In an agency report to Congress released this week, 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 says.
Had the number kept pace with the core consumer price index (a measure of inflation), the minimum required insurance would be $1.62 million, FMCSA says, but if the number had kept up with the medical consumer price index, which measures the increase annually in medical costs, carriers would be required to have $3.18 million in liability insurance.
The agency’s study was required by the MAP-21 highway funding act from 2012. The law required FMCSA to study the adequacy of the minimum and the possibility of raising it.
The American Trucking Associations, however, says it questions FMCSA’s study and does not see a correlation between insurance minimums and safety.
“ATA has yet to see any evidence that increased insurance minimums will lead to improved highway safety, and until we can review the underlying Volpe study FMCSA’s report relies on, that continues to be the case,” ATA said in a statement. “In addition, we are disappointed by the report’s lack of depth in exploring these issues.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, too, 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.
