Feds to scrap effort to raise truck insurance minimums

If you were worried that you’ve have to pay steeper insurance premiums in the near future simply due to federal rulemaking efforts, you can breathe easy again.

That’s because the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans to withdraw its proposal – made three years ago – to beef up mandated levels of insurance coverage for motor carriers carrying freight and passengers alike to $4 million from the current $750,000 amount.

[You can read the FMCSA's withdrawal notice by clicking here.]

OOIDA pointed out that more than 99% of crash damages are covered under current financial requirements and that the increase – based by FMCSA on medical cost inflation - would place “significant financial burdens on motor carriers without any improvement to highway safety.”

“Such an increase would put small truckers out of business,” noted Mike Matousek, OOIDA’s director of government affairs, in a statement.

He added that the announced withdrawal is “significant” in that the agency usually just leaves a docket open if a proposal is no longer being advanced.

The agency also pointed out in its notice that, after reviewing all public comments, it had “insufficient data or information” to support moving forward with a rulemaking proposal to raise insurance minimums – at least at this time, FMCSA stressed.