The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has alerted the nation's state insurance commissions and commissioners to the possibility of excess premium price increases in the wake of the recent terrorists attacks. William Canary, ATA interim president, voiced ATA concerns in a letter to the state insurance bodies October 3.
"The American trucking industry is facing a potential insurance crisis," Canary wrote. "Trucking company liability premiums have greatly increased in recent months; and the events of September 11 promise to exacerbate that situation. I appreciate that market forces may dictate some increases in premium costs, but we are concerned that a few unscrupulous companies may attempt to take advantage of the recent turmoil and impose unconscionable premium increases on our industry."
Trucking companies must be insured in order to legally conduct businesses, he pointed out. "Outrageous insurance premiums could well make the difference as to whether many trucking companies survive in these difficult economic times," he wrote. "And if trucking services are diminished, our nation's economy ultimately suffers."
He asked the commissioners to vigorously enforce their state's insurance regulatory provisions that prohibit excessive premium rates and unfair trade practices, and that they closely monitor rate increases in trucking liability insurance to ensure that those increases are based on appropriate loss experience and not on exaggerated economic fears.
"In short, I ask that you use every tool available to you to ensure that trucking insurance costs are driven by appropriate market factors and not by inappropriate profiteering," he wrote.