A group of U.S. Senators, led by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), is asking that Congress not include any increases in liability minimums for commercial truck drivers in the next transportation reauthorization bill.
The letter, sent to the leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, asks the committee leaders to not further burden owner-operators and independent truck drivers by increasing the minimum of liability insurance from $750,000 to $2 million per truck.
“The only thing this would do is destroy small trucking businesses,” said Lewie Pugh, Executive Vice President of Owner Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA), who spent 22 years as an owner-operator. “Trial lawyers are simply trying to increase their payouts at the expense of those deemed essential, including truckers, farmers, and manufacturers.”
In the letter, the lawmakers argue that the increase in liability coverage would impact any business that transports property, including a wide range of industries including truckers, farmers, and manufacturers, and would do little to increase highway safety.
“Research done on a federal level has indicated that an increase in minimum insurance requirements is unnecessary. In 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) commissioned the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to research this subject in greater detail, and that study found that ‘[t]he vast majority of CMV-caused crashes have relatively small cost consequences, and the costs are easily covered with the limits of mandatory liability insurance [emphasis added].’ Volpe continued, ‘A small share exceed the mandatory minimum but are often covered by other insurance or assets.’ This study showed that the current minimum insurance level adequately covers damages in 99.94% of crashes,” the senators wrote. The legislation would cost jobs, the senators argued.
“Increasing insurance rates on our hard-working folks who transport goods across our nation would destroy jobs in our transportation industry,” Daines said. “During these challenging times, we must promote economic recovery and growth for our truckers, farmers, and manufacturers, not burden them by increasing insurance rates further.”