WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has warned Congress that a massive “insurance gap” is leaving the American trucking industry more vulnerable than ever.
In its 2026 quadrennial report to lawmakers, the agency laid out a precarious new reality for the industry: while estimates on the number of active, for-hire interstate property carriers has consolidated to 456,227 since the last report in 2022, the 12 billion tons of freight they move are now subject to a median “nuclear” verdict that has skyrocketed to $51 million (see table).
At the same time, with current federal minimum financial responsibility levels remaining unchanged since 1985 – at $750,000 for the transportation of property – a carrier’s mandated insurance now covers less than 1.5% of a median major award.
2022 report 2026 report Interstate Freight Carriers702,102456,227Median “Nuclear” Verdict$21M $51MInsurance Premiums per Mile$0.074$0.102
According to the FMCSA’s analysis, if the $750,000 requirement had simply kept pace with core inflation, it would be approximately $2.2 million today. When adjusted for medical cost increases, that figure jumps to over $3.7 million.
“The landscape of crash costs in excess of the current minimum insurance levels, particularly medical expenses, has evolved, leading to a disparity between current minimums and the actual costs incurred in some fatal and severe/critical injury incidents,” according to the report.
“In the infrequent but devastating occurrences of fatal and severe/critical injury crashes, the resulting damages, especially those involving fatalities, can significantly exceed the mandated minimum levels of financial responsibility.”
The consolidation of the motor carrier fleet has placed increased pressure on freight brokers and forwarders.
While FMCSA’s previous 2022 report to Congress touched on the necessity of broker bonds, the 2026 report confirmed the full implementation of the Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility final rule, which reached its mandatory compliance deadline on January 16.
Brokers must now prove their $75,000 security consists of “assets readily available” – defined as cash, irrevocable letters of credit, or U.S. Treasury bonds.
To enforce this, FMCSA has removed loan and finance companies from the list of eligible trustees and established a new protocol to suspend a broker’s operating authority within days of a financial shortfall or insolvency notification.
As it acknowledged in the 2022 report, FMCSA cited challenges in making an assessment of, and potentially changing, minimum required insurance levels for motor carriers.
