ARLINGTON, Va. — Newly released highway fatality stats in the US paint an incomplete picture, having lumped non-freight-hauling trucks in with commercial vehicles, according to the American Trucking Associations.

“Every fatality on our nation’s highways is a tragedy, and we all have an obligation to improve highway safety.  Unfortunately, the data released today is a misrepresentation of our industry’s improving safety record,” said ATA president and CEO Bill Graves. “When the public hears the term ‘large truck,’ they naturally think of the millions of large tractor-trailers that deliver their most essential goods. However, data released today lumps those tractor-trailers in with millions of smaller, non-freight-hauling vehicles whose crash rates are higher than in the trucking industry. The federal government should not be so casual with its terminology and should provide further information and clarity to the public.”