The trucking insurance industry is ripe for some changes in the coming months. Some new legislation is being introduced that would be positive developments for the trucking world. In fact, both of the bills are going in front of the house this week. The first bill seeks to increase the mandatory liability coverage for all trucking companies. And the other bill aims to require that all new trucks come equipped with automated emergency braking systems.
Each of the bills were submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pennsylvania) put forth the “INSURANCE Act” which would increase the baseline liability insurance requirements for carriers. Plus, the bill would tie the minimum amount to the inflation rate of medical costs.
The amount of the liability minimum has not been announced for the bill, but Garcia did state that the rate should be roughly 6.5 times higher.
Now, the other piece of legislation called the “Safe Roads Act of 2019” which was the brainchild of Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) would make it so truck manufacturers had to include every new commercial vehicle with an automatic emergency braking system. This is actually the 3rd attempt by Johnson to put forth a bill that requires AEB systems on trucks. He filed the others in 2011 and 2015.
Like the other bill, the details of the legislation have not been publicly announced. Though Johnson did say that OEMs would need to make the systems compliant one year after it was imposed.
What do you all think? These changes would ultimately be positive for the trucking industry?