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White House clears FMCSA rule proposal to increase insurance minimums

A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule proposal that would increase the minimum amount of liability insurance carriers must have has cleared the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, meaning the proposed rule is ready for publication in the Federal Register.

It will be published as an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, intended to seek trucking industry input before it produces a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and a Final Rule.

It’s unclear whether the ANPR will include the actual number for the new minimum.

The current minimum, set in the 1980s, is $750,000, which the agency says would be closer to $2 million if it had kept up with inflation.

Trucking industry groups, however, argue that just 1 percent of truck-related crashes exceed $750,000, therefore making the rule — and potential premium increases — unnecessary.

FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Advisory Committee talked on the subject last week. Click here to read Overdrive’s coverage.

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