Bill will increase trucking insurance minimums by millions

The transportation Committee announced they have submitted a bill to increase the minimum required insurance for all trucking companies. The increase jumps from $750,000.00 to $4,422,000.00. The bill was introduced by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Penn) and has seven sponsors. The bill is called the Safe and Fair Environment on Highways Achieved through Underwriting Levels Act (SAFE-HAUL).

The bill states a recent study by the Trucking Alliance which is a  group  of seven very large trucking companies, that claims more than  40% of    accident settlements paid by carriers between 2005 and 2011  exceeded the $750,000.00 minimum. The OOIDA (Owner Operator    and Independent Drivers Association) and the ATA (American    Trucking Association) both disagree with the findings and said only  about 1 to 2 percent of crashes involving tractor trailers will see a  claim above $750,000.00. A representative of OOIDA Todd Spencer  called this study bogus and that all this will succeed in doing is  increase  costs for their competition in trucking and chum the water  for personal injury lawyers. Most trucking companies have $1 million  in coverage and that 98-99 percent of truck crashes are settled below the $750,000.00 minimum. Other companies have come forward and have basically said the same thing as Mr. Spencer claiming this is a way for the larger companies to force the smaller “Mom and Pop” companies out of business.

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