The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released a new report analyzing trucking industry impacts from the rising costs of insurance.

The report assesses immediate and longer-term impacts that rising insurance costs have on carrier financial conditions, safety technology investments and crash outcomes as well as strategies used by carriers to manage escalating insurance costs.

Almost all motor carriers experienced substantial increases in insurance costs from 2018 to 2020. Premiums increased across all fleet sizes and sectors, with small fleets paying more than three times as much as very large fleets on a per-mile basis.  One-third of respondents reported cutting wages or bonuses due to rising insurance costs, and 22 percent cut investments in equipment and technology – potentially creating future safety and driver shortage concerns.

“ATRI’s study corroborates the Triple-I’s research on rising insurance costs and social inflation – that increased litigation and other factors dramatically raise insurers’ claim payouts,” said Dale Porfilio, Chief Insurance Officer of the Insurance Information Institute. “External factors that go well beyond carrier safety force commercial trucking insurance costs to increase, which then requires carriers to redesign their business strategies. The higher premiums ultimately tend to be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and services.”

A copy of the full report is available through ATRI’s website here.