Truck drivers in the U.S. appear to have cleaner driving records than workers in other driving-related roles, according to an analysis of 2.5 million car insurance applications.
But the employees in one job category still fared a little better on average.
The results published by Insurify identified those who had one recorded violation in the last seven years.
On average, 26.53% of drivers across all occupations recorded a prior incident within the time window, while 26.8% of those with driving-related jobs reported an incident.
Bus drivers tended to have the cleanest records, with just under 20% (19.97%) recording a violation in the seven-year period. Truck drivers placed a close second, with 22.86% recording a prior violation. And 25.51% of postal workers had reported a prior incident.
About one in three (32.46%) of delivery people, while cited as “some of the emergent heroes of the pandemic”, had a prior violation.
“Perhaps given the pressing demand and relatively minimal requirements to become a delivery worker, drivers with this occupation have some of the least-clean driving records with an incident rate 19% above average,” Insurify concluded.
Taxi and limo drivers reported an incident rate that was 15% higher than the national average, with 30.93% recording a prior violation.
Valet drivers had a violation rate 10% higher than the national average, at 29.2%.
“While pay is not significantly correlated with the cleanliness of a driving record, the jobs at the top of the list do have overall higher annual wages than those at the bottom,” Insurify said
“The top two driving jobs with the cleanest records earn annual wages higher than US $45,000, while the bottom three earn less than $33,000. This trend suggests that employees who earn more, and therefore may feel more valued and supported by their employer, exhibit higher integrity on the road.”
Driving jobs with the best records tended to be involved in public service sectors such as public transportation and postal workers.