There are many laws and regulations in place that control the safety and technological elements of the trucking industry and ultimately the
truck insurance industry as a result.
Such laws exist on the state and federal level and are constantly evolving due to some special government agencies that have been created to develop legislation as a result of research and analysis of available trucking industry statistics worldwide.
Fatal accidents related to commercial trucks occur every year. In recent years, these numbers have diminished, a fact largely credited to governing safety organizations that do their best to evolve the trucking industry. Heres an introduction to some of the federal regulators involved in commercial trucking.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA is the newest organization involved in commercial trucking and ultimately
commercial truck insurance rates.
The FMCSA was established in the year 2000, employs about 1000 people nationwide and is located in Washington D.C.
The FMCSA is responsible for a significant amount of policy related to highway safety, equipment upkeep and public data related to motor carriers, independent truckers and other businesses that exist within the national trucking industry.
They budget over $540 million annually to research, development, analytics and policy implementation related to highway safety, employee training and competence and environmental impact of the trucking industry.
Some of their latest legislation includes CSA 2010, a controversial program currently being challenged by lawsuit that assigns a public score to motor carriers based on a number of safety factors. Implementations such as CSA 2010 can have a drastic direct effect on commercial
truck insurance coverage and rates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The NHTSA is an older organization that has existed since the 1970s. With a budget of over $700 million annually, the NHTSA created many safety programs that seem commonplace today, such as seatbelt laws, the use of crash test dummies, fuel economy and emissions standards and the like.
The NHTSA is an agency within the Executive Branch of U.S. government that functions as a subsidiary of the Department of Transportation.
Their regulatory elements can have a direct effect on commercial truck insurance levels and rates as well, as credits may be given to those in compliance with all NHTSA standards.
These agencies dictate the bulk of safety, technological and environmental standards that exist within the trucking industry and ultimately the truck insurance industry, but state and federal laws that differ nationwide based on industry application and location also contribute to rate fluctuations as well.
