Fleets Explained: What are nuclear verdicts?
Nuclear verdicts—jury awards exceeding $10M—are rising, impacting fleets through higher insurance costs, reputational risks, and financial strain.
Jenna Hume
142325184 | Lane Erickson | Dreamstime.com
Nuclear verdicts come from lawsuits that result in fleets being ordered to pay more than $10 million in damages to plaintiffs, according to the Marsh McLennan Agency. In the trucking industry, nuclear verdicts mostly arise from on-road accidents. These strict judgments typically stem from injuries or deaths resulting from a crash. According to Pearl Insurance, alleged negligence by trucking companies also contributes to these massive verdicts.
Nuclear verdict payouts have been rising since 2010. According to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the average size ballooned from $2,305,736 to $22,288,000—a 967% increase—between 2010 and 2018.
ATRI
And the numbers just keep rising. A more recent study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform showed that between June 2020 and April 2023, the average jury award was $27.5 million.
Factors driving rising nuclear verdicts in trucking
There isn’t one clear reason why nuclear verdicts have grown so much in recent years. More than likely, multiple factors have created this perfect litigation storm. But here are a few potential factors:
Litigation advertising
According to ATRI, part of the problem could be the 1977 Supreme Court case that re-allowed litigation advertising. “The median dollar value of trucking litigation awards from 1985 to 1989 was slightly more than $100,000. And in the next five years, the average award increased by 90% to $190,000.”
The infamous McDonald’s coffee lawsuit
In 1994, a woman who sued McDonald’s after suffering burns from spilling the company’s coffee on herself was awarded in excess of $2.8 million. This isn’t a trucking case, but some argue that it raised the litigation bar in the minds of attorneys and juries.
Increased third-party funding
Litigation financing is becoming increasingly problematic worldwide, but the U.S. is getting hit the hardest. Third-party litigation funding is when third parties, such as bankers, financiers, etc., help fund a plaintiff’s lawsuit. The third party then gets a cut of the payout when the lawsuit is successful.
According to ATRI, the use of litigation finance by U.S. law firms has grown 745% between 2015 and 2019, though some states are suffering more growth than others. With this rapid growth, there is some legislation on third-party funding, but legislators can’t seem to keep up.
Strategies plaintiffs use in high-dollar trucking lawsuits
To help protect your fleet, it’s important to know the techniques used in nuclear verdicts.
Reptile Theory
According to National Interstate Insurance, the Reptile Theory was created in the 1960s by neuroscientist Paul MacLean. The theory “seeks to render all of these basic facts irrelevant and instead appeal to the jury’s primitive, ‘Reptilian Brain.’”
Plaintiffs in trucking lawsuits use the Reptile Theory to convince the jury that the motor carrier and/or driver in question is a danger to society. Attorneys will often point to safety rules that the driver or carrier allegedly broke to convince the jury of the threat they pose.
Negligent hiring and/or training
Plaintiff attorneys may also try to convince the jury that the carrier in question knowingly hired a driver with a poor driving record. According to Captive Resources, attorneys may try to prove that the driver in question was not adequately trained or supervised on safety.
Emotional appeals
According to the PrePass Safety Alliance, attorneys may also focus on the emotional aspect of the case, especially if there have been any injuries or deaths as a result of the accident. Emotional appeals can be used to increase the payouts in nuclear verdicts.
Financial, reputational, and operational impacts on fleets
When a trucking company loses in a nuclear verdict, they lose more than just money. Fleets also face rising insurance costs and worsening reputations, in addition to budget challenges.
Rising insurance costs
According to ATRI, insurers are raising premiums to account for the possibility of nuclear verdicts. In 2023, premiums rose 12.5% primarily due to nuclear verdicts. For many fleets, especially smaller carriers, these rising costs aren’t sustainable.
Worsening reputations
In and out of the trucking industry, nuclear verdicts are big news because of their high impact and memorable payouts. So in the aftermath of a nuclear verdict, trucking companies have to worry about their tarnished reputations in addition to financial issues.
According to Pearl Insurance, nuclear verdicts can hurt customer relationships and employee morale. Companies may also experience increased regulatory scrutiny.
