An FMCSA committee will meet this month to begin work on the agency’s plan to raise the minimum amount of liability insurance required by carriers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee will meet May 19-20 in Alexandria, Va., to “discuss ideas and suggestions” for changes to the minimum insurance requirements for trucking companies.
The meeting announcement builds on a report released last week by FMCSA that concluded the current $750,000 minimum is too low, and that the agency plans to pursue rulemaking to raise the minimum. Click here to read CCJ‘s coverage of the agency’s report.
FMCSA says the current minimum, set in 1985, has not kept up with measures of inflation, especially those related to medical costs, and does not “adequately cover catastrophic crashes.”
The American Trucking Associations, however, refutes the agency’s findings, saying the agency’s study lacked depth and that raising insurance minimums has no correlation to highway safety.
Likewise, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association cites data that says only 1 percent of all crashes in which trucks are involved exceed $750,000 in cost.
