved in 619 fatal crashes, which is 12.6% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 9,330 injury crashes, which is 15.3% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Single-unit, 3- or more Axle

Involved in 611 fatal crashes, which is 12.4% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 8,485 injury crashes, which is 13.9% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Single-Unit, Axles Unknown

Involved in 139 fatal crashes, which is 2.8% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.

Truck Tractor (Bobtail)

Involved in 89 fatal crashes, which is 1.8% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 1,949 injury crashes, which is 3.2% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Single (truck tractor pulling single semi-trailer)

Involved in 3,077 fatal crashes, which is 62.4% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 27,587 injury crashes, which is 45.4% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Double (truck tractor pulling two trailers)

Involved in 168 fatal crashes, which is 3.4% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 1,341 injury crashes, which is 2.2% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Triple (truck tractor pulling three trailers)

Involved in 3 fatal crashes, which is 0.1% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Involved in 55 injury crashes, which is 0.1% of all large trucks involved in injury crashes.

Large truck accidents are some of the most dangerous and deadly accidents. In 2005, one out of every eight traffic fatalities involved a large truck. Large trucks can weigh more than 40 times the weight of a passenger vehicle and are likely to result in serious injury or death. Given the size and weight of large trucks, a serious safety threat is posed to the occupants in surrounding passenger vehicles, as well as, to the occupants in the large trucks.

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