Kansas Truckers Push Back on Lawsuit Abuse

At their latest Call on Washington, Kansas trucking executives sat down with federal lawmakers to talk about lawsuit abuse and rising legal costs tied to crashes and claims.

Their message was straightforward: runaway verdicts and aggressive litigation are driving up the cost of doing business for trucking companies, especially small and mid-sized fleets. When a single case turns into a multi-million-dollar judgment, it does not just hit the carrier in court. It often changes how insurers underwrite everyone hauling similar freight in that region.

They also highlighted that these pressures land on carriers who may already be doing a lot of things right: ELDs in the trucks, decent safety scores, driver training programs, and modern equipment. The concern is that even with good operations, one bad loss can become a legal target.

When lawsuit awards climb, insurers adjust. They are looking at the same news you are, plus their own loss data and court outcomes. In practice, that can show up in a few ways at renewal:

- Higher liability premiums

- Tighter underwriting on new ventures and small fleets

- Stricter driver qualifications and MVR standards

- Lower appetite for high-risk commodities or tough lanes

If you have had a large claim or a fatality, you already know how fast the tone can change at renewal. Even carriers with clean records feel the ripple effect in their truck liability and umbrella quotes, because insurers have to price in the possibility of a nuclear verdict.

From our side of the desk, we see more underwriters asking detailed questions about safety tech, dash cams, driver hiring, and how you document training. They are trying to gauge not just your crash history but how well they could defend you if a claim lands in court.

For Kansas-based carriers, the policy debate in D.C. is important, but you still have to get your next certificate of insurance and keep the trucks moving today.

The reality is simple: the better you can show that you manage risk, the more options we usually have when we shop your account. Lawsuit pressures may be national, but underwriters still look at your specific operation.

We are seeing more scrutiny on:

- Loss runs for the full five-year period

- Safety scores and inspection trends, not just accidents

- CSA basics related to unsafe driving and HOS

- Driver turnover and how you handle terminations

If your operation is on the bubble for a carrier, a sloppy driver file or missing safety documentation can be the difference between a renewal offer and a non-renewal.

Here is what we tell our clients when they are operating in this tougher legal and insurance environment: do not wait for us to ask for paperwork. Have it ready and organized like you expect someone to question it.

Useful items to keep current and easy to share:

- Five-year loss runs from all prior carriers

- Current MVRs for every driver, including owner-operators

- Driver qualification files with applications, road tests, and medical cards

- Equipment list with VINs, values, and safety features like cameras or collision avoidance

- Written accident reporting and post-accident drug and alcohol testing procedures

When we can send a clean, complete package to an underwriter, it helps them see you as a professional operation, not just another DOT number. That matters when they are nervous about big verdicts and looking for reasons to say no.

You cannot control what Congress will do about lawsuit abuse, but you can control the questions you bring to your insurance review.

A short list to discuss with your agent or broker:

- How would a serious accident on my worst lane likely impact my renewal?

- Are my current liability limits in line with what similar fleets are carrying?

- Do my contracts with brokers and shippers match my insurance coverage, or create gaps?

- How should I be storing dash cam and telematics data in case of a claim?

- What training or policies are underwriters actually paying attention to right now?

The goal is not to buy every coverage under the sun. The goal is to know where your real exposure is and make sure your insurance structure and documents would hold up if a claim went bad.

This article is for general information only. Every operation is different, and final coverage, pricing, and availability always depend on underwriting, your drivers, cargo, routes, safety history, filings, state rules, and each carrier’s appetite.