Commercial Truck Insurance Minimums Too Low

According to officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the number of fatal large-truck crashes has been on the rise the last few years, with 3,921 deaths in 2012.

The emotional toll that these tragedies take on the friends and families of the victims is incalculable. But a glaring deficiency in the minimum insurance requirements for truck companies can be tallied, and it’s creating additional victims in American taxpayers who have to cover the difference.

Federal law currently imposes the following minimum insurance requirements:

For-hire interstate general freight carriers ($750,000)

For-hire private carriers of oil and hazardous materials ($1,000,000)

For-hire and private carriers of other hazardous materials ($5,000,000)

For-hire passenger carriers of 15 or fewer seats ($1,500,000)

For-hire passenger carriers with more than 15 seats ($5,000,000)

For-hire general freight carriers of less than 10,0001 pounds ($300,000) However, there are plenty of cases where those minimums don't cut it.