The required insurance minimum for motor carriers has been the same since 1980. According to Representative Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.) the current requirement of $750,000 is not enough to protect crash victims and fails to perform the basic functions that Congress intended: to promote safe operations by holding insurers responsible for inspecting trucking operations prior to underwriting policies and to protect the public.
Cartwright wants to raise the minimum amount of coverage that a motor carrier must have to $4.4 million per truck. The number might seem excessive to some, but he cites the rising cost of health care as the reason for the needed increase. A study by the Trucking Alliance found that only one percent of settlements paid by trucking companies between 2005 and 2011 for motor vehicle accidents exceeded the minimum insurance requirement. The Trucking Alliance supports raising the minimum, but did not specifically endorse the amount proposed by Cartwright. Prasad Sharma, general counsel at the American Trucking Associations, says that data suggests the current amount is adequate. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is taking a similar position. “The legislation will not make highways safer and is completely unnecessary,” says OOIDA spokeswoman Norita Taylor, “If enacted it would have a devastating impact on small-business truckers as their insurance costs would go up exponentially.” Proponents of the legislation say it protects the American public as well as trucking companies by ensuring sufficient coverage is available to cover the total costs of commercial vehicle accidents.
