A forensic analysis of trucking litigation published by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) Wednesday showed that the frequency of lawsuits and the size of jury verdicts against motor carriers are rising at an alarming rate.
Rising cases and "nuclear" verdicts
The number of tractor-trailer tort cases filed annually increased at an average rate of 3.7% from 2014 to 2023, ATRI found. The institute noted that more concerning for the industry is a surge in "nuclear verdicts"—awards exceeding $10 million. The median size of these massive judgments jumped significantly between 2013 and 2022, with the median nuclear verdict reaching $36 million in 2022—approximately 50% higher than the median nuclear verdict in 2013. During the same timeframe, the share of verdicts exceeding $50 million rose by 6.4 percentage points, ATRI found.
ATRI’s data suggests that high-dollar awards are often detached from actual medical costs. In more than 80% of verdicts exceeding $1 million, non-medical damages, such as pain and suffering, were up to 10 times higher than the actual medical bills incurred by plaintiffs.
Fifteen types of injury each had a median total award greater than the national median of $1.3 million, from psychological issues to hip / pelvic injuries. Paralysis, psychological issues, and internal organ damage had the highest median total awards. These three costliest injury types were among the least common in the dataset. Shoulder, arm, and moderate spinal injuries were the injury types with the lowest median awards. In general, injuries with less costly awards than average – leg, shoulder, and moderate spinal injuries – tended to be the most common.ATRI
Plaintiffs often misleadingly seek medical damages that reflect the initial medical bill rather than the amount actually paid for medical care, ATRI noted—a practice is often called “phantom damages." Legislation has been introduced in multiple states—including Georgia, Arkansas, and Montana—to curtail it.
Oklahoma and Iowa have enacted legislation instituting noneconomic damage caps aimed at curtailing excessive damages in categories like pain and suffering, which in some cases dwarf economic medical and financial damages.
Fifteen types of injury each had a median total award greater than the national median of $1.3 million, ranging from psychological issues to hip/pelvic injuries. Paralysis, psychological issues, and internal organ damage had the highest median total awards. These three costliest injury types were among the least common in ATRI's dataset.
Settlements and the high cost of state courts
For cases valued under $1 million, settling was found to be more expensive than going to trial. However, for high-stakes cases valued over $5 million, settlements were statistically lower than verdict awards, suggesting defendants should avoid trial in catastrophic cases.
Geography plays a key role. The report singles out California, Georgia, and Florida as states with the highest median awards. These jurisdictions are often labeled "judicial hellholes" and account for a disproportionate number of jackpot verdicts.
State courts overall were found to be significantly more expensive for trucking defendants than federal courts, highlighting a critical strategic failure within the defense bar regarding venue selection. For cases with verdicts over $1 million, the median award in state court was $3.6 million versus $2.5 million in federal court. ATRI estimates that in 2022, the trucking industry lost upwards of $102.8 million in excess jury awards because eligible cases were not removed from state courts.
Factors driving payouts
The report identifies numerous factors that statistically lead to higher awards, including types of negligence (such as improper hiring or onboarding) and injuries (such as moderate and severe traumatic brain injury). It found that settlements were lower than verdicts in cases with awards of $5 million or more but higher than verdicts in cases with awards under $1 million. Three types of alleged negligence were statistically correlated with defense victories: improper turn, improper merge, and failure to yield.
- Negligence: If a driver is found to have been abusing substances, the total award size increases by an expected 340.7%, ATRI found. Improper hiring or onboarding practices by a carrier increased expected awards by 272.3%. Improper merge was the sole type of negligence in 60% of cases in which it was alleged, making it the most frequent sole cause of plaintiff awards. It was followed by running a red light (57%), failure to stop (51%), and wrongful parking (45%).
- Injuries: A case’s total award was expected to increase, on average, by more than 380% if it involved a death. Lingering psychological issues, such as personality-altering depression, anxiety, or panic attacks, raised awards by 290%. The total award for a case was expected to increase by 158.9% if it involved severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Moderate TBI also led to significantly higher total awards (+83.8%). Mild TBI, by contrast, did not have a statistically significant impact on the total award.
Counterclaims, where evidence of plaintiff negligence was presented, did not result in statistically lower awards, underscoring the jury bias faced by motor carriers, ATRI noted.
Emerging legal threats
ATRI’s report also warns of developing legal threats, including Third-Party Litigation Funding (TPLF), a judicial cottage industry where outside investors fund lawsuits in exchange for part of the settlement. ATRI warns this practice prevents reasonable settlements as investors push for maximum payouts to ensure a return on investment.
