The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for input from drivers, carriers, owner-operators, and the industry as a whole on whether or not they should be mandating an increase in insurance minimums.
Currently the minimum liability coverage will keep carriers insured for up to $750,000, but following a study into the real cost of crashes, the FMCSA announced that the minimum falls well short of covering all of the damage in many crashes. The minimum has been unchanged since 1982.
Many industry groups are opposed to an increase, with both OOIDA and the ATA standing firm against it. Detractors say that less than 1% of crashes exceed the current minimum and that many carriers have liability insurance for well over the required $750,000.
Additionally, many are concerned that a mandatory increase in coverage would result in higher premiums being paid by companies who don’t need or want the additional coverage.
The FMCSA has not indicated the amount that the minimum will be raised to, but if it was increased based solely on inflation, $750,000 in 1982 is worth roughly $1.8 million today.
You can submit your comments to the FMCSA here.
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Source: fleetowner, ccj, truckinginfo, regulations
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Of course they don’t want to have to pay…
Be prepared for the trickle down effect.
It is a tough question to answer. So use the facts. Fmcsa says minimum levels fall short in their study. Ooida says only 1% is more, which one is it? We know the mega carriers pushed for this, it’s another edge on small business. Big business can self-insure. I have a perfect driving record, 1 million dollar insurance, and I paid $750 a month for a nice insurance plan. After they pushed to raise minimum levels, my new yearly agreement went to $940 a month.
Another thing to factor in….What percentage of crashes are actually caused by trucks?? If it’s a relatively low number, i see no point in the increase in coverage.
It just ups the anty for higher lawsuits. Instead of 1 million the shark lawyers will sue for 1.8 million
I have a feeling the lawyers sue for way more than the minimum anyway.
It’s kinda sad. There are 2 whole pages of comments up-in-arms over CR England begging for more breaks from the government but only 5 comments on this. This will raise the cost of doing business for everyone which will in turn raise the retail cost of everything everyone buys. Yet, nobody cares lol. Or maybe I’m wrong and everyone took their comments to the .gov page. I doubt it, but a man can hope. If you haven’t done so already please do people. I know its not much. I know they will probably just ignore it anyways and do whatever they want; but, at least make your voice heard that this is an unnecessary cost to Americans that only benefits the insurance companies.