Trucking Minimum Liability Insurance & Trucker Wages. . .A Facebook Conversation

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

A Facebook Conversation on Trucking Minimum Liability Insurance AND Trucker Wages. . .

Truckers United Just got off the phone with my Congressman’s office. Have all of You made that call yet? Us Capitol switchboard; 202-202-3121
Higher liability insurance is not needed as only 1% of claims today exceed the current $750,000 minimum. Company Drivers, This affects you also!!!

  • Marianne Waldron Karth Please take the time to read what I have to say about liability insurance–after losing 2 daughters, In Memory of AnnaLeah 1995 to 2013 and Mary Lydia Karth 1999 to 2013 AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), in a truck crash. …See More

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  • Truckers United Marianne Waldron Karth, First and foremost, I am Deeply sorry for your loss! I Will take time to better understand your point of view as it is valid! At a glance I noticed that the cost of inflation is part of the reasoning behind the desired liability increase. The FMCSA has also raised certain fines due to inflationary increases. I suppose this would be fine if freight rates kept up with inflation. They have not as there are those who are paying little more today than they were in the 80’s. There are novice Drivers on the road today earning pennies more a mile than I did when I started driving in 89. I have a paycheck stub of an experienced co Driver who in 1978 earned .23.5 cpm. Accounting for inflation, that would be about .80cpm today. 50cpm is very hard to come by today. We have novice Drivers earning .25cpm today. We have mega companies paying their lease Drivers .90cpm + a meager fuel surcharge. The megas cost of operation last year averaged $1.64 a mile. These guys are self insured and they want insurance premiums to go up because it will affect them positively as it strains the rest of us. When I spoke to my Congressman’s office I tried to make them aware that our cost of doing business keep going up up up while our income has been stagnant for 25yrs or more.I think that OOIDA has suggested that a catastrophic fund could and should be set up to handle the the instances that exceed the current minimum. Mamm, I AM sympathetic to your concerns. I am also aware that we Drivers are having to work within a punitive system trying to force safe behavior instead of devising a system that pays Drivers to Be Safe. I do believe that there is an answer to be found if WE Work Together. Maybe I should have said “Higher liability insurance is not needed. We should consider creating a catastrophic fund to address the 1% of claims that exceed the current minimum”. I do appreciate your contacting me.
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    • Marianne Waldron Karth Thank you for taking time to respond. I don’t think that it is an either/or situation. I am also advocating for improvement in truck driver compensation. I hope to promote sitting-down-together to discuss WIN/WIN solutions. Who profits and who pays the price for the status quo? https://annaleahmary.com/…/driver-sees-wages-synonymous…/

      “Driver sees wages synonymous with trucking safety”
      What is the answer to making sure that truck…
      ANNALEAHMARY.COM
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    • Marianne Waldron Karth Many “truck safety issues” are social and public health problems and they should be addressed as such so that individuals (Victims & their Loved Ones and Truck Drivers) do not pay the heavy price or bear the entire burden for resolving these issues.
      Truckers United Tilden Curl had written an article that I am vaguely familiar with as it’s been almost a year since I first touched on it. This article pertains to the megas ability to self insure and how that affects freight rates. Tilden and I spoke last Friday but I haven’t had a chance to download the article for review. Once done, I would be happy to share it with you. I only remember that Tilden’s approach made sense to me at the time. Tiden, Allen Smith and I are OOIDA members. Speaking for myself, I don’t believe that OOIDA is the enemy here. We, the membership, are pennies fighting against Dollars that will do whatever it takes to increase their profits. Yes, this is America and that is their right, but at what cost to those like you and me? I only desire that reasonable steps be taken to protect all. Thank you Marianne Waldron Karth
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      Apparently OOIDA says , “…protect the legislation halting FMCSA’s rush to raise insurance requirements.” – See more at: http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=29127#.VW5Vas9Viko
      But this has not been a “rush;” it has been discussed and studied for some time now:  http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Financial-Responsibility-Requirements-Report-Enclosure-FINAL-April%202014.pdf

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