Trucking History – July 2022
July 1, 1980
President Carter signed the Motor Carrier Act into law. This legislation in trucking history was said to be a sweeping deregulation of the industry. However, a decline in prices consumers paid came largely at the expense of truck drivers’ incomes. In fact, the average trucker’s salary has decreased by as much as 50% since deregulation, according to Business Insider.
July 25, 1986
The movie “Maximum Overdrive” was released. The comedy horror film was written and directed by Stephen King and starred Emilio Estevez. Centered on machines that come to life after Earth crosses the tail of a comet, the movie heavily featured semis, including the infamous “Green Goblin.”
July 2013
Rep. Matthew Cartwright, D-Pa., introduced a bill that proposed to raise the minimum liability insurance requirements for trucks operating in interstate commerce set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration more than 500%, from $750,000 to $4.2 million per truck. A jaw-dropping move in trucking history. A 2013 FMCSA report said doubling the level of liability does not imply doubling the dollar value of the risk. Recognizing the potential damage to small-business truckers, OOIDA immediately launched a major offensive. The bill failed to gain traction. However, OOIDA continues the fight as House Democrats attempted to get a minimum insurance increase to $2 million in the 2021 infrastructure bill.
In a 2020 letter, OOIDA’s Director of Government Affairs Collin Long stated, “Increasing the minimum insurance requirements from $750,000 to $2 million in the midst of a major economic downturn would be nothing short of disastrous for many small motor carriers and owner-operators who are currently struggling to stay in business due to historically low freight rates.”
July 7, 2017
OOIDA mailed 102,000 refund checks to truckers who were members of a class action lawsuit brought by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association against the state of New York for unconstitutionally discriminatory registration and decal taxes. LL