Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, May 8, 2024:
Legislation in New Jersey signed into law in January by Gov. Phil Murphy will double the liability insurance minimum for truck owners to $1.5 million. The extent of the increase’s applicability is unclear, however.
The bill, introduced in 2022, was passed by the state assembly and senate early in January and signed by Murphy shortly thereafter. It adds language to existing state liability insurance requirements to require for commercial motor vehicle owners to maintain "an amount or limit of $1,500,000, exclusive of interest and costs, on account of injury to or death of, one or more persons in any one accident or for damage to property in any one accident.”
The law states the requirement can "be satisfied by a commercial automobile insurance policy, fleet insurance policy, commercial umbrella insurance policy, commercial excess insurance policy, similar insurance policy, or any combination thereof."
The federal minimum for liability insurance for interstate motor carriers, of course, is $750,000, though that has been under fire in recent years as medical bills and other expenses have ballooned. A bill introduced in December in the U.S. House, after past similar legislative attempts, would increase the federal minimum from $750,000 to $5 million.
As for New Jersey’s new law, the increase will take effect on July 1 and will apply to all liability insurance policies initiated or renewed on or after that date. The language of the law is unclear as to whether it applies only to New Jersey-based carriers, or if it also applies to out-of-state carriers operating in the state. The text of the law reads that the liability minimums apply to "owners or registered owners" of vehicles “registered or principally garaged” in the state. The International Registration Plan brings out-of-state carriers into question, as the IRP includes New Jersey.
Transportation law firm Scopelitis noted when the bill was signed into law in January that there was “no indication in the legislation that it is intended to apply only to intrastate New Jersey operations,” adding that “[t]here appears to be indirect evidence that the intent is that the new higher minimum limits under this legislation will apply to all commercial vehicles within its scope, whether in interstate or intrastate operations.”
