Minimum insurance bill another burden to trucking, lawmaker says

A member of Congress with a background in the trucking industry used his time at a House hearing to fight back against a bill that would increase a motor carrier’s minimum liability insurance by 566%.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing about the supply chain and the general state of infrastructure on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who owns a family trucking business, said that regulations have made it difficult to operate a small trucking company in the United States.

“I truly believe that the trucking industry is the most taxed and regulated industry in this country,” Collins said. “For far too long, we have been the recipient of overreaching, over-burdensome and over-out-of-control federal agencies.”

In particular, Collins called out an attempt to make trucking companies carry $5 million worth of liability insurance.

Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia introduced the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act in December. The bill would increase existing minimum insurance levels from $750,000 all the way to $5 million.

Collins noted research that up to 91% of crashes between cars and tractor-trailers are “the four-wheeler’s fault.”

“We don’t need to force larger minimums on our auto liabilities in this country for trucking,” Collins added. “The only thing that does is give a pay raise to these trial lawyers out there.”

OOIDA pushes back against insurance bill

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also opposes any attempts to increase the minimum insurance.

Opponents point out that most motor carriers already carry $1 million in insurance and that the most recent study into the issue found that the current minimum insurance level adequately covers damages in all but 0.6% of the cases.

OOIDA played a key role in helping keep a minimum insurance increase out of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. LL