FMCSA tables costly scheme raising baseline truck insurance

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Grain Valley, Mo.; CP staff

Citing “insufficient data or information to support moving forward with a rulemaking,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has withdrawn a proposal expanding the scope of commercial motor vehicles warranting a minimum amount of insurance per truck, potentially increasing annual coverage from $750,000 to $4 million.

NRMCA welcomes the FMCSA decision, noting how a) minimum insurance levels are generally set on the state level, versus federal, for concrete mixer trucks; and, b) the proposed rule aimed to put ready mixed producers and other private fleet operators under federal requirements generally limited to hazardous material and other high-risk carriers.

In an early-2015 member survey supporting comments submitted to FMCSA, NRMCA Compliance and Operations staff found most ready mixed producers have coverage exceeding minimum requirements and/or umbrella policies for rare, higher claims. “Ready mixed concrete industry survey data directly calls into question the necessity for proposing to make any changes to the current financial responsibility regulatory scheme,” NRMCA told the agency.

Among others challenging the FMCSA proposal, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association argued that the rule factored insurance figures based on increases in medical inflation, and would place significant financial burdens on motor carriers without any improvement to highway safety—as more than 99 percent of crash damages are covered under current financial requirements.