Do owner–operators pose a safety risk on the nation’s highways?

•This study assesses the significant differences in safety performance between owner–operators and employee drivers.•Results indicate that owner-operators have poorer driver and vehicle out-of-service records than employee drivers.•Surprisingly, results show that owner-operators experience lower crash rates than employee drivers.

Despite persistent claims in the motor carrier industry of poorer safety performance of owner–operators, there is little empirical work directly comparing owner–operator safety performance to that of employee drivers. This study assesses the statistical significance of differences in the safety performance between owner–operators and employee drivers. This study also expands on previous driver focused safety models by examining how driver and carrier characteristics affect safety performance. Data for this study were derived from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS), and the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) databases. Study results provide evidence that owner–operators are associated with more driver- and vehicle-out-of-service violations but experience lower crash rates than do employee drivers.