Missouri tractor trailers haul millions of tons of freight every year
The map to the right provides a good visual representation of the amount of tractor trailer traffic on Missouri’s highways every year and why we need to work very hard to prevent Missouri truck crashes.
The U.S. Department of Transportation provided the map and the data behind it showing the amount of shipping traffic across the country. As you can see, Missouri is a central hub with hundreds of millions of tons passing through the state’s highway, rail and waterway systems.
Looking at just the tractor trailer shipping traffic, you can see why there are so many large truck accidents in the state every year. The two major highways criss-crossing the state, I-70 and I-44, bear the load of more than 200 millions tons of freight by themselves. Perhaps this is one reason why those two highways were recently listed as the two most dangerous in Missouri.
Shipping goods by truck is an important part of our economy and can be handled in a safe way, as evidenced by the thousands of truck drivers who operate their vehicles without incident every day. The shear size of the trucks can quickly lead to tragedy, though, when operated by those few negligent drivers and trucking companies.
The best way to control these negligent practices is with careful federal regulation, constant supervision by state authorities and proper utilization of the civil justice system when an accident occurs. Anybody involved in a Missouri tractor trailer crash should contact a Missouri truck accident attorney as soon as possible to investigate the incident.