Driver stress
With nuclear verdicts, there is one factor that cannot be overlooked: the impact they have on truck drivers, who are the ones on the road facing the possibility of a serious accident
Whether a nuclear verdict happens in a driver’s company or is just featured in the news, drivers can feel the stress of an accident, according to PrePass Safety Alliance. Drivers already deal with numerous stressors on the road—lack of truck parking, hours of service, extreme weather, etc.—and too much stress can take a toll not only on drivers’ health but also on their focus and working to the best of their ability.
Financial challenges
Most obviously, nuclear verdicts can lead to financial issues for trucking companies. According to Pearl Insurance, “when an insurer pays beyond policy limits or a verdict exceeds coverage, the trucking company’s own assets are at stake, potentially leading to bankruptcy or major restructuring.” Smaller carriers, especially, are at risk when nuclear verdicts occur.
Fleet strategies to mitigate risk and prevent massive verdicts
With payouts on the rise, there are multiple ways fleets can prepare for and prevent nuclear verdicts.
Focus on driver safety training
According to SambaSafety, drivers forget up to 90% of what they learn within a single week. This means you can’t stop safety training after the initial driver onboarding. Ongoing training and personalized coaching are needed to reinforce safety behaviors and knowledge of safety requirements.
Invest in safety technology
In addition to driver training, there are multiple technology options fleets can use to help drivers stay safe and serve as evidence that a driver isn’t responsible in the event of a crash. The available technologies include dashcams, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, collision mitigation systems, blind-spot monitoring, and more.
Dashcams can help identify who was responsible for an accident, while the other technology features above can help ensure driver safety and provide opportunities for coaching.
Have a plan for accidents
At the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2025 Safety & Security Meeting in June 2025, a panel discussed what to do and what not to do when a driver reports an accident.
They emphasized the importance of having a plan in place for when an accident occurs. According to the panel, this plan should include confirming the safety of the driver and anyone else involved, contacting emergency services, securing the scene, notifying company leadership and legal services, collecting evidence, and beyond.
While no fleet wants to deal with a crash, it’s important to be ready if an accident happens.
Be prepared legally
After an accident occurs, it’s important to immediately begin working with legal counsel before memories fade, according to Pearl Insurance. Legal experts will assist with accident reconstruction, evidence collection, and communication with investigators. The earlier you contact legal counsel, the more time they have to prepare a defense.
Review insurance options
In the face of nuclear verdicts, fleets still have some control over their insurance options. According to Pearl Insurance, “many fleets have raised their liability coverage limits (e.g., carrying $5 million or $10 million primary policies instead of the statutory $750,000 minimum) or purchase umbrella policies to provide a larger cushion if a big verdict strikes. Some large carriers have turned to captive insurance arrangements or self-insurance for more control over claims and costs.”
ELD tampering in crosshairs for CVSA’s annual Roadcheck blitz
Overdrive Staff
It didn’t take long for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to highlight one of its newest out-of-service violations.
Earlier this week, the alliance of state/federal enforcement and industry announced false-log violations as a result of ELD tampering will be an out-of-service violation, effective April Fool’s Day, citing 49 CFR 395.8(e)(2).
On Thursday, CVSA announced its annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz will be held May 12-14 and place special emphasis on ELD tampering, falsification or manipulation.
During the three-day Roadcheck, inspectors at weigh/inspection stations and pop-up inspection sites primarily conduct the North American Standard Level I Inspection, a 37-step procedure that includes two major parts — an examination of the driver’s operating requirements and an assessment of the vehicle’s mechanical fitness.
For the driver portion of the inspection, inspectors check the driver’s qualifications, license, record of duty status, medical examiner’s certificate, seat belt usage, skill performance evaluation certificate (if applicable), and status in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (in the U.S.).
Inspectors also look for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment.
For the vehicle portion, it’s more than just the biggies: Lights, tires and brakes. Inspectors assess a whole host of components from the coupling devices and driveline/driveshaft components to the driver’s seat and securement of cargo.
Other mechanical components inspected include fuel and exhaust systems, frames, steering mechanisms, suspensions, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers.
A vehicle that successfully passes a Level I or V Inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations may receive a CVSA decal, which is valid for up to three months. A valid decal signals to commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel that the vehicle was recently inspected and did not have out-of-service violations.
For the emphasis on ELD tampering, during Roadcheck inspectors will review the driver’s record of duty status as usual and check for false or manipulated entries, with a focus on ELD tampering.
