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Trucking Expert Hopes Pandemic Dampens Verdicts

3 min read

Rebecca Brewster had some sobering news but expressed hope for the future during a speech at the Arkansas Trucking Association’s annual conference last Monday at the Hammons Center in Rogers.

Brewster is the president and COO of the American Transportation Research Institute, the nonprofit organization of the American Trucking Associations. Brewster discussed the findings of an ATRI research project on “nuclear verdicts,” the awarding of large sums of money to plaintiffs who sue trucking companies after a truck-involved crash.

Brewster said research showed a marked increase in large verdicts in recent years, which has contributed to spikes in insurance premiums and trucking companies closing their doors. Brewster said the ATRI considers verdicts of $10 million or more to be nuclear, and the number nearly doubled from 2010, when there were 14, to 2018, when there were 27.

Verdicts of $1 million or more increased 235% during the same period, going from 79 to 265.

“One critical piece that I think is lost on the general public is we all pay the price for these really large nuclear verdicts,” Brewster said. “When a plaintiff wins a case against a trucking fleet, that fleet has to experience higher insurance premiums. That money has to come from somewhere, and ultimately it impacts the cost of transportation. At the end of the day we are all paying for these nuclear verdicts.”

The ATRI research covered more than 600 accident cases and revealed several mitigating factors that Brewster said were “critical information” that trucking companies could use in risk analysis with lawsuits. Accidents that injured children resulted in average payouts of $42.3 million compared with $2.3 million in child-free accidents; traumatic brain injuries resulted in average judgments of $6.7 million compared with $2.7 million when no brain injuries resulted.

“That is not something you can control, but it is information that can better inform your risk analysis and your decision-making process when you face one of these situations,” Brewster said. “Using the data from the analysis from this study, you can know and be better informed what you’re up against when you go into a courtroom when you consider whether to enter into mediation or settle these cases.”

For Arkansas trucking companies, the news wasn’t so grim. Cases heard in Arkansas courts in recent years resulted in plaintiff awards 42.9% of the time; states such as New York, Connecticut, Georgia and Virginia, though, reported plaintiff awards in 100% of cases during that same period.

Rebecca Brewster

Brewster said she hopes the COVID-19 pandemic will help the trucking industry in the long term with regards to crash lawsuits and the size of awards. When the nation went into quarantine, trucking kept rolling, delivering essential goods to grocery stores and directly to consumers.

The positive publicity should help illuminate the trucking industry’s importance to the American economy and way of life. Similar publicity happens during natural disasters when trucking companies send needed supplies to affected areas, but Brewster believes the pandemic will have a longer-lasting effect.

“I don’t think that’s a Pollyanna view,” Brewster said. “My hope is, now more than ever, there is a recognition of how critical the trucking industry is and that [leads to] desensitization of jury pools of ‘Well, let’s give them $32 million. That sounds reasonable.’

“I think there has been enough in social media and on TV stations talking about and highlighting the men and women who drive professionally and how vital their roles have been through all this. This is an industry that didn’t shut down. This is a sustainable industry that is going to be there whether there is a pandemic or not. I think we will have some sustainability with this because of how long it has gone on.”

Brewster said the ATRI’s next study will focus on smaller verdicts of $1 million or less. While large verdicts get a lot of attention, smaller verdicts can be devastating to smaller trucking companies, which make up a majority of the industry.

“The big ones are killer, but their frequency is nothing compared to the other end,” Brewster said. “This will shut them down, the small guys. We know there are law firms out there who will constantly pursue these smaller cases. As one motor carrier explained to me, it’s death by a thousand cuts.”

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