Truck driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country, making up 20% of all vehicle related-fatalities.
Driving in and of itself is dangerous. Add on long shifts, the large size and weight of a vehicle and it is one of the riskiest civilian jobs. In Ohio alone, more than 2,000 large truck crashes resulted in fatalities or injuries last year, according to .
But, Walt Ryley, an assistant professor at Bowling Green State University, believes there鈥檚 another factor making the work risky: low trucker compensation. He suggests there鈥檚 a direct link between driver pay and safety.
鈥淪afety is sort of thought of as the last person to touch the wheel, the vehicle, the human factor, which is important,鈥� Ryley said. 鈥淏ut, there's far less being discussed about compensation.鈥�
Unpaid labor
Ohio is a top employer of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the country. The nearly 90,000 Ohio truckers are paid on average $26 dollars an hour, according to the .
But, Ryley says, these truckers aren鈥檛 explicitly paid for all of their work. Most truckers are paid at a piece rate 鈥� meaning they get paid per mile, per load or per ton. That means the majority of drivers are not compensated for sitting in traffic or tasks like loading their truck.
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