What 24 Months of Federal Crash Records Show About America's Largest Trucking Companies

Every time a commercial truck is involved in a reportable crash anywhere in the United States, it becomes part of a federal record. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration maintains rolling 24-month crash counts for every registered motor carrier and publishes them through its SAFER system — but the data sits one carrier lookup at a time, and most drivers never see it.

A newly compiled resource brings those records together for 22 of the country's largest and most recognizable trucking fleets, spanning truckload, less-than-truckload, refrigerated, flatbed, and owner-operator segments. The figures cover the trailing 24 months as of FMCSA's September 13, 2026 data date, and they come with an important caveat the agency itself states plainly: no determination of crash responsibility is implied. A recorded crash means a reportable event occurred involving that carrier's vehicle — nothing more.

With that caveat in view, the numbers still tell a story about scale. J.B. Hunt Transport, running more than 25,000 power units, recorded 1,493 total crashes over the window — the highest raw count on the list, and largely a function of being the biggest fleet measured. At the other end of the raw-count list, Heartland Express of Iowa recorded 128.

Raw counts track fleet size, which is why the compiled resource also presents a second view: crashes per 1,000 power units. On that measure the spread runs from 29 recorded crashes per 1,000 trucks at the low end (Landstar Ranger, an owner-operator network) to 182 at the high end (Western Express). Structural factors shape those differences — owner-operator networks count fleets differently, less-than-truckload carriers make frequent short hauls, longhaul fleets pile up highway miles, and freight lanes and regional exposure vary enormously. The numbers are the numbers; the reasons behind them differ by carrier.

The Arizona angle

Two of the biggest names on the list have deep Phoenix roots. Swift Transportation Company of Arizona — the state is in the company's legal name — recorded 782 crashes across a fleet of roughly 12,900 power units, or about 60 per 1,000 trucks. Knight Transportation, also long headquartered in the Phoenix area, recorded 186 crashes across roughly 3,200 power units, about 58 per 1,000. Both figures sit in the middle of the pack on the rate view.

For Arizona drivers, the more practical takeaway may be that this data exists at all. The same federal system that produces these counts also requires carriers to maintain records like driver logs, inspection files, and onboard data — and any member of the public can look up any carrier's current safety record for free at FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot (safer.fmcsa.dot.gov), by company name or USDOT number.

The full compiled dataset — all 22 carriers, both views, with complete methodology — is published as a free public resource by Saguaro Injury Law and is refreshed on an annual cycle: https://saguaroinjurylaw.com/trucking-companies-crash-data