A recent New Jersey case involving distracted driving has made national headlines. The case involves a motorcyclist and his passenger who were catastrophically injured when a distracted, text messaging driver struck their bike. The case gained national attention because the injured riders sued the individual who was sending text messages to the driver and knew that the recipient was driving at the time of the conversation.
Recently, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., introduced the committee’s highway bill. The proposed legislation contains provisions that would allow states to increase truck weight limits from 80,000 to 97,000 pounds and allow 33 foot double trailers as opposed to the current limit of 28 feet. The trucking and shipping industries have vigorously endorsed these provisions, which they claim will increase capacity and decrease the costs of shipping (note the omission of any mention or concern for safety – “profit over people”). Not surprisingly, the trucking industry is one of the Top 5 financial contributors to Rep. Mica’s Campaign Committee and Leadership PAC funds.
How many people work in the trucking industry as a whole?
The trucking industry, and its related businesses, employ an estimated 8.9 million people in the United States, approximately 3.5 million of which are truck drivers. On its own, UPS is reported to employ over 60,000 workers. As of 2003, there were an estimated 15.5 million commercial trucks in operation in the United States. Approximately 2 million of these were tractor trailers.
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