Our most recent data on unsafe driving violations a in the U.S. from 2023 to 2024 is something to behold.  Categorized by fleet size: the 1-10 trucks crowd, the 11-100 group, and the big leagues with 100+ trucks all are showing a marked lack of improvement.

First, let’s look at the 1-10 truck group. This category is often the owner operator, smaller businesses just trying to make it work. And what do we see? A steady trend of violations that seems impervious to the magic of modern technology. The line hovers just below 15,000 violations, with some hopeful dips but always rebounding back up. It’s as if they’re saying, “We’ve heard about these so-called telematics devices, but we’re still going to do things our way, thank you very much.”

Moving down to the 11-100 trucks group, things look a bit more stable but not particularly inspiring. The line here sticks close to 8,000 violations month after month, like a heartbeat of consistency that no amount of driver safety training or dash cams can interrupt. This mid-sized category should ideally be benefiting from technology, as they’re large enough to afford some tech upgrades but small enough to manage individual drivers. Yet, it seems that they’ve mastered the art of just maintaining the status quo.

And finally, we’ve got the 100+ truck fleets—the giants of the industry. Surely, with all the resources and fancy technology at their disposal, these big players would lead the way in safer driving practices, right? Nope. Their violation numbers stay just around 6,000 month after month, like they’ve reached a cozy comfort level with a certain amount of risk. This group has the budget for all the high-tech gadgets you can think of: telematics, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), collision mitigation tech, and so on. But apparently, these tools are only good for keeping their violations in a slightly lower range than the rest.

Here’s the thing: with all the technology available today, this chart should be headed southward. These fleets have tools to alert drivers and fleet managers to lane departures, automatic braking, collision warnings, and even fatigue monitoring. Yet the lines on this chart are about as flat as a Kansas highway. It’s like all the tech in the world has been shrugged off, and unsafe driving remains a staple feature of the industry.

So, what’s going on here? Maybe it’s time to admit that while technology is great, it can’t overcome everything—especially when habits, cost-cutting, and good old-fashioned stubbornness come into play. It’s almost as if fleet managers and drivers have collectively agreed that a certain amount of unsafe driving is just part of the job. “What’s a little violation here or there?” they seem to ask, “We’ve got deadlines!”

In the end, this chart tells us a lot about the gap between potential and reality. The tools are there to make our roads safer, but for some reason, we’re just not seeing it in the data. Maybe we’re expecting too much from technology. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the industry to take a good hard look in the rearview mirror. Because if they’re not going to embrace all that tech, they might as well keep a steady hand on the steering wheel and hope for the best.