Increasing driver pay can lead to fewer traffic deaths

Safety groups have been relying on technology to reduce crashes involving large trucks, but the numbers suggest that it has not been working. For decades, one researcher has shown what may actually save lives on our nation’s highways: increase driver pay.

Mandates for speed limiters, automated emergency braking systems and side underride guards are currently being considered to increase highway safety. Studies looking into the efficacy of those technologies are mixed at best and include a limited amount of data.

There is, however, a wealth of data going back before the turn of the century that consistently suggests that increasing driver pay can result in fewer crashes with trucks and the deaths that happen as a result.

Intuitively, that makes sense and applies to pretty much every industry. Want a good lawyer? You better pay up. The kid down the street can build you a website, but a well-paid web developer will get it done right.

When it comes to freight, a shipper’s cargo is more likely to safely reach its destination if the person behind the wheel is experienced and well-trained. That trucker should command a higher rate. Therefore, cheaper freight is riskier freight.

But Michael Belzer, economics professor at Wayne State University, isn’t in the business of intuition. Rather, he’s in the business of quantifying our intuition, showing with empirical evidence whether or not our instincts are right. In the case of driver pay and safety, we got it right.

Belzer has been studying the effects of driver pay on truck-involved crashes for more than 25 years. His latest research, “Follow the money: Trucker pay incentives, working time, and safety,” piles on decades of work that all come to the same conclusion: 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.

Interstate driver pay and detention time

Belzer’s research also dives into interstate carriers, which also shows a correlation between driver pay and safety.

Back in 1997, J.B. Hunt increased truck driver pay by 39% on average. A sudden increase in pay at one of the largest carriers in the nation created a real-world experiment, allowing Belzer to look at the company’s crash rates before and after the pay raise.

Belzer found 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.

Where’s the money?

Carriers have plenty of incentive to increase driver pay, which is shown to increase productivity, safety and driver retainment. In turn, that can also mean a reduction in insurance premiums.

Not paying drivers for their time wasn’t a major issue until after the Motor Carrier Act of 1980’s deregulation. Shippers exploited new pay structures, paying drivers less and less for detention 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.”

Under a capitalist, free-market society, the federal government cannot just come in and dictate wages for private-sector workers. Doing so risks the price of products and services to skyrocket. 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