New House Highway Bill Being Introduced

Not that it's a common topic of conversation, but I highly doubt anybody I know has anything more than the minimum required by law.

 

That must be a Canadian thing, not even close to that here in the US. Minimum Car Insurance Requirements by State - NerdWallet

 

I have a one million umbrella policy for
My personal cars ,

 

They do if they have any assets to protect.
You can have the state minimum and some states it’s $5k

but have an at fault accident and $5k won’t even pay for the tail lights of the car you hit.

the typical idiot on the road has
The state minimum , — IF —— they have insurance at all. I think in most places , 1/4 to 1/3 of the vehicles on the road are uninsured.

this is also a good time to tell
You that you need uninsured and under-insured rider on your policy

when an idiot with the state minimum $5k hits your car and causes $10-20-50k damage plus medical bills, if you don’t have the uninsured addition to your policy, you’re just out that money. No use suing the driver, they don’t have any assets.

If you have assets,
vintage cars, a vacation home and a rental house or whatever
You need to have adequate insurance

 

Again, this is something where our voices need to be heard, not just as truckers but also as consumers. Write to your Congress rep, tell them how you feel, and that you are tired of being their piggybank.

 

They should be addressing the root cause - clowns who think they're entitled to millions of dollars for a tap on the bumper.

 

I guess I don't see a big deal with this. It costs me an extra $7500 / year for an extra $5,000,000 in insurance. And I'm in a dangerous line of trucking. ( Oilfield, Hazmat )

I'm also with buddy above me - Everyone should have at lease 1M in personal insurance - I personally have a 2M umbrella over all my personal stuff.

 

I sent letters to each of my reps, feel free to copy and paste to yours.

Dear Senator ___, I am writing to you for your help in rejecting the "Invest in America Act" due to several key elements that are very damaging to the trucking industry. I am an independent owner operator based in ____, I am a single truck and trailer operation with a spotless safety record with over 25 years experience in the industry. The Invest in America Act can very well put myself and many of my other owner operator friends right out of business. The thought of raising our minimum insurance from $750,000 to $2 million is a nail in the coffin for many small independent trucking companies when the real problem should be stopping the nuclear verdicts awarded against trucking companies in jury cases. We truckers are just simply doing our job, transporting goods and providing services for the country, paying our bills at home, taking care of our family, and sending our kids to college. What good is a highway bill when it does more to support the unbridled greed of trial lawyers than truckers? The last thing a trucker or the country needs is for their expenses to rise, and that's what this bill will do. If my bottom line gets effected by the Invest In America Act I will be transferring those new costs into my rates, therefore increasing the cost of transportation along to the shipper, who in return will have to increase the price of their product onto the consumer. There are other pieces of this legislature that are also bad for the trucking industry, speed limiters on commercial vehicles is a terrible idea. With the increase of truck traffic on the roads these days and the impatient motoring public behind us this is a recipe for disaster. We already have this problem on our roadways with fleets that are speed governed trying to pass one another taking almost 2-3 miles to do so, backing up traffic for miles behind them. The only good portion of the Invest in America Act I see is the creation of much more needed truck parking, hopefully with facilities. It's hard to believe that in this day and age this problem still exists, with many states closing much need rest areas. As for maintaining our bridges and roadways, I am 100% onboard with that, but I am sick and tired of having to worry about new ideas that take from my income when I am already paying enough into the system via fuel tax, IFTA, IRS 2290 Heavy Vehicle Tax, and income tax. I am asking you and Senator ____ to vehemently reject the Invest in America Act until the portions of it that will crush the independent trucker are removed. I also ask that you speak with your fellow members of Congress to also reject the Invest in America Act until it is refined, as it will have damaging effects on so many small businesses and trickle down effects to so many consumers.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.

 

And they do feel entitled to it. Last month in California I had a guy intentionally try to make me rear end him, he swerved right in front of me and slammed on his brakes, there was no one in front of him, no legitimate reason to do what he did. I slammed my breaks and barely missed him. He then punched it and in about 1,000 feet he busts a U in the middle of the road and hauls ###, knowing I cannot do the same in the TT.

 

Let it be known that EVERY Democrat in the House voted for this Bill.