FMCSA: Current insurance minimums for carriers ‘inadequate,’ new rule coming

Well, you can expect to see your insurance premiums rise in the near future. FMCSA has skipped the "We think this might be the case" part of making new rules, and gone straight to "We know this is the case with certainty."


A couple interesting snippets from that lovely article:

"...FMCSA concludes that the $750,000 liability limit set in 1985 does not “adequately cover catastrophic crashes” today, due chiefly to inflation and increased medical costs, the agency say"

"...[read]OOIDA says the insurance increase “would be a death nail for small businesses” in the trucking industry, and OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer says that just 1 percent of all crashes where trucks are involved exceed $750,000 in damages. "

"...but the Trucking Alliance, an association of fleets, said in a report last March that between 2005 and 2011, 42 percent of the settlements paid by its carrier members exceeded $750,000"

In case any one was curious, the "Aliiance of truckers" Consists of- Maverick, Knight, JB hunt, Dupre, Boyle and Fikes. These guys can survive the rate increase

"The agency (FMCSA) attempts to quell carriers’ fears about increased insurance premiums by saying in its study that insurance rates have 'declined slightly on average in nominal terms' for the same level of coverage. Adjusted for inflation, insurance rates have dropped too, the agency says, adding that the current $750,000 minimum runs about $5,000 a year per truck. "

"Despite critics of the study, the agency (FMCSA) says it has already formed “a rulemaking team” to determine a new minimum liability level. The rule is now among [its] high priority rules."

 

This will be the ironic day we find out the FMCSA is actually controlled by ambulance chasing lawyers.
Oh, pardon me, I meant personal injury attorneys! Surely, they are some of the kindest people there was, manipulating our now grotesque legal system...

 

Kind of ridiculous to raise the coverage minimum 5.3 times than what it currently is. I know FMCSA is half retarded, half stupid; but I don't think they're that retarded, or that stupid.
That's a great way to piss a lot of drivers off, even more than they already are...One and a half more years, and hopefully not another Clinton. Just hold out, I suppose.