A number of our posts have focused on the workplace dangers that construction workers, factory workers, and manufacturing employees face, as well as the various injuries that can (and should be) compensated for. However, we should not ignore the plight of over-the-road truck drivers.
After all, with the economy improving, there are inherently more trucks on the road shipping goods from one city to another. This means that many more truckers are working. And when an accident involves a semi-truck, we must not lose sight of the possibility that a truck driver is also a worker who is injured and may be eligible for workers compensation benefits.
This is important considering that one out of every six Americans killed while on the job is a truck driver. This statistic comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the U.S. Department of Labor. In fact, in 2014, the latest year for such statistics, more than 750 truck drivers were killed while working. Indeed, many of the truckers who lost their lives did so in crashes, and 2014 marked the fifth year in a row that the number of deceased truck drivers increased.
Moreover, truck drivers have the highest number of non-fatal injuries that require time off from work compared to other occupations (including construction and manufacturing). In 2014, injured truckers took more than 55,000 days off to recuperate from various injuries.
With that, injured truckers should be aware of their rights to workers comp benefits. Such benefits are vital in the event one cannot work due to injury.
