Lytx 2020 “State of the Data” Report Identifies Key Areas of Risk for Trucking Fleets

Even with heightened demand due to the pandemic, trucking fleets showed strong improvements in key measures of driver safety

Lytx^®, a leading provider of machine vision- and artificial intelligence-powered video telematics, analytics, safety, and productivity solutions for commercial, public sector, and field service fleets, has released its third annual “State of the Data” report focused on trucking fleets. With data captured from fleets of all sizes and types within the trucking industry, Lytx’s 2020 report reveals the riskiest states, cities and roadways in the United States along with the riskiest days and times and trends in risky driving behaviors. 

“2020 was an unforgettable year with unprecedented challenges for the trucking industry. With the continued demands facing fleets and drivers, it has never been more important for us to identify and share key areas of risk and opportunities to help improve their safety,” said Dave Riordan, executive vice president, Lytx enterprise business. “We use our dataset – the largest and most accurate of its kind – to identify and address top areas of driving risk, and to provide trucking fleets with insights they can put into action quickly to improve their safety.”

Identifying Riskiest Areas Across the Country

Lytx captured over 10 million risky driving incidents among trucking fleets in 2020. From all those incidents, Lytx examined single-square-mile road segments using its proprietary risk scoring system and found the following areas in the U.S. had the highest concentration of risk:

1. Allentown, Pa.: Interstate 78, East of W. Emaus Avenue
2. Lambsburg, Va.: Interstate 77, near Old Pipers Gap Road
3. Albuquerque, N.M.: Interstate 40, near Coyote Springs Road SE
4. Durham, N.C.: Interstate 85, near University Station Road
5. Lebanon, N.J.: Interstate 78, near Cokesbury Road

As in past years, most of the identified riskiest road segments are near interchanges, construction zones, or on/off ramps, which increase driving risk. According to Lytx’s risk score system, these five road segments, on average, are 152 times riskier than the average road segment in Lytx’s trucking-industry database.

“We know sudden lane changes and shifts in driving speed surrounding interchanges can create a more volatile driving environment and more opportunity for dangerous incidents,” said Del Lisk, Lytx’s vice president of safety services. “We urge fleets and drivers to be aware of the increased risk in these areas and level-up their caution and defensive driving in these situations, whether you are passing through one of the segments featured here or any other highway interchange.”

Areas of Pennsylvania, and Allentown in particular, have been featured on this list in past years, with the top two riskiest roads in 2019 and top three riskiest roads in 2018.

That said, Pennsylvania improved in the overall state rankings in 2020. The riskiest states for trucking fleets in in 2020 were:

1. California
2. Washington
3. Texas
4. Oregon
5. Georgia

These states overall were three times riskier than the 45 other states in Lytx’s nationwide footprint.

Lytx also examined its data in 60-by-60-square-mile areas and, for the second year in a row, identified Chicago as the riskiest U.S. city for trucking. Compared to the next riskiest city, Dallas, Chicago was 23% more risky, likely related to its role as a major transportation hub for routes in all directions.

“With a wealth of driving data paired with unmatched analytic capabilities, Lytx is able to determine driving risk and drill that down into specific cities or even intersections,” said Lisk. “While we know trucking routes may not always be flexible, we encourage managers and coaches to consider these areas of concentrated risk in supporting their drivers to approach every situation with a proactive, safety-oriented mindset.”

Riskiest Days and Times for Truck Drivers

Lytx found slight shifts in the days of the week and times with the highest prevalence of collisions and near-collisions. From 2018 to 2020, Lytx identified the following:

	2020	2019	2018
Day of week with most collisions	Tuesday	Thursday	Wednesday
Day of week with fewest collisions	Sunday	Monday	Monday
Time of day with most near collisions	Morning (5:00 a.m.- noon)	Morning (5:00 a.m. – noon)	Afternoon (noon – 5:00 p.m.)

“With 24/7 demand for deliveries necessitated by the pandemic, we’ve observed a shift in the days of the week with the most and least collisions,” said Lisk. “Compared to past years, fleets may have more routes and deliveries early in the week, rather than starting the week slowly. This could be a factor in Sunday having the fewest collisions and Tuesday having the most collisions.”

Trends in Risky Behavior

Even with increased demand in 2020, Lytx trucking clients showed strong improvements in several key, high-risk behaviors, including:

Behavior (in order of most improved)	Improvements from 2019
Late response	-77%
Following distance: ≥ 2 sec to < 3 sec	-51%
Red light	-38%
Unsafe lane change	-38%
Drowsy driving	-29%

Compared to other fleet types, trucking showed strengths in several areas, including: 

Behavior	Comparative Frequency*
Loose object in cab	68% less often
Distraction related to electronic device	59% less often
Positive recognition, which occurs when the driver had a close call that wasn’t a result of their own actions and prevented potentially significant consequences by exercising safe driving practices and/or when the driver demonstrated courteous driving	33% more often

*As compared to Lytx’s other client segments: waste, distribution, transit, government, construction, concrete, utilities and field services.

“Trucking professionals are clearly working hard to proactively approach safety to protect themselves and the communities they serve,” said Lisk. “For drivers spending long hours on the road and driving longer distances than other transportation-adjacent industries, this is a remarkable feat.”

Lytx’s data also found these risky behaviors increasing among truck fleets:

Behavior (in order of frequency)	Change from 2019
Posted speed violation	Increasing
Incomplete stop at stop sign	Increasing
Failed to stop at stop sign	Increasing

“We share this information as an opportunity to shed light on the areas where drivers, managers and coaches should pay special attention in order to approach safe driving proactively,” said Riordan. “From recognizing when and where truck drivers may face more risky behaviors or higher collision rates to understanding exactly which behaviors are proving challenging for the industry, we hope these unique insights from Lytx can help the trucking industry stay informed as drivers head out on the roads this year. We maintain our commitment to helping fleets raise the bar for safety as we continue to innovate our machine vision and artificial intelligence capabilities to uncover even further insights about driving risk in the trucking industry.”

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