Delivery Truck and Van Accidents

Truck Accidents: The Dangers of Meeting Unreasonable Delivery Quotas

Delivery Truck Accident Attorneys, Salt Lake City

Every work day, and often on weekends, thousands of delivery trucks travel the highways and streets of Utah.  Some delivery trucks weigh as much as 80,000 lbs. and most are operating under a tight schedule to complete their runs.  Trucks deliver goods to businesses and households including everything from furniture to mail to goods purchased on the Internet.  Trucking companies contribute to the economy and their services improve our lives, but, unfortunately, negligent truck drivers also cause tremendous hardship and heartache when their careless or reckless behavior causes an accident.

Every year commercial trucks are involved in 2.4% of all car accidents.  This may not sound like a high percentage, but one person is injured or killed in a truck accident every 16 minutes.  The majority of fatal truck accidents occur in rural areas, on a weekday, and in the daytime when the most delivery trucks and daily commuters on are on the road.

One of the reasons for delivery truck accidents is the pressure on drivers to make as many deliveries as possible in the shortest time frame possible.  For every dollar in revenue the average trucking company makes it has a cost of 95.2 cents. Leaving them with a profit of 4.8 cents of every dollar.  To increase profits, trucking companies may cut costs by overworking their drivers or improperly maintaining their fleet of trucks.

Fed Ex and Overnight Shipping Delivery Truck Accidents

Because of the nature of the overnight-shipping business, the drivers of these trucks are under intense pressure to complete a certain number of deliveries each day. Exhausted, frazzled, or improperly trained drivers may feel the need to speed to meet their delivery quotas and may ignore company policies or safety laws to get the job done faster.  If a delivery van or truck driver that forgets something as simple as engaging the parking brake their vehicle can roll down a sloped road causing injury to another person or property damage.  Even backing up when they’ve passed a house rather than taking the time to go around the block may be considered negligent driving if the driver backs over a bystander.

The U.S Postal Service, UPS, DHL, and Fed Ex, are among the best-known companies that make daily deliveries to businesses and homes but all  shipping companies and local stores that use delivery trucks have a responsibility to properly train their drivers, to keep their trucks in good working condition, and not to give their employees unrealistic daily quotas, so as not to encourage the dangerous driving behaviors detailed above.

Free Consultation With a Salt Lake City Delivery Truck Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been in an accident involving a courier car, delivery truck, either as a pedestrian, a driver or a property owner, the expert personal injury and truck accident lawyers at Rasmussen and Miner may be able to hold the shipping company, as well as the driver of the truck, liable for damages.

Our law firm is dedicated to protecting your rights to financial recovery. Contact our Salt Lake City law office or call (801) 363-8500 to schedule a free consultation.