Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics 2018
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Summary
The *2018 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics* serves as a comprehensive statistical report published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to support its mission of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The document aggregates data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) and other federal sources to provide a detailed overview of the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry, including vehicle registration, mileage, carrier demographics, inspection outcomes, and safety enforcement activities. The guide aims to present data-driven insights that inform regulatory decisions and public understanding of CMV safety performance. The report relies on data snapshots primarily from 2016 and 2017, supplemented by trends from 2013–2017. Key metrics include vehicle registration counts from the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and carrier registration data from MCMIS. As of December 2017, there were 543,061 active interstate and intrastate hazardous materials motor carriers in the United States, employing approximately 6.1 million CMV drivers. In 2016, large trucks accounted for 9.1% of total VMT (287.9 billion miles), while buses accounted for 0.5% (16.3 billion miles). The guide also details inspection data collected by state and federal inspectors, with state personnel conducting approximately 95% of inspections. Safety belt usage data is derived from the Seat Belt Use by Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers survey, which observed nearly 40,000 vehicles in 2016. Findings indicate that in 2016, there were 4,079 fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses. Inspection data from 2017 shows that out of 3.45 million inspections, driver out-of-service (OOS) rates were 5.12%, while vehicle OOS rates were 20.74%. The most frequent driver violations involved logbook discrepancies (no log or log not current) and speeding. The most frequent vehicle violations included inoperable lamps, brake adjustments, and lack of periodic inspections. Safety belt usage among CMV drivers increased to 86.1% in 2016, up from 78.1% in 2010. Additionally, the report highlights the prevalence of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, noting that in 2017, FMCSA conducted over 15,000 investigations and issued over 28,000 warning letters to address safety deficiencies before crashes occur. The significance of this report lies in its role as a foundational resource for understanding the scale and safety profile of the U.S. commercial transportation sector. By quantifying the volume of carriers, drivers, and miles traveled alongside specific violation and crash data, the guide provides evidence for targeted enforcement strategies. It underscores the importance of regulatory oversight, such as the CSA program and routine inspections, in mitigating risks associated with CMV operations. The data supports FMCSA’s objective of balancing motor carrier efficiency with rigorous safety standards, offering stakeholders a clear picture of industry trends and compliance challenges.
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The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (48 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 45 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes
- Methodological Resource: dataset resource