FMCSA rule to increase liability insurance sent to OMB, paving way for publication

A rule proposal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to increase the minimum amount of liability insurance carriers must have has been sent to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget — the final stop before the rule is published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The proposed rule was sent to the OMB Oct. 1, just a few days behind the date a recent Department of Transportation report forecast.

The DOT projected in the same report that the rule would clear the OMB Oct. 12 and be published as a NPRM Oct. 22.

The rule came on the radar in April, when FMCSA released a report saying the current $750,000 minimum is too low. The agency noted in its report that minimum has been touched since 1985, and had it kept up with inflation, it would be upwards of $1.6 million, FMCSA says.

The agency seemingly zipped through the rulemaking process, too, as it’s poised to publish the proposed rule just six months after releasing the report.

The American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, however, both cite research saying just 1 percent of truck crashes cause damages that exceed $1 million. Both groups have said they are against an increase in the minimum.

CCJ sister site Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills published a story Sept. 30 detailing how the increase could impact carriers’ premiums — Click here to read it.