Truck accident lawyers are very familiar with reckless 18-wheeler drivers who cause serious accidents and injuries as a result of careless driving, but according to the FBI, reckless driving may not be the only way truck drivers are claiming victims.
The FBI calls it an emerging trend: highway serial killers who double as truck drivers. The agency has been aware of the connection between long haul truck drivers and crimes, like murder and rape committed near highways, for years now. 
FBI agents stumbled on the connection about five years ago during a case involving a series of murders on highways in several states. Those murders were ultimately traced to an 18-wheeler driver. Soon after, the agency established the "Highway Serial Killing Initiative’’ to monitor suspected truck drivers. The FBI currently has a database of dozens of truckers who have been either charged with or suspected of murder or rape. More than 500 victims, mostly female prostitutes, have been murdered near highways.
There is no information on whether truck driving is a preferred occupation of known serial killers, but the nature of the job and the kind of cover it offers could make trucking the perfect front for a killer. Investigators say there are several reasons a serial killer would choose trucking as his occupation:
- Truckers are highly mobile and a serial killer could benefit from the anonymity that mobility offers
- They work without any supervision while on the road
- They constantly come in contact with potential victims, usually women with a high-risk background
The agency has collected enough evidence linking truckers to serial killings to make this frightening announcement. Bodies of victims have been found dumped by the roadside, along highways, and behind truck stops. The Highway Serial Killing Initiative has come in especially useful for cases involving murders outside local jurisdiction. Several murders, thought to have been committed by truckers, involved bodies being dumped in a location other than where the murder took place.
Truck Driver Screening
You have to wonder how it is so easy for a serial killer to gain employment in a trucking company. None of this, however, is to say that all truckers are suspect, but if there was any incentive for trucking companies to begin screening their drivers more stringently, this would be it. Trucking companies could help save innocent victims by screening potential employees and monitoring current employees more closely.
If you have been injured in an 18-wheeler accident, contact an 18-wheeler accident lawyer at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.
Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/AITruckAccidentLawyerBlog/~3/c2ncuT4mAOw/
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