Rising lawsuit abuse is threatening trucking businesses and the supply chain that keeps America moving.
Chris Spear
President & CEO, American Trucking Associations
In the midst of a painful, multi-year freight recession, the trucking industry received another piece of sobering news: Non-fuel operating costs for motor carriers are the highest they have ever been, as recorded by the American Transportation Research Institute. There is a long list of reasons for this spike in costs, but the epidemic of lawsuit abuse is near the top.
Unfortunately, trucking’s high-profile nature makes our industry a target for trial lawyers’ get-rich-quick schemes. One infamous example is staged accidents, where criminals intentionally crash their cars into trucks to shake down truck owners and bilk their insurers.
This dangerous practice, as well as a multitude of other frivolous cases aimed at truckers, is raising the cost of goods for all consumers. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lawsuit abuse costs the average household up to $4,200 annually. Lawsuit abuse is also driving up insurance rates to unsustainable levels. Whenever they are on the road delivering freight, trucking companies — the vast majority of which are small businesses — are potentially one bad verdict away from being forced to permanently shut their doors.
Our battle against lawsuit abuse has nothing to do with limiting liability. In fact, trucking goes above and beyond by investing $14 billion annually in safety technologies and driver training to protect all roadway users. Our campaign is focused on fighting unscrupulous tactics that inflate damages, engineer lopsided verdicts, and extract disproportionate settlements.
Driving forward change
The American Trucking Associations (ATA)’s federation of state trucking associations is leading the way. Over the past few years, we have passed comprehensive tort reform legislation in 15 states. At the federal level, ATA is advocating for proposals like the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, the Litigation Transparency Act, and the FAIR Trucking Act, bills that would help to finally put a stop to the exploitation of our judicial system.
Truckers are the linchpin of our economy, delivering more than 72% of the country’s total freight tonnage. As the industry tasked with getting medicine to hospitals, food to grocery stores, and manufacturing and agricultural products to market, we are an integral part of Americans’ daily lives. The abuse of our legal system jeopardizes the essential role we play in the nation’s supply chain.
When trucking comes under attack, so do the jobs of millions of hardworking Americans, and when the trucking industry is forced to waste millions of dollars defending against meritless lawsuits, it is unable to invest that money in personnel, equipment, and training that keep our roads safe.
For these reasons and many more, Congress has a vested interest in helping the trucking industry to level the playing field. Working together, we can ensure that justice and fairness drive accident litigation outcomes, not profits.
