During a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing focused on the supply chain and infrastructure, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., a former member of the trucking industry, passionately contested a bill seeking to escalate a motor carrier’s minimum liability insurance by 566%.
Operating a family trucking business himself, Collins highlighted the challenges faced by small trucking companies in the U.S. due to existing regulations.
“I truly believe that the trucking industry is the most taxed and regulated industry in this country,” he said. “For far too long, we have been the recipient of overreaching, over-burdensome and over-out-of-control federal agencies.”
Specifically, Collins criticized an initiative aiming to mandate trucking companies to carry $5 million in liability insurance. The proposed legislation, known as the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act and introduced by Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in December, seeks to raise the minimum insurance levels from $750,000 to $5 million.
Citing research, Collins pointed out that up to 91% of car and tractor-trailer collisions are attributed to the fault of the four-wheeler.
“We don’t need to force larger minimums on our auto liabilities in this country for trucking,” Collins said. “The only thing that does is give a pay raise to these trial lawyers out there.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) also opposes any endeavors to hike the minimum insurance requirement. Critics argue that a majority of motor carriers already carry $1 million in insurance, and the latest study on the matter indicates that the current minimum insurance level effectively covers damages in all but 0.6% of cases.
Notably, OOIDA played a pivotal role in preventing a minimum insurance increase from being included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Source: Land Line
