Lawmakers push to raise minimum truck insurance compensation to $5 million

Democratic Congressmen Jesús “Chuy” García and Derek Tran reintroduced last week the “Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act,” a bill that seeks to increase insurance requirements for interstate motor carriers.

Previously introduced in late 2023 during the 118th Congress, the bill never made it to a vote in the subcommittee. Aiming to address outdated insurance requirements for trucking operators and improve financial protection for accident victims and their families, Tran and García are responding to the fact that the previous minimum insurance requirement has not kept pace with rising medical costs and the increased size and weight of trucks.

The Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act

Last March, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released the report “Review of the Adequacy of Current Financial Responsibility and Safety Requirements for Motor Carriers, Brokers, and Freight Forwarders — Report to Congress,” through which it provided lawmakers with important data on current minimum financial responsibility requirements for freight and passenger carriers, as well as current bonding and insurance requirements.

The report states that the role of insurance in covering catastrophic accidents is currently being affected by the declining real value of existing minimum financial responsibility levels.

In response, the “Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act” seeks to raise the minimum insurance requirement for motor carriers from the current $750,000 to $5 million.

Key provisions of the bill introduced by Congressmen García and Tran include:

• Increase in minimum insurance: Raise the minimum insurance coverage for interstate motor carriers to $5 million.
• Indexing to inflation: Require the minimum insurance level to be adjusted every five years based on medical cost inflation, ensuring coverage remains adequate for victims.
• Greater protection for victims: The law aims to prevent victims and their families from facing overwhelming medical bills or financial hardship after catastrophic truck accidents.

“It is unacceptable that outdated minimum insurance requirements continue to leave victims without the support they need to cover medical care and losses,” García said. He added that the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act would help address this issue by ensuring that trucking companies carry sufficient insurance to cover the high costs of devastating accidents their trucks can cause.

Support for the legislation

The FMCSA report concluded that many cases exceed current minimum insurance levels, especially regarding medical expenses, creating a gap between established minimums and the real costs seen in some fatal or severe injury incidents. This situation highlights the need for greater congressional action to update financial responsibility levels, which were set more than four decades ago.

According to García, the Truck Safety Coalition, Parents Against Tired Truckers, and Road Safe America are among the groups that have supported the legislation.