How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 4,097 severe cases involving trucks over the last decade. Fractures are the most common injury, accounting for 45 percent of all reported incidents, often requiring extensive medical intervention and long-term rehabilitation.
These injuries are frequently catastrophic due to the mass and power of the equipment involved. You may suffer damage to specific body parts, with fingers and the brain being among the most frequently impacted areas during these events.
How these injuries happen
Injuries involving trucks most often occur when you fall to a lower level, which accounts for 47 percent of all reported incidents. These falls frequently happen while you climb into or out of cabs, access truck beds, or work on liftgates. Beyond falls, you are frequently struck by rolling vehicles in nonroadway areas or caught in moving parts during maintenance, such as fan belts or brake systems.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 1,882 |
| 2 | Struck by rolling powered vehicle or machinery | 539 |
| 3 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 378 |
| 4 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 257 |
| 5 | Nonroadway noncollision incident | 162 |
| 6 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 141 |
| 7 | Roadway noncollision incident | 79 |
| 8 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in road work zone | 71 |
Where injuries happen most
Transportation and warehousing leads all sectors with 24 percent of truck-related injuries. This high rate is driven by the constant movement of freight, the use of heavy machinery in tight loading zones, and the physical demands placed on you during daily operations.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include equipment failure during maintenance, falls from liftgates during offloading, and vehicles unexpectedly shifting into gear while you are nearby. These reports highlight how quickly a routine task can turn into a life-altering event. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | TX | Other Services | "A driver was doing a pre-trip inspection on a tractor when their fingers got caught in a fan belt and the tops of two fingers were amputated." | |
| 2025 | OK | Manufacturing | "Employees were preparing to unload a wind turbine gearbox from a flatbed trailer. An employee went to reposition himself on the flatbed trailer and grabbed onto a wooden piece of the shipping cribbing for support. The piece of wood began to come loose, causing the employee to lose his balance. The employee jumped to the ground about 4 feet below and landed on his feet. His left ankle rolled and the employee was hospitalized with a fractured ankle that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | TX | Retail Trade | "An employee was working under a pickup truck, changing out the shift linkage cable. The cable was being attached to the gear shift from within the cab. When the cable was pulled within the cab to connect it, the truck went into neutral and rolled over the employee's left shoulder. The employee suffered fractures to the left humerus, left shoulder blade, and left-side ribs, as well as severe contusions to the left shoulder." | |
| 2025 | PA | Other Services | "An employee was working on a tractor's brakes when the vehicle lunged forward and the tire rolled over his lower leg. He was hospitalized with bruising." | |
| 2025 | AL | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was making a delivery. While working to offload a skid, the employee fell off the liftgate and landed on the ground, sustaining a fractured right ankle." | |
| 2025 | WV | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was loading inflatable rafts onto a flatbed truck. The employee misstepped and fell from the truck, striking the left side of their head on a concrete pad and sustaining bruises to their left eye socket, hand, elbow, and knee, as well as a bloody nose. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion and a brain bleed." | |
| 2025 | IL | Retail Trade | "An employee was driving a pickup truck into an auction lot when it collided with a security hut, causing the airbags to deploy. The employee was hospitalized due to a broken right hip; broken ribs number three, five, and seven on the right side; a chest contusion; a laceration to the top of the head; and a concussion." | |
| 2025 | CT | Administrative Services | "A driver was climbing the rear trailer ladder to facilitate tarping when they lost balance, slipped, and fell approximately 6-8 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a fractured wrist." | |
| 2025 | TX | Administrative Services | "An employee was placing water bottles and ice into a cooler in the bed of a truck. He fell from the bed and struck his head on the pavement below. The employee was hospitalized with a head injury." | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was loading machinery onto a trailer. The trailer had to be moved while the machinery was already on it. The employee was walking next to the tractor trailer when a piece of machinery shifted. The employee reached for the equipment and became caught between the moving trailer and the opening of the overhead garage door. The employee sustained fractures." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.