nuclear verdicts

Texas trucking tort reform aims to limit the ability to file lawsuits against trucking companies after accidents.

After losing at a Texas lower court level and then on appeal, Werner successfully reversed a nuclear verdict from 2018.

The two leading ratings agencies have cut their ratings on trailer builder Wabash National.

New legislation aims to crack down on fraud that drives up insurance costs for the trucking industry. 

Trailer builder Wabash National won a massive reduction in punitive damages stemming from a lawsuit over a deadly crash but lost on other requests in a Missouri courtroom.

Injured plaintiffs’ seat belt use could be entered as evidence following traffic accidents under a bill passed by the Georgia Senate.

The trucking industry has been hit with another nuclear verdict, this time in Los Angeles.

Werner Enterprises highlights some favorable trends for the new year after a messy fourth quarter.

Werner Enterprises reported a big earnings miss in the 2024 fourth quarter due to outsize insurance claims.

The Werner case, now more than 6 ½ years old since it became a nuclear verdict, went before the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A Florida jury awarded $125 million in punitive damages and $16.5 million in other damages against a small trucking company that no longer exists.

A group with trucking interests as a key driver has been formed in Texas to push new tort reform.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would have put a $1 million cap on non-economic damages in lawsuits related to accidents involving trucks and other commercial motor vehicles.

A nuclear verdict in a fatal accident on Interstate 70 in Missouri has been upheld by an appellate court.

Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana has signed a bill that allows juries to know whether a plaintiff in a vehicle accident was using a seat belt. The ATA has praised the legislation.

The Texas Supreme Court has set a March 6 deadline for any parties that want to weigh in on the $90 million verdict against Werner Enterprises.

While FMCSA has issued minimal requirements for MVR checks, carriers doing only the bare minimum are creating and perpetuating visibility gaps that leave their fleets vulnerable.

There’s a new nuclear verdict against a trucking company and it comes out of a case in Georgia.

Werner has filed an appeal to Texas’ highest court of a verdict that now has a more than $100 million price tag.

Doug Marcello joins Taking The Hire Road to discuss the trend of nuclear verdicts in the trucking industry.

Proposed rulemaking on automatic emergency braking (AEB) introduced in June by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is getting more pushback from a coalition of state law enforcement officials and brake manufacturers that argue more dialogue is needed before moving forward.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is recommending a long list of fixes to the problem of large verdicts in truck accident litigation.

A 5-year-old judgment against Werner has been upheld on appeal by a Texas court, with the amount now standing at more than $100 million.

Lawmakers in Iowa and Florida are considering bills to curb nuclear verdicts against trucking companies.

Nuclear verdicts against the trucking industry are becoming more frequent, with freight brokers now being sued after accidents.

A Texas court has reversed a $7.4M gross negligence verdict against a trucking company and its driver.

Trucking carriers face increased risk of nuclear verdicts, but managing those risks is not insurmountable, if done right and from the start.

A 73-year-old woman was killed in Mount Pleasant, Texas, after her vehicle collided with a truck carrying a nearly 200,000-pound load in 2016.

Shippers utilizing last-mile delivery providers face some level of risk due to claims, but some simple steps can help mitigate it.

A drop in traffic because of the pandemic appears to have been a one-shot that made the market less difficult for underwriters.

Adam Kahn outlines the benefits of Netradyne’s positive twist on fleet safety management.

A bench trial resulted in an award of more than $27 million.

Representatives from the trucking company defendants are either invisible or not speaking.


Reliance Partners’ Brian Runnels joins WHAT THE TRUCK?!? to encourage greater participation in mock trials.

The previous “nuclear verdict” record is believed to be the more than $400 million award last fall, also in Florida.

Jeremy Reymer welcomes Bluewire CEO Steve Bryan to Taking the Hire Road to explain how the company has helped modernize the way data is analyzed and interpreted.

Scott Prince, CEO of CarrierHQ, shared on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? how his company is modernizing insurance.

“With this aggregated data approach, we can begin to move the needle on the whole industry’s reputation, one motor carrier at a time. … That would be a huge gratification to me and the rest of the team.”

