The Importance Of Wearing A Seatbelt: The Costs

Last week, we discussed the rules and regulations as they pertained to seat belts and your trucks within the moving and storage industry. The long and short of it is this: any driver in your fleet MUST wear a seatbelt or face violations and consequences.

Unfortunately, despite strict regulations from FMSCA, there are still commercial vehicle operators out there who are not wearing their safety belts. As a result, there are some serious costs that FMSCA associates with that. Without a solid policy within your company, your operators may not consider the true importance of wearing a seat belt.

Consider this:

According to the FMSCA, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of lost work time and on-the-job-fatalities.

  • The average cost for property damage for a truck crash: $11,020
  • The average cost, per injury, for a truck crash: $174,367
  • The average cost per fatal truck crash: $3,469,962
  • The average cost for all truck crashes, per truck: $62,613

As an employer in this industry, these costs can add up. Consider that each workers compensation claim for a work-related employee fatality is well over $100,000. But it is not just about the cost in dollars and cents. The result of a fatal accident can also result in your moving company having to deal with much more:

  • Loss of knowledge and skills
  • Time spent replacing employees
  • Reassigning and retraining positions
  • Lost business
  • Legal fees
  • Increase in your movers insurance policy as a result of an increase in workers compensation, property, liability, commercial auto and health related insurance premium costs

At Wolpert Insurance, we don’t just want to help you with your insurance needs; we want help your company be successful at what you do. With that in mind, our goal is to provide you with pertinent information and regulations. When it comes to the safety of your drivers, and of your fleet, we want you to be informed. Check back next week to learn more about how these important safety regulations have an impact on your fleet’s FMSCA safety scores – and ultimately, your movers insurance!