# What's with the crashing Fedex trucks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796 "2014-01-03T15:11:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/1 "2014-01-03T15:11:40Z")
A Fedex truck crashed and burned in Seattle in [May, 2013](http://www.king5.com/news/cities/seattle/FedEx-truck-crash-I-5--Seattle-209324331.html). Another Fedex truck crashed north of Seattle [in June](http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/Semi-rollover-I-5-driver-fell-asleep-211378571.html). This morning a Fedex truck [rolled over](http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/i-405-semi-rollover-bellevue/ncbfp/) near Seattle in Bellevue. (Incidentally, a Fedex truck rolled over in Spokane in July I think. But that’s on the other side of the state from Seattle.) The May crash happened at 04:30, and the driver was driving too fast. The driver fell asleep in the June crash at 03:00. This morning’s crash was shortly after midnight; and the cause of the crash has not been determined, though roads were very wet. So what’s up? Does Fedex hire poor drivers? Or do Fedex policies induce drivers to drive too fast and/or too long? Or is it just coincidence that drivers from one company managed to block roads three times in the past half-year? Maybe a Seattle Curse? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/2 "2014-01-03T15:19:53Z")
Random coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/3 "2014-01-03T15:41:14Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Random coincidence. or a UPS driver with a FedEx voodoo doll. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/4 "2014-01-03T15:42:25Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > or a UPS driver with a FedEx voodoo doll. :smack: Of course! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/5 "2014-01-03T15:48:40Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So what’s up? Does Fedex hire poor drivers? Or do Fedex policies induce drivers to drive too fast and/or too long? Two of those (just looking at the crash pictures) were FedEx Ground one was FedEx Express. Those aren’t technically the same company. The FedEx that you know and love doesn’t hire FedEx Ground drivers, those are independent contractors. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/6 "2014-01-03T17:27:46Z")
[UPS truck crash in OH, Dec. 10, 2013](http://www.cbs3springfield.com/story/24186102/ups-truck-hits-stopped-vehicle-packages-fly-across-turnpike-lanes), 2 people died. [UPS truck crash in Chicago, Oct. 15, 2013](http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/23694386/ups-trailer-rips-open-in-i-88-crash-boxes-everywhere) Doesn’t seem much better than FedEx. I think it just means these companies operate a lot of trucks. Also, [this accident in August 2013](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-alderman-killed-in-truck-crash-in-st-charles/article_86924bf8-dbca-11e1-aa97-001a4bcf6878.html) involved both a FedEx truck _and_ a UPS truck. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/7 "2014-01-03T19:43:23Z")
Lots of trucks and miles, indeed! [UPS](http://compass.ups.com/nearly-6000-UPS-drivers-travel-25-years-accident-free/)drives over 3 billion miles a year worldwide. I couldn’t find a cite for FedEx, but between their Express, Ground, SmartPost and Freight divisions, I can’t imagine they’re going to be any less than 3 billion miles. The [US Postal Service](http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/)drives 1.3 billion miles a year. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/8 "2014-01-03T20:06:34Z")
Agreed, lots of miles driven, and you just happened to notice those. A FedEx truck crashing and burning reminded me of the importance of the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” A colleague had gotten behind on sending frozen serum samples in for a research study repository, to the point where some samples were years old. She finally got some large frozen-specimen shipping containers and sent them all out at once. Yup. The FedEx truck with all of them on board (and lots of other packages of course) got in a terrible accident, and burned. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/9 "2014-01-03T20:11:54Z")
I think Tom Hanks has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/10 "2014-01-03T21:29:57Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > I think Tom Hanks has something to do with it. I wonder how many trucks have crashed into deserted islands, leaving the driver to live with whatever he can find in the packages? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/11 "2014-01-03T22:41:43Z")
This thread is giving me a flashback to the 1990 movie **Crazy People**. One of the movie’s themes was brutal honesty in advertising. There was a FedEx ad, and I can’t remember the catch phrase, but the commercial had FedEx trucks driving by maniacs who were cutting people off, parking illeagally, and hitting parked cars. The phrase was something like, “We’ll screw them over to get your package there faster.” Sigh. I wish I had accurate flashbacks. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/12 "2014-01-03T23:39:25Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > A FedEx truck crashing and burning reminded me of the importance of the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” A colleague had gotten behind on sending frozen serum samples in for a research study repository, to the point where some samples were years old. She finally got some large frozen-specimen shipping containers and sent them all out at once. Yup. The FedEx truck with all of them on board (and lots of other packages of course) got in a terrible accident, and burned. :smack: Until I got to the “frozen serum samples” I thought you were telling an “eggs in one basket” joke about frozen embryos. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-crashing-fedex-trucks/677796/13 "2014-01-04T00:10:22Z")
I once had to tell some coworkers the Very Important Package they had sent out the prior afternoon was on a FedEx airplane that crashed and burned. (Thank Og someone remembered to keep copies of everything…) More and more packages are going by commercial carrier, meaning ever more trucks and airplanes. Eventually, you’ll get crashes. It’s probably a very low percentage, but for a large number of vehicles the absolute numbers are noticeable.