President Bush Praises Trucking Industry for Highway Safety Record

Western White House Message Marks 2003 National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 25 -- In a message issued this weekend from the Western White House in Crawford, Texas, President George W. Bush praised America's professional truck drivers for their "important contributions to our economy and our quality of life." The President's comments come as the trucking industry celebrates National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, August 24-30.

Bush said "by transporting essential goods across the country, truck drivers sustain critical networks of trade and commerce."

The President also praised the safety record of the three million truck drivers who criss-cross the U.S. daily, delivering more freight than any other form of transportation. He said: "They ... can be proud that the number of car-truck related fatalities has dropped for the fifth straight year."

"Your hard work and dedication contribute to a safe and efficient freight transportation system and our Nation's prosperity", he concluded.

"Our truck drivers and our motor carriers are proud to haul the freight that makes our country work, and we're deeply honored to have the support of President Bush," said Bill Graves, President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, sponsors of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. "This week is all about letting our drivers know that they and the work they do is important to all of America."

  Some truck driver and trucking industry facts:

  *     Professional truck drivers drove their "18 wheelers" over 400
        billion miles last year.

  *     Trucks haul 68 percent of the freight moved in the U.S., 82 percent
        of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking for delivery of their
        goods.

  *     Trucks pay 37 percent of all highway user taxes (over $7,000 per
        truck).

  *     Though total highway fatalities are at a 12-year high, the number of
        fatalities in truck-related crashes has dropped for the fifth
        straight year.

  *     In AAA and federal crash causation studies of truck-involved fatal
        crashes, investigators assign unsafe driving factors to the
        passenger vehicle driver in up to 75 percent of all crashes.