A record high number of truckers died on the job in 2017

The U.S. Department of Labor just released a report on workplace fatalities — and the news isn’t good for the men and women of the trucking industry.

According to the new report, the number of truck drivers who were killed on the job rose from 786 in 2016 to 840 in 2018. This marks a 6.6% increase and is the highest number of truck driver fatalities in a single year on record.

The total number of 2017 fatalities in the Department of Labor’s “Driver/sales workers and truck drivers” category was 987.

These findings pointing towards a frightening uptick in truck driver fatalities are backed up by data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which found that deaths caused by large truck crashes reached their highest levels in 29 years in 2017.

Additionally, deaths for all U.S. workers caused by transportation incidents increased from 2077 in 2016 to 2083 in 2017.

The Department of Labor report did not provide any clues as to why truck driver workplace fatalities are on the rise.

Overall, workplace fatalities dipped slightly from 2016 through 2017 for U.S. workers in all occupations.