Senate bill looks to make staged truck crashes a federal crime

New bill takes aim at staged crashes targeting trucks

A new bill introduced July 21 in the U.S. Senate would extend criminal penalties to make intentionally staging an accident with a commercial motor vehicle a federal crime.

The legislation, dubbed the “Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act” was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida). Companion legislation was introduced last year in the House by Reps. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) and Brandon Gill (R-Texas). 

Penalties for staging an accident with a CMV would result in a fine and a prison sentence of no more than 20 years. Staging an accident that causes serious bodily injury or death would result in a fine and at least 20 years in prison.

“With over 450,000 trucking jobs in Florida, it is safe to say that truck drivers keep the economy moving,” Moody said in introducing the legislation. “Unfortunately, there are crazed and dangerous fraudsters out there who would rather put people’s lives in danger for a quick payday instead of making an honest living putting in a hard day’s work. Anyone who stages or helps stage an accident with a commercial motor vehicle endangers people’s lives and livelihoods. On top of that, these stunts run up insurance premiums for everyone. Unacceptable. This legislation sends a clear message: if you do this, you will be prosecuted.” 

Business

Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer

Know your costs, owner-operators? Compute the potential profit in any truckload, access per-day and per-mile breakouts, and compare brokers' offers on multiple loads. Enter your trucking business's fixed and variable costs, and load information, to get started. Need help? Access this video to walk through examples with Overdrive’s own Gary Buchs, whose work assessing numbers in his own business for decades inspired the Analyzer to begin with.

Try it out!

The problem extends beyond direct collision damages. It impacts risk management and insurance across the industry, too. The skyrocketing cost of liability insurance is driven in part by the increased cost of the average liability claim, and defense against false claims add additional cost layers. 

"The potential for needing to fight fraudulent claims or minor claims that become very large has been an issue," said Chad Krueger, vice president and managing director of Risk Intelligence at Overdrive sister company Central Analysis Bureau (CAB).

Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, called staged crashes “calculated, premeditated assaults that endanger lives, destroy livelihoods, and compromise highway safety,” echoing the impact they have on industry-wide insurance rates.

“To add insult to injury, criminals abuse the legal system for profit through false accusations and lawsuits, which contribute to skyrocketing insurance premiums for small trucking businesses,” Pugh added. --Jason Cannon contributed to this report

Alleged $2 million cargo theft scheme targeting Nike warehouse busted

Twelve people have been indicted in the Western District of Tennessee and are facing federal charges for their involvement in an organized cargo theft conspiracy targeting Nike’s North American Logistics Center in Memphis, Tennessee, according to recently unsealed indictments.

The charges are the culmination of a multi-year investigation by FBI’s Cargo Theft Task Force.

The indictment alleges that between July 2021 and continuing to on or about June 19, 2024, the defendants worked together and with others to transport stolen Nike retail product throughout the United States. The investigation revealed the co-defendants allegedly stole at least $2 million in Nike product during this timeframe. 

In a typical theft, the defendants would identify product that they wanted to resell, locate it in the Nike warehouse, and place shipping labels to predetermined locations throughout the United States where they would retrieve and resell the stolen product. 

The individuals named in the indictment are: 

• Roy Harvey, Jr., 39, of Los Angeles
• Bereket Abraham, 39, of Los Angeles
• Jorge Cuellar, 30, of Los Angeles
• Keith Cannon, 40, of Memphis
• Cadarian Mack, 35, of Memphis
• Julian Baker, 36, of Memphis
• Cortez Spencer, 39, of Memphis
• Roderico McClellan, 33, of Memphis
• Damon Johnson, 30, of Memphis
• Joel Deluna, 42, of Chicago
• Michael Perkins, 40, of Olive Branch, Mississippi
• Marquesio Robinson, 47, of Charlestown, Indiana

On May 21, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging all 12 individuals with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, and one defendant with interstate transportation of stolen property.

"Memphis is proudly known as ‘America’s Distribution Center,’ and organized cargo theft conspiracies disrupt and harm crucial interstate commerce and businesses here in West Tennessee and across America,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant. “In order to protect the critical economic and logistics infrastructure of Memphis, we will always aggressively prosecute those who threaten it."

Action required: Texas swapping motor carrier credentialing system

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will launch the new Texas Motor Carrier Credentialing System (TxMCCS) on Aug. 3. TxMCCS is a modernized, online system for motor carrier credentialing and account management that replaces both the current Motor Carrier Credentialing System (MCCS) and the Electronic Licensing, Insurance, and Credentialing (eLINC) system.

TxMCCS is used by motor carriers, licensing agents, and insurance companies to process carrier credential information and provides the information to law enforcement.

According to Texas DMV, benefits to the new system include:

• Mobile-friendly, responsive design on desktops, tablets, and smartphones
• 24/7 online access to manage accounts and conduct business
• Improved system performance and response time
• Enhanced self-service features, including online document uploads, password resets, and account requests
• Expanded account tools, including alerts, notifications, data exports, and immediate cab card printing

All users will be required to create a new account in TxMCCS. Carriers can access the new system here when available on Aug. 3 and select "Sign Up" on the landing page to create a new account. If your company currently has a certificate in MCCS, your account information will be transferred to TxMCCS.

Applications within MCCS with outstanding requirements must be completed before the transition to TxMCCS.

• If your application has been “Accepted”: Complete your insurance filing and submit payment. Contact your insurance company to ensure they have your Unique Identifier Number, so they can file your required insurance through MCCS.
• If your application status is “Under Review”: Submit any outstanding information requested in MCCS and complete the application process. When this is complete, your application will go to “Accepted” status. Please follow the steps under the “Accepted” status to complete the application process.

All required steps including payment submission must be completed before 5 p.m. on July 30. Applications not completed by that date will not be transferred to TxMCCS and must be resubmitted when TxMCCS becomes available.

More information about the transition to the new system is available here.