If they raise the liability minimum to $2 million or more...

You would think that rates would rise if costs jumped dramatically Joe, but sadly that isn't the case. Many of the large carriers self insure, so they could care less how high or low insurance rates are. O/O's run on some of the thinnest profit margins of any industry, and that's mostly because our costs have continued to rise over the last 40 years, but shipping rates are the same and even lower than 40 years ago. Some of the old timers on TTR will confirm that being an O/O was once a fairly lucrative business. Then came deregulation in the 80's, and that was the end of it being a great money maker for the little guy.

 

2 million liability is nothing...... don’t worry .
So your liability costs a couple of grand more whatever.....and if you get in a major wreck your screwed anyways. I don’t see how it’s going to lead to bigger settlements......

 

I was just starting out back then. and loads we’re paying more back before deregulation. then they do now in the northeast......

 

To the sue-happy for wheeler operators, it could. Isn't that the logic behind increasing to 2 mil coverage?

 

Lawyers for the 4 wheelers care very little about how much liability coverage you have in reality. If you have a 2 million dollar policy, they'll sue you for 10 million. Anything the jury awards the plaintiff over your insurance limit, you are responsible for paying, regardless if you have the means to pay it or not. Once you've sold everything you own to pay toward the settlement, they'll garnish your wages for the rest of your life, just because they can.

Courts don't decide who is right or wrong, they decide who has the best attorney.

 

Rates SHOULD rise. But if capacity stays high, while freight tonnage falls. It’s a race to the bottom. It happened for 6 yrs. hitting bottom in 2010 or so. High fuel prices and falling rates, till enough went out of Business. It’s happening again. This time high Insurance and high Equipment prices will cause the downfall of most new Authorities. Just my opinion. I don’t wish hardship on anyone trying to succeed. I have enough challenges of my own.

 

No lawyer suggests starting your demands anywhere under double what the minimum liability the carrier is insured for, been my experience anyway.

 

The higher settlements come from the simple claims that get settled before court. Right now most of these settle for about 20-30% of the policy limit so it stands to reason that the simple settlements will still stay at the same percentage yet the actual dollar amounts will be double.

Most claims adjusters can authorize a settlement up to a set percentage which I don't expect to change since the insurance companies use policy limits to decide how much effort they put into fighting claims. For many insurers it is easier to pay out a percentage of policy limit regardless of who is right or wrong or at fault.