The Most Common Injuries for Truck Drivers

It should come as no surprise that highway accidents are a leading cause of trucking injuries. Truckers are seriously injured every day on the road, most often at no fault of their own. Common trucking accident injuries include back and neck injuries, broken bones, head and brain injuries, internal trauma, lacerations, burns, whiplash, seat belt injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and in the worst cases, death.

Truckers often do not realize the full extent of their injuries immediately after a highway accident. Sometimes a trucker will walk away from a collision thinking they have not been hurt at all, only to discover days or weeks later that they have serious injuries. This is why it is absolutely critical for truck drivers to seek medical attention if they are involved in a highway accident, regardless of how they feel immediately afterward.

A trucker’s job is to move goods and materials from place to place. Mostly that means driving a loaded truck from one location to the next, but first that freight needs to make it onto the truck. Then it needs to be unloaded at the delivery site. Truckers are prone to injuries to the back, neck, arms, and shoulders caused by loading and unloading freight and related items, operating dollies and loaders, and working on their enormous vehicles. Over-exertion during the loading process is another leading cause of injury in the trucking industry.

The road itself isn’t the only dangerous place truckers spend time on the job. Locations like terminals, docks, warehouses, work sites, and truck stops can also be riddled with injury hazards. Forklifts, front-loaders, cranes, and other kinds of heavy equipment commonly found at these sites can be very dangerous, especially in the hands of untrained or negligent workers. Slippery surfaces, poor lighting, walkway impediments, building code violations, uneven stairs, broken railings, and cracked sidewalks can also be the cause of serious injuries like fractures, sprains, contusions, cuts, lacerations, and falls.

Many facilities rigorously train their workers and require strict compliance with safety protocols, but many others do not. As a result, conditions can vary greatly from location to location. If you are injured as a result of dangerous conditions or someone’s negligence at a work site or similar property, you should call an experienced personal injury attorney specializing in dangerous property and premises liability.

Trucking is a physical job, but all that hard labor is balanced out by long rides in the comfortable cab, right? Not so fast. Remember all those studies about how “sitting is the new smoking”? Well, those stats apply to truckers sitting behind the wheel just as much as office workers sitting at their desks. Studies have shown that spending too much time sitting can increase a person’s risk of diabetes and cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. Too much sitting also correlates to increased risk of death from any cause.

Unlike an office worker’s desk chair, a truckers’ seat also vibrates and bounces, often contributing to a high occurrence of painful back and neck injuries. For truckers, those extended periods of sitting are also typically followed by bursts of strenuous activity like lifting and bending and reaching, which can also cause injury. There’s a good reason why you’re supposed to warm up before a workout. Unfortunately, most truckers’ schedules don’t leave time for this important step, and truckers get hurt as a result.

You might think that a hospital or doctor’s office is the last place a trucker could be hurt, but you would be mistaken. Doctors are human, too, and sometimes they make mistakes. Unfortunately those mistakes can lead to severe consequences like pain, injury, and even death. Thousands of truckers are injured by medical malpractice and medical negligence every year. The most common types of mistakes include missed or delayed diagnoses, failure to treat, prescription drug errors, and surgical or procedural errors.

All of these injuries are extremely common among truck drivers, and can be a severe detriment to their jobs and well-being. If you are a trucker who’s been injured on the job, it is important to assert your rights and claim the workers’ compensation or personal injury benefits you are rightfully owed. If you encounter any difficulty in doing so – or if your benefits are cut off before you have recovered – it is advisable to consult with an experienced trucker attorney who can take action on your behalf. The lawyers of Hurt Trucker will fight to make your claim heard and work diligently to get you the benefits you deserve.  Call toll free at 855-448-7887 (855-448-7887) today for a free consultation.