Trucking
has once again been listed among the most dangerous professions
in the United States.
However,
on the upside, driving a big rig didn’t top the list.
The
Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC, each year lists workplace
fatalities by industry and occupation. It was released Sept. 17
and reported by a number of media outlets.
On
the list, which shows 2002 figures, timber cutters topped the list,
with 117 fatalities per 100,000 workers. They were followed by fishermen,
at 71, pilots and navigators, at 69, and structural metal workers
at 58.
Truckers
were No. 10, with a relatively small 25 deaths per 100,000 truckers.
But CNN Money reported that the number of truckers who died
on the job was higher than any other job in the top 10, listed at
808. But because there are so many truckers on the road, the figure
per 100,000 workers was relatively small.
“Truckers
are often under intense time pressure,” the news Web site reported.
“The often self-employed truckers face cut-throat competition and
battle big overheads paying off expensive rigs. Exhausted truckers
sometimes push themselves past their breaking point to squeeze extra
dollars out of their work week.”