Chad Eichelberger and Emily Chiarizia discuss the best approaches for insurance requirements and vetting carriers.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, a pension bailout bill that would affect Yellow and ABF Freight drivers could be near in Congress. Plus, XPO posts a record quarter and Uber Freight’s growth continues.

Rewarding small fleets for driving safely turns their second-highest fixed cost into a controllable variable expense.

A driver shortage worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and failed drug tests topped the American Transportation Research Institute’s list of critical issues in the trucking industry for the fourth consecutive year.

Transportation lawyer Kristen Johnson joined “Fuller Speed Ahead” to discuss her thoughts on the $411 million nuclear verdict — the largest on record.

Defendant is a one-truck company that defended itself at trial

The California Trucking Association is using the decision to support its AB5 appeal.

Better safety systems and driver environment monitoring can help fleets reduce the number of truck-related accidents.

Building a blueprint for a safety-first trucking fleet requires flexibility, but it also requires the right tools. A new on-demand safety course looks to arm fleets with those tools.

A Texas appeals court ordered a new trial in a suit accusing an FTS International truck driver of causing a collision while under the influence of drugs.

Safety Hub uses telematics data and AI insights from dashcams to enhance driver safety.

High Definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI) brings software solutions to an industry that has been slow to join the telematics revolution.

How to get a deal on “Shark Tank,” talking business with “The Real Wolf of Wall Street” and the latest from FreightWaves’ 3PL Summit. Catch this week’s top trending stories on the FreightCasts network!

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, fleets looking for excess insurance coverage are paying top dollar; Landstar projects a strong Q3; and Waymo will test autonomous vehicles in the last mile.

Using a third-party administrator is touted as a way to ward off big verdicts against trucking firms.

“Nuclear verdicts are destroying the excess market. Until someone puts a leash on these lawsuits, I don’t see prices going down that’s for sure,” said Reliance Partner’s Joe Schreiner.

Nuclear verdicts are on the rise, and two behind-the-scenes factors playing large roles are the emotional pleas plaintiffs’ attorneys are making to juries and the growing number of hedge funds that invest in civil lawsuits.

Annual insurance rates could surge 150% or more

Central to Edwards v. Cardinal Trucking, Inc. was whether the trucking company had power of control over a co-defendant.

“Nuclear verdicts are the result of nuclear injuries,” plaintiff group asserts.

Insurance costs climbing as awards and amounts increase.

The hot topics you may have missed this week.

FreightWaves teamed up with Gulf Winds International to discuss how massive jury awards are taking a lasting toll on carriers.

Focusing on risk management can help protect fleets from the pain of paying massive damages.

Litigious society wants someone to pay for coronavirus-related business losses

Apart from exonerating drivers from wrongful accusations in road accidents, dash cams can also help the fleet management reward top drivers and improve driver behavior.

A year after studying nuclear verdicts in truck crashes, the American Transportation Research Institute is focusing on smaller verdicts as its top research priority while also looking behind the scenes of rising truck insurance premiums.

“The impact of these nuclear verdicts, as well as higher insurance costs, could send more carriers out of business,” said Zach Strickland.

Insurance spikes can be attributed to the ongoing threat of nuclear verdicts.

Nuclear verdicts have been a rising phenomenon in the trucking industry over the past decade. Are large lawsuits the cost of doing business, or is there a way to defend against them?

A panel of experts on the issue offers suggestions — but no easy fixes.

A nuclear verdict was “the beginning of the end” for Arkansas-based RCX Solutions, which shuttered operations on March 2.

The stories that will keep you in front of the pack.

Trucking insurance continues to get more expensive. Chris Henry and Daniel Pickett provide information about captive insurance agencies.

We gear up this week with a man charged on Thursday with shooting a truck driver on I-269 outside Memphis, Tennessee, after an in-cab video captured the suspected killer. Violence in Mexico from organized cartels has been surging in recent weeks, with the latest incident involving a 13-year-old American boy killed Jan. 3 near Nuevo […]

Seth Holm of FreightWaves Freight Intel Group writes about the impact of nuclear verdicts on the trucking industry. Will 2020 be a tipping point for these huge awards?

Insurance premiums are a growing concern in the trucking industry, even as statistics show reduced incidents. What is driving the soaring insurance costs?

The top articles of the year generated five key trucking issues of 2019.