Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles
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Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles January 2013 FOREWORD The minimum levels of financial responsibility for commercial motor carriers were established by Congressional legislation in the early 1980’s. The question today is whether these levels should be raised, weighing the benefits of improved compensation of crash victims, internalization of freight and passenger transportation costs, and reduction of truck- and bus- involved crashes, with costs imposed on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators, the insurance industry and other relevant considerations. Affected motor carriers are for-hire general freight and passenger carriers in interstate commerce and hazardous materials carriers. NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or the use thereof. The contents of this report reflect the views of the contractor, who is responsible for the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers named herein. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FMCSA-RRA-12-045 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Financial Responsibility Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicles November 2012 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Kent Hymel, Douglass B Lee, Jonathan Pearlman, Robert Pritchard, and Lydia Rainville 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, MA 02142 11. Contract or Grant No. 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report U.S. Department of Transportation Final Report Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Office of Analysis, Research, and Technology 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, DC 20590 FMCSA 15. Supplementary Notes Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: Mindy Shalaby, Ph.D. 16. Abstract Minimum liability insurance levels and related requirements for motor carriers to demonstrate financial responsibility in case of damages from crashes were established in the 1980’s by Congressional legislation. These levels have not been changed since then. The question is whether these levels should be raised, weighing the benefits of improved compensation of injured third parties, internalization of freight and passenger transportation costs, reduction of truck- and bus-involved crashes, costs imposed on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators, and other relevant considerations. Affected motor carriers are for-hire general freight and passenger carriers in interstate commerce and hazardous materials carriers. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement CMV, Commercial motor vehicle, costs, crashes, crash No restrictions reduction, fatal crash, liability insurance, motor carriers, severe injury, cost exporting, external cost 19. Security Classification (of this report) 20. Security Classification (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 122 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized. SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS TABLE OF APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol LENGTH in inches 25.4 Millimeters mm ft feet 0.305 Meters m yd yards 0.914 Meters m mi miles 1.61 Kilometers km AREA in² square inches 645.2 square millimeters mm² ft² square feet 0.093 square meters m² yd² square yards 0.836 square meters m² ac acres 0.405 Hectares ha mi² square miles 2.59 square kilometers km² VOLUME 1000 L shall be shown in m³ fl oz fluid ounces 29.57 Milliliters mL gal gallons 3.785 Liters L ft³ cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m³ yd³ cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m³ MASS oz ounces 28.35 Grams g lb pounds 0.454 Kilograms kg T short tons (2,000 lb) 0.907 mega grams (or “metric ton”) Mg (or “t”) TEMPERATURE Temperature is in exact degrees °F Fahrenheit 5 × (F-32) ÷ 9 Celsius °C or (F-32) ÷ 1.8 ILLUMINATION fc foot-candles 10.76 Lux lx fl foot-Lamberts 3.426 candela/m² cd/m² Force and Pressure or Stress lbf poundforce 4.45 Newtons N lbf/in² poundforce per square inch 6.89 Kilopascals kPa TABLE OF APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol LENGTH Mm millimeters 0.039 inches in M meters 3.28 feet ft m meters 1.09 yards yd km kilometers 0.621 miles mi AREA mm² square millimeters 0.0016 square inches in² m² square meters 10.764 square feet ft² m² square meters 1.195 square yards yd² ha hectares 2.47 acres ac km² square kilometers 0.386 square miles mi² VOLUME mL milliliters 0.034 fluid ounces fl oz L liters 0.264 gallons gal m³ cubic meters 35.314 cubic feet ft³ m³ cubic meters 1.307 cubic yards yd³ MASS g grams 0.035 ounces oz kg kilograms 2.202 pounds lb Mg (or “t”) mega grams (or “metric ton”) 1.103 short tons (2,000 lb) T TEMPERATURE Temperature is in exact degrees °C Celsius 1.8C + 32 Fahrenheit °F ILLUMINATION lx lux 0.0929 foot-candles fc cd/m² candela/m² 0.2919 foot-Lamberts fl Force & Pressure Or Stress N Newtons 0.225 poundforce lbf kPa kilopascals 0.145 poundforce per square inch lbf/in² * SI is the symbol for the International System of Units. Appropriate rounding should be made to comply with Section 4 of ASTM E380. (Revised March 2003, Section 508-accessible version September 2009). ii TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ XI 1. Review of Financial Responsibility Authority……………………………….1 2. COST EXPORTING AND LIABILITY INSURANCE .........................................................5 2.1 HISTORY OF TRUCKING INSURANCE REGULATION ........................................5 2.1.1 Changes Since Enactment ................................................................................. 5 2.1.2 The Problem of Undercompensated Injuries .................................................... 6 2.1.3 Prevention Versus Compensation ..................................................................... 6 2.2 ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY DISTINGUISHED FROM EQUITY IMPACTS ............7 2.2.1 Equity Impacts of Cost Exporting..................................................................... 7 2.3 ORIGINAL LEGISLATIVE INTENT ..........................................................................8 2.3.1 Regulated Entities ............................................................................................. 8 2.4 CARRIER INDUSTRY STRUCTURE .........................................................................9 2.4.1 Overextended Carriers .................................................................................... 10 2.4.2 Inflation in Crash Costs .................................................................................. 10 2.4.3 Current Crash Costs ........................................................................................ 11 2.4.4 Protecting the Public ....................................................................................... 12 2.5 CATASTROPHIC CRASH COVERAGE ..................................................................12 2.6 CALCULATION OF INSURANCE RATES .............................................................13 2.6.1 Basic Insurance Concepts ............................................................................... 13 2.6.2 Risk Update for Insurance Rates..................................................................... 14 2.6.3 Insurance Rates for Comparable Coverage ..................................................... 15 2.6.4 Decline in Crash Frequency and Insurance Rates........................................... 16 2.6.5 Market Norm ................................................................................................... 16 2.6.6 Rates for Higher Coverage .............................................................................. 17 2.6.7 Insurers Sources of Revenue ........................................................................... 17 2.6.8 Insurance Cost to the Carrier .......................................................................... 18 ROLE OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY ........................................................................18 2.6.9 Safety Enforcement by Insurers ...................................................................... 19 2.6.10 Insurance Industry Underwriting Analysis ..................................................... 19 2.6.11 The Optimal Liability Limit............................................................................ 20 3. THE EXTENT OF UNDERCOMPENSATION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF COST PER CRASH............................................................................................................23 iii 3.1 DATA REQUIREMENTS AND POSSIBLE SOURCES ..........................................23 3.2 TRUCK- AND BUS-RELATED CRASHES ..............................................................25 3.3 EFFORT TO DOCUMENT UNDERCOMPENSATION...........................................27 3.3.1 Two Broad Types of Carriers at Risk ............................................................