Simply following commercial vehicle regulations will not guarantee highway safety or legal defense, requiring fleets to leverage leading indicators, act on incoming telematics data, and secure driver buy-in.
- Regulations are a starting point: Minimum compliance with FMCSA rules does not guarantee fleet safety or protect carriers from aggressive plaintiff attorneys in court.
- Data requires immediate action: Investing in safety tech creates legal exposure if safety managers ignore alerts or fail to act on leading indicators before a crash occurs.
- Predictive risk management works: Using AI models and analytics allows fleets to identify high-risk drivers early and deliver targeted coaching to prevent accidents.
- Early transparency protects fleets: Proactively sharing dashcam and telematics footage with law enforcement and insurers helps control the narrative immediately after an incident.
For motor carriers navigating a landscape of rising insurance premiums and aggressive plaintiff litigation, adhering to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations is no longer enough to protect the fleet.
Speaking at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition Monday, safety and risk management experts emphasized that regulatory adherence is merely the baseline: a lagging indicator that does little to shield a fleet from reptile theory attacks in court.
"Regulations don't guarantee safety," said Scopelitis Transportation Consulting Co-Director Steve Keppler. "Just because you're compliant with rules doesn't mean you're going to be safe. It's also about managing risk as we know, and liability, which is a big concern to all of us in the room."
Keppler noted that government enforcement has limited resources to oversee the industry, placing the onus on carriers to adopt a proactive mindset. That shift requires moving away from reactive metrics, like post-crash analysis, and toward predictive safety cultures driven by advanced technology.
Chad Krueger, vice president and managing director of risk intelligence at Central Analysis Bureau (CAB), underscored that plaintiff attorneys actively target fleets operating at the minimum compliance level. If an accident occurs, attorneys will rigorously examine a fleet's safety standards, making voluntary, beyond-compliance programs essential for legal defense.
Managing data overload and driver buy-in
While fleets are rapidly adopting safety technologies, ranging from telematics and active braking to inward-facing cameras and hair testing, the influx of information has created an environment of data overload.
Jaime Hamm, Werner Enterprises (CCJ Top 250, No. 14) senior vice president of safety and recruiting, said the key is utilizing predictive analytics to filter out noise. By leveraging AI and data models, fleets can identify the top 10% of drivers most likely to be involved in an accident within a 30-day window, allowing safety managers to intervene before a crash happens.
"If you have the technology, if you're going to be ingesting that data, you know, no surprise to anybody here, but you have to do something about it," Krueger said. "You can't ignore it. You can't let it sit for two months before you start addressing it".
Implementing these systems requires overcoming driver pushback. Hamm recommended using peer-to-peer testimonials—having veteran drivers explain how a camera exonerated them or an active braking system prevented a collision—to build trust and demonstrate that the technology is designed to get them home safely.
Communicating with insurance partners
The panel also stressed that carriers have to act as their own advocates during the insurance renewal process. Underwriters often rely on lagging, historical data like FMCSA scores and past claims, meaning fleets must proactively demonstrate the value of their safety investments to secure favorable rates.
Krueger noted that fleets must "tell a story" with their data, bringing in technology partners during renewal meetings to explain how specific safety systems actively prevent collisions and mitigate liability.
"You're not going to be able to implement every single technology, but what you do have, or what you do use, making sure that you do it well is extremely important," added Tim Lafon, Solera's vice president of fleet regulatory affairs.
In the immediate aftermath of a crash, early communication is equally critical. Carriers should immediately share telematics and video data with law enforcement and their insurance providers, ensuring the fleet controls the narrative long before a lawsuit is filed.
"It used to be that you would wait to get sued. That’s not a good approach, obviously," Lafon said. "Being proactive, embracing it, getting out there and getting the information, showing that you are committed, and also sharing that information—you can control the narrative a little bit when you're doing it that way."
