Heart Butte, MT truck route planning & crash data
Plan safer truck routes in Heart Butte: commercial truck and garbage truck crashes in Heart Butte and Pondera County, dangerous roads, seasonality and route safety data for fleets. Patterns use Pondera County numbers.
Where fatal truck crashes happened
Risk scorecard
Key findings
Snapshot
Crashes by month
Garbage trucks vs all trucks
1 of 73 truck crashes since 2015.
Deadliest roads
No fatal large-truck crashes with a road name recorded here since 2015.
How Pondera County compares with Montana
Pondera County against Montana and the US, 2015–2025 (years with complete crash reporting). Per-resident rates make big and small places comparable.
Where Pondera County stands out
Full comparison
| Measure (2015–2025) | Pondera County | Montana | United States | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crashes per 100k residents / yr | 98.7 | 64.3 | 49.7 | 1.5× the state |
| Deaths per 100 crashes | 3.0 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 21% below the state |
| Injuries per crash | 0.47 | 0.34 | 0.49 | 1.4× the state |
| Garbage-truck share | 1.5% | 0.9% | 2.3% | 1.7× the state |
| On snow, slush or ice | 34.8% | 39.4% | 6.2% | 12% below the state |
| Morning rush (6–10 am) | 16.7% | 22.9% | 23.7% | 27% below the state |
| In rain, sleet or snow | 18.2% | 20.6% | 13.8% | 12% below the state |
| Winter months (Nov–Mar) | 50.0% | 54.3% | 41.9% | 8% below the state |
| After dark | 16.7% | 30.8% | 24.8% | 46% below the state |
Pondera County has lower values than Montana for deaths per 100 crashes, on snow, slush or ice and morning rush (6–10 am). It runs above Montana on crashes per 100k residents / yr, injuries per crash and garbage-truck share.
The headline for Pondera County: 1 in 66 of truck crashes here involve garbage trucks: 1.5%, vs 0.9% in Montana.
Overview
Police reported 73 crashes involving commercial trucks in Pondera County since 2015: 31 people were injured and 2 were killed.
That averages about one truck crash every 61 days in fully reported years.
With 0 truck crashes reported in Heart Butte since 2015, this page uses Pondera County numbers for its patterns and comparisons.
86% of truck crash reports in Pondera County since 2015 leave the city field blank; place counts include only reports that name the place.
When crashes happen
The worst month is March with 13.7% of truck crashes; the quietest is June at 2.7%.
Winter months (Nov–Mar) carry 50.0% of truck crashes, vs 54.3% for Montana.
The busiest hour is 11 am–12 pm, with 16.4% of truck crashes.
34.8% of truck crashes here happened on snow, slush or ice, against 39.4% across Montana.
Where crashes happen
Since 2015, no fatal large-truck crashes with a location were recorded within 10 miles of Heart Butte.
Garbage & waste trucks
1 crash involved a garbage or refuse truck, a 1.4% share (Montana: 0.9%).
Route planning tips for Heart Butte fleets
- Review driver schedules for March, the month with the most truck crashes.
- Paste your stops into the free Route Planner to see the risk score, safer alternatives and low bridges.
About the data
Sources: the FMCSA crash file for all reported truck crashes and NHTSA FARS for fatal crashes with a large truck. Every statement here comes straight from those numbers.
Truck crashes by year: all trucks vs garbage trucks
Seasonality: when trucks crash in Pondera County
By hour of day
Most dangerous roads for trucks
No fatal crashes involving a large truck with a road name were recorded within 10 miles since 2015.
Roads named most in all truck crash reports
| Road | Truck crashes since 2015 (Pondera County) |
|---|---|
| Mm 346.0 I-15 | 2 |
| Mm 333.9 Interstate 15 | 1 |
| Mm 346.8 I-15 | 1 |
| Mm 347.0 I-15 | 1 |
| Mm13.2 Us-91 | 1 |
| Mp 334.4 I-15 | 1 |
| Us89S Mm 87.4 | 1 |
Heart Butte at a glance
| Land area | 4.6 sq mi |
| Median household income (ZIP 59448) | $32,083 |
Waste facilities and haulers nearby
Historical data: truck crashes in Pondera County since the 1990s
Combines the FMCSA crash file (all reported truck crashes, real coverage from about 1990) with NHTSA FARS (fatal crashes involving a large truck, 1982–2024).
| Decade | Truck crashes / yr | Change | Fatal crashes / yr (FARS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | — | — | 0.1 |
| 2000s | 4 | — | 0.2 |
| 2010s | 5 | +27% | 0.0 |
| 2020s | 6 | +31% | 0.2 |
Reported truck crashes averaged 4 a year in the 2000s and 6 a year in the 2020s. Reporting practices changed over time, so part of any change can come from reporting. Fatal crashes involving a large truck averaged 0.0 a year in 2016–19 and 0.2 a year in 2020–24.
Nearby places
Questions fleets ask about Heart Butte
How common are truck crashes in Heart Butte?
Pondera County has had 73 reported truck crashes since 2015, injuring 31 people and killing 2.
Which month has the most truck crashes in Heart Butte?
March has the most truck crashes in Pondera County, 13.7% of the yearly total.
How many garbage truck accidents happen in Heart Butte?
Since 2015, Pondera County has reported 1 garbage-truck crash, or 1.4% of its truck crashes.
What is the truck crash rate in Heart Butte compared with Montana?
The yearly rate is 98.7 truck crashes per 100,000 residents in Pondera County, vs 64.3 for Montana.
How can I plan a safer truck route in Heart Butte?
Paste your stops into the free CurbWaste Route Planner: it scores your route against fatal-crash locations, suggests safer alternatives and flags low bridges.
2026 is a partial year. Updated October 2026.