How Often Do FedEx and UPS Become Involved in Accidents?

Published on December 20, 2023, by TILG

Truck Crash Investigation

How Often Do FedEx and UPS Become Involved in Accidents

You see them around your neighborhood, and you pass them driving to and from work every day.

The big brown UPS trucks and the white ones of their competitors, FedEx. These drivers rush around in the biggest hurry, dropping off packages all over the city all day long. They have ridiculously tight schedules and are often overworked, which leads to a higher chance of accidents.

Any accident can be devastating, but accidents involving delivery trucks are notoriously more deadly.

Between the large number of packages loaded into the back, the high rates of speed these trucks drive at, and how big the trucks are, it’s no surprise that when delivery drivers from UPS and FedEx get into a crash, other drivers rarely walk away unscathed.

But how many accidents are these trucks involved in? How often do they crash? We’ll dig into the details in this post.

Reported FedEx Crashes

FedEx, also known as Federal Express, has three main delivery divisions within the company: Express, Ground, and Freight. Each of these has specific statistics regarding the amount and severity of crashes reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which are as follows:

  • FedEx Express: 9 fatal crashes, 123 injury crashes, 224 tows – 356 total
  • FedEx Ground: 92 fatal crashes, 861 injury crashes, 1,790 tows – 2,743 total
  • FedEx Freight: 24 fatal crashes, 230 injury crashes, 514 tows – 768 total

Across all three divisions, this averages 1,933 total accidents each year, 161 each month, and just over five accidents every day. This data covers all reported accidents from January 2022 to January 2024.

Reported UPS Crashes

According to FMCSA, there were 2,724 reported crashes involving UPS vehicles over the past two years.

Of those reported crashes, 71 resulted in fatalities, 930 resulted in injuries of varying severity, and 1,723 needed a tow truck. This means approximately 1,362 accidents occur each year, 113 each month, and almost four every day.

It’s important to note that each crash reported to FMCSA is only recorded once per crash at its highest level of severity, meaning that if one accident caused a fatality, plus multiple injuries and a tow truck was also needed, the crash is recorded as a fatality and any other information is not reported.

This means that the reported data of these accidents is likely lower than the actual number of incidents or specific information.

Notable FedEx Delivery Incidents

Here is some of the more recent news coverage of FedEx accidents in 2023:

  • December 26 : A FedEx van became engulfed in flames in the early morning hours in Cajon Pass, CA. The driver was not harmed, and local firefighters extinguished the blaze. No cause was listed.
  • December 14 : FedEx truck pulled out of a side street in Southern Pines, NC, and drove into the path of an oncoming LP gas truck, resulting in the FedEx truck overturning. Neither driver suffered injuries, but both trucks were damaged.
  • November 20 : On I-95 in Woodbridge, VA, a FedEx semi-truck collided with a smaller car, causing the truck to strike a bridge support beam. The trailer ripped open, resulting in the death of the FedEx driver.
  • October 24 : A FedEx driver in Tempe, AZ overcorrected after a car in front of them made a sudden U-turn, causing the FedEx driver, who was later found to not have been wearing a seatbelt, to be ejected from the truck. The truck then struck a nearby home. Both the FedEx driver and a resident of the home suffered minor injuries.

UPS Trucks Delivering Disaster

Here are some new stories about UPS accidents in 2023:

  • November 13 : A UPS truck was involved in a rollover crash near a ramp to the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade County near Doral, Florida.
  • October 6 : A UPS truck crashed into a home in Huntington Beach, CA, injuring two people who were taken to the hospital. The cause of the crash was unknown.
  • September 26 : A UPS tractor-trailer veered off the side of I-70 in Englewood, Ohio. The driver was the only one injured and was transported to the hospital.
  • August 30 : A UPS truck hydroplaned in Wiscasset, Maine, crashing into a food trailer and causing major damage to the deck and eating area. No one was injured, but the driver was cited for driving too fast for weather conditions.

The Law Is on Your Side

As you can see, these delivery companies have multiple crashes every day across the United States and often leave a wake of destruction and injury in their path.

If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident with a delivery truck from FedEx or UPS, reach out to a truck accident attorney at our law group today for your free consultation.

When these avoidable accidents happen, Trucking Injury Law Group is here to help!