For Immediate Release

Truckers succeed in getting arbitrary increase in insurance minimums taken off the regulatory table

Small-business truckers have succeeded in getting a potentially devastating proposed regulation withdrawn by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and its members had vehemently opposed a proposed rulemaking to arbitrarily increase insurance minimums for commercial motor carriers. In 2014, the FMCSA proposed increasing federally mandated levels of insurance coverage for property and passenger motor carriers from $750,000 to $4 million.

OOIDA and its members had told Congress that the initiative, which the FMCSA based on increases in medical inflation, would place significant financial burdens on motor carriers without any improvement to highway safety.

The Association also pointed out that more than 99 percent of crash damages are covered under current financial requirements.

OOIDA’s Director of Government Affairs Mike Matousek said such an increase would put small truckers out of business. 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.

“We want to thank all the truckers and small-business trucking companies, our OOIDA Board Members and active membership for your work on this issue,” said Matousek.