Survey seeks to pinpoint the impact of rising insurance costs

April 8, 2021

Land Line Staff

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The OOIDA Foundation, a member of the American Transportation Research Institute’s Research Advisory Committee, has been tasked with helping to distribute a survey, which was developed with input from both motor carriers and insurance providers.

OOIDA encourages its member to take part in the survey as this research has been deemed “a top industry priority” by ATRI’s RAC.

Help ATRI better understand how drivers and fleets are managing rising insurance costs.

“There is a strong push currently to increase the minimum insurance levels to $2 million or more,” said Andrew King, OOIDA Foundation Research Analyst. “This will be devastating for the small owner-operator. It is important to understand how minimum insurance increases have impacted the industry so that we can relay that information to lawmakers.”

In 2020, an amendment that would have increased motor carriers’ insurance requirements by 167%, advanced to the Senate before the bill stalled. A coalition of approximately 60 organizations, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, is fighting to prevent a similar measure in the next highway bill.

“Nuclear verdicts, or in other words those verdicts over $1 million, have increased dramatically over the past few years,” King said. “An increase in insurance minimums will only serve to exacerbate this problem. Thereby pushing premiums even higher and potentially putting many owner-operators out-of-business.”

All survey responses will be kept completely confidential. Personal, organization, and/or financial information will never be released for public use under any circumstance, and will only be used internally for research analyses. The final report will only be present in an aggregated, nonidentifying format. If requested, ATRI will sign a nondisclosure agreement.

All survey respondents will receive an advance copy of the final report.

The survey deadline is May 1. LL