Pete Buttigieg and Trucking Insurance

Pete Buttigieg

With a new President comes a new cabinet. This year, following President Biden’s inauguration, he appointed Pete Buttigieg as the United States Secretary of Transportation. With a change at the top, it is likely that the regulations governing transportation, specifically trucking, will evolve. Mr. Buttigieg recently made comments that allow us to infer potential changes that may influence trucking insurance.

Pete Buttigieg by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Below are a few issues he raised as priorities under his leadership of this department:

1. Speed limiters: Mr. Buttigieg plans to analyze the use of speed limiters in anticipation of mandating these devices nationwide. The use of the devices improves safety and reduces accidents, which should lead to better insurance premiums, however, this could be costly for the trucking industry overall.
   
2. Side underride devices: This regulation would again be very costly, but would likely improve insurance premiums if these devices result in reduced severity of truck accidents.
3. Electronic logging devices: It is likely that any new regulations around hours of service would add additional burdens to trucking employers without having any significant impact on insurance.
4. Truckers between the ages of 18-21: While providing a pathway for eligibility of more truck drivers is a positive development for truck operators, it may lead to increased accidents as well. This would adversely affect insurance premiums for operators with young drivers.

While it is impossible to predict all the changes ahead for the department of transportation, we expect the department will increase regulations and burdens to trucking employers. In the short-term, it is unlikely that these changes will reduce trucking insurance premiums, however, if these changes reduce the frequency and severity of accidents, then over time insurance costs should go down.