Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, May 15, 2025:
Congressmembers urge Trump administration to act on staged accident fraud
Members of Congress led by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) are requesting the establishment of a specialized task force dedicated to investigating and prosecuting staged accident fraud.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Collins said staged accident schemes “pose serious risks to public safety, increase consumer costs, and raise insurance premiums for the motoring public.” He cited statistics from the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud that show such fraud costs the U.S. $308 billion annually, with $45 billion attributable to property and casualty insurance fraud.
“Criminal elements are launching an assault against America’s truckers, in the courtroom and on our roads,” Collins said. “Staged accidents take advantage of truckers’ high insurance coverage and make them prime targets for criminals looking for a quick payday, saddling truckers with millions of dollars in inflated damages, increasing insurance premiums for all Americans, and driving up the costs for every transported good."
Collins added that the "fraudsters and their co-conspirators need to be held accountable for their actions and put in jail for making every one of us less safe on the roads.”
The letter calls on Bondi and the Trump Administration to form a task force for investigation and prosecuting staged accident fraud.
According to the letter to Attorney General Bondi:
“Supervised by you and your team, a collection of law enforcement agencies (Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and local police departments), along with the Department of Transportation, businesses, and the public can help identify and dismantle these criminal enterprises. Enhanced public awareness campaigns, increased enforcement, and stricter penalties for offenders are essential to deter these scams. Holding these criminal enterprises accountable for their actions will send a signal that the Administration is serious about restoring law and order.”
In addition to Rep. Collins, the letter was signed by fellow Republicans Lance Gooden (Texas), Tony Wied (Wisconsin), Tom Barrett (Michigan), Glenn Grothman (Wisconsin), Tom Tiffany (Wisconsin) and Jimmy Patronis (Florida).
The letter follows the introduction by Collins earlier this year of the "Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act," which would make intentionally staging a crash with a motor vehicle a federal crime.
[Related: Legislation introduced to fight staged-accident fraud]
Truck parking at Iowa rest area temporarily closed
Truck parking at the eastbound I-80 rest area near Victor, Iowa, is temporarily closed, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Cedar Rapids construction office.
Crews needed to close the truck parking lot so it can be reconstructed. Additional truck parking spots will be added as a part of the project.
The truck parking lot will be reopened to truck traffic in early July.
Trucker recognized for actions to alert motorist of vehicle trouble
The Truckload Carriers Association has named truck driver Stan Combs, from Lexington, North Carolina, a Highway Angel for alerting a driver that his vehicle was in distress and pulling over to check on the driver’s safety and check for a vehicle fire. Combs drives for ABF Freight.
Early in the morning on April 23, Combs was driving northbound on I-81 between Roanoke and Harrisonburg, Virginia, when he noticed sparks coming from a GMC pickup truck in front of him.
“I thought it was chains dragging,” he said. “When I saw it sparking a little too much, I was flashing my lights on and off; I was trying to get him to stop before he passed another truck, and then the sparks got even worse.”
Stan CombsTCA
Combs’ attempt to alert the driver of the truck was successful, and the pickup began to pull over.
“I knew something was gonna happen,” Combs said.
Just then, the sparking pickup lost its right front wheel, but the driver was able to pull over to the side of the road.
“Sparks went everywhere,” Combs said. “It went from a few sparks to, when it hit the ground, it was like somebody set a fire underneath it.”
Combs, who has been driving a truck for 16 years, stopped to make sure the driver and two passengers were OK and that the vehicle did not catch fire.
“I’m always gonna stop,” he said.
