Logbook
Bill would increase insurance minimum
The Safe and Fair Environment
on Highways Achieved through
Underwriting Levels Act (SAFEHAUL) was introduced by U.S. Rep.
Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) and has
Text INFO to 205-289-3555 or visit www.ovdinfo.com
A bill referred to the House's
transportation committee in July
would raise the minimum insurance
required by trucking companies from
$750,000 to $4,422,000.
seven co-sponsors.
The bill cites a recent
study by the Trucking
Alliance – a group
representing seven large
fleets – that says 42 percent
of accident settlements paid
by carriers between 2005 and
2011 exceeded the $750,000
minimum.
The Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers
Association and the
American Trucking
Associations disagree with
the study's findings, however.
They say that just 1 percent
or 2 percent of crashes
involving trucks actually see a
claim above $750,000.
OOIDA's Todd Spencer
called the study "bogus,"
adding that "All the alliance
will succeed in doing is
increase costs for their
competition in trucking and
churn the water for personal
injury lawyers."
Most truckers, Spencer
said, have $1 million in
coverage, and that "98 to
99 percent" of truck crashes
"are settled well below the
$750,000 minimum."
ATA spokesman Sean
McNally echoed Spencer,
saying that just 1 percent
of settlements exceeds the
minimum.
The Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration
"consistently found over the
same time period examined
by the Trucking Alliance that
the average cost of a crash
involving a large truck is less
than a third of the minimum
limit required today,"
McNally added.
– Jill Dunn
96 | Overdrive | August 2013
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