Fuel Price Increases Will Impact Safety

Skyrocketing fuel prices have put truckers into a world of hurt.  Now two U.S. Senators have introduced a bill that would require 100 percent of fuel surcharges levied on shipping customers to be passed through to the person actually paying for the fuel, in most cases the truck driver.  The bill was introduced by Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Called the TRUCC Act, which stands for “Trust in Reliable Understanding of Consumer Costs,” the bill “will go a long way toward helping truckers survive the brutal cost of fuel,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

I certainly sympathize with the owner-operator truckers who are having to pay the higher fuel prices, while the trucking companies pocket the fuel surcharges. That’s wrong.

Fuel prices may also impact safety. Over the next year, I expect to see an increase in tragic trucking accidents in which truckers have scrimped on maintenance and stretched driving hours in order to make ends meet, while cutting corners on insurance coverage beyond the barest minimum. 

The Shigley Law Firm  represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, bus wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks.