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(USGovernment-News.Com, June 23, 2013 ) Dallas, TX -- While the Trucking Alliance is setting to push for an increase in the requirements set to federal insurance for motor carriers, there is one group that is looking to raise the requirements overall.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Commission is in the midst of the study required under the MAP-21 highway authorization bill. The agency is analyzing the possibility of adequacy in raising the general mandatory needs, currently set at $750,000.
The Trucking Alliance has looked at nearly 8,700 accident instances involving settlements since 2005. According to the study, nearly 1% of the settlements exceed the three-quarter million requirement. Alliance admits that a per-occurrence average is what notes the true consideration for the sum.
In all studies, companies maintained $750,000, with 42% money-based exposure coming from such settlements. “Conversely, 42 percent of the injury claims could have had no avenue for offsetting medical costs,” the Alliance wrote.
“What the Trucking Alliance put together isn’t a study. It’s an x-rated fairly tale. Something you would expect to see on late night television interspersed between all the other claims for miracle products and personal injury lawyers,” Spencer said. “No one should take this bogus study seriously. In 98 to 99 percent of crashes involving trucks, claims are settled well below the $750,000 minimum. But even at that, most truckers have $1 million in coverage. All the Alliance will succeed in doing is Increase costs for their competition in trucking and chum the water for personal injury lawyers.”
The American Trucking Association has not been convinced by the findings either. Sean McNally, a spokesperson for Sean McNally, stated that only 1% of settlements exceed the minimum. He also claimed that the Alliance was chasing what he called an “unstated goal.”
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