Higher truck driver pay linked to fewer crashes

Piling on decades of studies, recently published academic research further suggests that the quickest, most efficient route to safer highways is increasing truck driver pay.

In his paper titled “Follow the money: Trucker pay incentives, working time, and safety,” Dr. Michael Belzer, economics professor at Wayne State University, expanded on his more than 25 years of studying truck driver pay. His latest research sends a familiar message to carriers: You get what you pay for.

Focusing on intrastate carriers, Belzer looked at truck driver pay and safety data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. After sifting through the data, he found that for every 1% increase in driver pay, there is a 1% decrease in crashes. The study showed that a 10% wage increase would be five times as effective as a 10% reduction in “unsafe driving” or 2.5 times as effective as a 10% reduction in “driver fitness” violations.

Belzer’s most recent study is similar to research he conducted in 2022. In that paper, he found a 3% reduction in crashes for every 1% increase in truck driver pay. However, that research included intrastate carriers of all sizes. Considering the vast majority of carriers have eight or fewer drivers, Belzer’s latest research looks only at those carriers in order to paint a picture more representative of the typical carrier.

Both studies correlate higher truck driver pay with fewer crashes, but they also suggest a difference in safety between smaller and larger carriers. When larger carriers were included, the crash rate reduction was steeper, indicating an increase in overall crashes. Based on that data, one could imply that smaller carriers tend to be safer.

Listen to Dr. Michael Belzer discuss truck driver pay and safety:

Although the latest research deals with intrastate carriers, it aligns with previous research that also shows a correlation between truck driver pay and safety with interstate carriers.

Back in 1997, J.B. Hunt increased truck driver pay by 39% on average. That sudden increase in driver pay allowed Belzer to see if higher wages improved safety by looking at the company’s crash rates before and after the significant pay raise. The results were more significant than the raise.

According to the J.B. Hunt study, the increase in truck driver pay was followed by a 50% reduction in driver turnover, a 50% reduction in crashes and a 75% reduction in severe crashes. Additionally, the company acquired and retained more experienced drivers, who produced 1,000 more productive miles per month than less experienced drivers. For the company’s bottom line, the annual value of an experienced driver was more than $10,000 greater than an inexperienced driver.

Another study by Belzer suggests paying truckers for non-driving time, such as detention time, will increase highway safety.

The study found that drivers who were paid for all of their time decreased their overall work hours. Consequently, paying drivers for all time worked disincentivizes working excessively long hours, thereby reducing fatigue and associated crashes. On average, truckers spend more than 14 hours in detention time per week.

A 2017 study into long hours logged by truck drivers also found that higher truck driver pay reduces work hours. That study found that after truckers reach a certain pay rate, they start to turn down loads. After generating enough revenue and income, drivers have less incentive to find a load when this would lead them to be stretched too thin. Rather, they trade labor for leisure.

Those studies are just a small sample of the decades of research Belzer and his team have conducted on the topic of truck driver pay and safety. Although the variables of the studies differ, they all point in the same direction: Better pay is connected to safer drivers.

Why hasn’t truck driver pay improved?

It may come down to the shippers.

Carriers have plenty of incentive to pay drivers more. That may come at the cost to consumers, but Belzer believes that the general public would be fine with paying a little extra if it meant safer highways.

Unpaid work time became a rampant problem in the industry after deregulation, Belzer said. Once detention time pay became less popular, shippers began exploiting drivers’ time.

“Anybody who gets a product or a service for free will consume an infinite amount of that product or service because it’s free,” Belzer said. “Well, if that ‘free’ is the truck drivers’ labor time, they’ll consume an infinite amount of it. There is no end to what they’ll consume. That’s why they bring you in for a 7 a.m. load and don’t dispatch you finally until 3 in the afternoon. Because they don’t care. Because they’re not paying for that time.”

Over the years, the federal government has attempted to increase truck driver safety by implementing a variety of regulations. Very few, if any, had a significant effect.

For example, FMCSA mandated ELDs in 2017 in the name of safety. However, crashes involving large trucks have trended upward ever since.

When it comes to the private sector, the government has little control over workers’ pay, leaving it up to the free market to decide. The Fair Labor Standards Act addressed unfair wages, but an exception to overtime rules was carved out for truckers. Although it made sense at the time, it has had a reverse effect on safety 85 years later.

The GOT Truckers Act is a one-sentence bill currently in Congress that simply eliminates that exception, potentially increasing truck driver pay for company drivers. Truckers can contact their lawmakers to sponsor the bill by going to FightingForTruckers.com.

If policymakers need any proof, Belzer has compiled a mountain of evidence linking truck driver pay to highway safety. For companies complaining about finding drivers, there is plenty of evidence showing higher pay leads to less turnover.

Increasing truck driver pay might not solve all of the industry’s problems, but it likely would mitigate some of its biggest issues.

“There isn’t any such thing as a driver shortage. There is a recruitment and retention problem,” Belzer said. “That’s because at the margin, people decide, ‘Is it worth it to get the CDL to work that hard if I’m not making any money?’ A very rational decision on the part of the drivers is to quit, do something else. So we lose all those people. This thing has been upside down for decades, and it’s time to turn this truck right-side up, with the dirty side down where it belongs.” LL