COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2014 15
JOURNAL NEWS
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regulations like hours of service – con-
trary to the impact they have on the
industry and on drivers and their ques-
tionable effect on safety – and slowly on
actions that the industry supports and
could have a greater impact on safety,
like OOIDA's push for entry-level
driver training.
– James Jaillet
T
he U.S. House voted June 9 to add
an amendment to its version of the
U.S. Department of Transportation's
annual funding bill to stop the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration
from increasing the required minimum
amount of liability insurance for carriers.
FMCSA earlier this year announced
its intentions to seek a rulemaking to
increase the current $750,000 minimum,
saying it has not kept up with inflation
since being set at that level in 1985.
DOT said in its most recent significant
rulemakings report that FMCSA could
publish a proposed rule as early as
November to raise that amount.
FMCSA said in a report issued earlier
this year that if the $750,000 minimum
liability insurance amount had kept up
with inflation, it would be $1.62 million.
Both the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association and the
American Trucking Associations reject
the agency's claims that the current min-
imum needs changing, citing studies that
show just 1 percent of all crashes exceed
$750,000 in claims.
If the House bill becomes law with
the amendment from Rep. Steve Daines
(R-Mont.) included, it would "prohibit
the use of funds to develop, issue or
implement regulations that increase lev-
els of minimum financial responsibility
for transporting passengers or property
as in effect Jan. 1, 2014."
– James Jaillet
House amendment
would stop carrier
insurance minimum hike
Continued on page 56
