By Zach Miller, Trucking Association of New York
A recent piece, “How Trucking Company Practices Contribute to Serious Crashes” (July 24), plays into trial lawyer talking points to take a swing at New York’s trucking industry—claiming that New York’s trucking companies put profit ahead of public safety. Readers deserve to know what they’re actually reading: not local journalism but unbylined content that links directly to a personal injury law firm’s website.
The piece is wrong from its first paragraph, portraying the trucking industry as a profit-hungry enterprise dominated by corporate giants. In reality, New York’s trucking operators are primarily small and midsized businesses, family owned and operated, running . This small business network is crucial to serving the more than 89% of communities in the state which depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods.
Tolerating crashes is a thing of the past. Between 1975 and 2022, the U.S. large truck fatal crash rate dropped 65.3%. Injury crash rates dropped 15.3% in 2024 and preliminary FMCSA data shows large truck crashes fell again in 2025 and are on pace to be even lower in 2026. To keep this trend going, industry leaders are ensuring drivers receive consistent safety training and access to cutting-edge safety technologies. They’re also forming partnerships with government agencies to tackle our biggest challenges head-on.
Take driver fatigue: the Trucking Association of New York (TANY) has partnered with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to develop drowsy driving training resources for commercial drivers as part of DOH’s “Work Safe. Stay Alive.” program. This program combines DOH-backed public service campaigns with industry and DOH developed training programs to highlight the importance of taking breaks and getting good sleep. Trucking operators are also incentivizing safe-driving habits, with safe-driving bonuses representing the largest annual driver bonus across the entire industry. When drivers and operators alike have something to lose from poor safety records, everyone is motivated to keep them clean.
Safe habits begin with training. Across New York, TANY is proud to sponsor several programs to help establish a pipeline of driving and technician talent so that drivers are equipped with safe-driving skills from day one. This includes an ongoing partnership with SUNY Niagara to offer students in New York access to their discounted entry-level truck driving training program, 160 Driving Academy. Additional safety investments include an accessible truck driving simulator which trains drivers in adverse conditions and programs available through five Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) that train the next generation of truck technicians.
The list of workforce training programs and safety initiatives goes on. Notice how the piece ends: by urging readers to keep a car accident attorney on speed dial. That’s the clear giveaway—the article was never about safety. It was about getting clients.
Truck drivers are not enemies. They are professionals keeping New York moving. Our small-business-dominated industry has earned the benefit of the doubt. And the real five-decade drop in the fatal crash rate despite ever-busier roads is proof that its commitment to safety is working.