Inaccurate ELD entries may result from a driver’s lack of understanding of the federal regulations and exemptions, CVSA noted, but in some cases, inaccurate entries are purposefully used to conceal hours-of-service violations, and some records are manipulated to conceal driving time (with no indication the record was edited as required by federal regulations).
Last year, falsification of record of duty status was the second most-cited driver violation, according to CVSA. The false logs violations saw a sizable uptick in issuance last year, according to Overdrive/RigDig analysis published earlier this week.
During Roadcheck in 2025, “false logs” was the No. 4 overall driver violation, and five out of the top 10 driver violations were related to hours of service or ELDs.
Where’s violation risk most likely? It’s instructive to review the intensity of focus individual states’ inspectors put on the hours of service violation category, generally. The map below, charting Overdrive sister company RigDig analysis, illustrates which states issued the most HOS violations as part of their total mix — where the likelihood of hours attention is high.
The vehicle focus for this year’s Roadcheck is improper/inadequate cargo securement, which as any serious owner-operator knows can pose serious risk to the driver and others on the road. Adverse impacts on the vehicle’s maneuverability, unsecured loads falling or becoming dislodged — all can result in roadway hazards and/or crashes, CVSA noted.
Overdrive/RigDig analysis shows a generally less-intense focus on cargo securement among states than hours, yet plenty variability state-to-state, too.
In 2025, CVSA said, 18,108 violations were issued because cargo was not secured to prevent leaking/spilling/blowing/falling, and 16,054 violations were issued for vehicle components or dunnage not being secured.
During Roadcheck 2025, cargo securement was the No. 5 overall vehicle violation across North America.
During the 72 hours of International Roadcheck, data will be collected, and the results will be released later this year.
Crash preparedness: A driver’s guide to effective accident scene documentation
Mark Murrell
The human toll of a collision should never be underestimated – even if there are no physical injuries, the mental stress can be enormous. However, during that experience, drivers still have responsibilities and need to follow some best practices when it comes to accident scene reporting. One of the ways you can help is by making sure they’re clear on what they need to do after you’ve established that they are safe.
Some of those driver responsibilities include stopping and securing the cargo and reporting the incident to the authorities. However, one of the things that sometimes gets missed is how much a driver should document for the company’s own files (and the insurer’s) so that the event can be understood by everyone who gets involved later. With that in mind, here is a documentation cheat sheet you can use when developing a response plan for your drivers to follow.
Note: This covers a small (but extremely important) requirement when a crash occurs, but it shouldn’t take priority over other obligations the safety manager or crash response team has – including finding out if the driver is okay, notifying loved ones, and so on. Consult with your executive team or legal counsel for a fuller view of these responsibilities.
Reinforce with your drivers that they should record:
Basic information
This may seem too basic to be needed, but remember that the event will be pieced together later on by people who were not there, so having your driver get even the most basic information down can be crucial:
- Driver information should include their name, address, phone number, date of birth and license number, expiration date, and state or province of issue.
- Carrier information should include their DOT or CVOR number, insurance policy details, company name, address, and phone number.
- Vehicle info includes the year, make and model, color, unit numbers for the tractor and the trailer, and plate numbers.
- And don’t forget to include the time and location of the event!
Incident details
A standard accident report will ask for information like the make, model, and color of the other vehicles involved, as well as personal information about the other drivers and any passengers. It will also help if your driver can write down, while the memory is still fresh, an account of vehicle movements during the incident, including direction, points of impact, traffic signals, and vehicle movements such as making a turn, backing up, skidding or weaving, and more. Note: it will also be important to detail your driver’s own status, including on-duty status and driving hours, distance traveled on the current trip, speed at the time of the incident, and any warning signals they gave or witnessed, such as brakes, indicator lights, horn, etc.
External factors
People looking at the incident much later on (especially insurers) will be keen to know about the road conditions at the time of the incident. Be sure your drivers take note of its physical condition, like how wet or slippery it is, the presence of debris or other obstacles, its grade, curve, and whether the road has potholes or cracks. They should also take note of the traffic conditions – were people trying to merge, was there a railway crossing, was traffic heavy or light, and what was the posted speed limit? Make sure they describe the weather conditions, including how sunny or dark it was, whether there was fog, sleet, or other precipitation, and, in case of darkness, what the road lighting was like.
Legal and other players
While the police may be busy collecting information themselves, it’s important for the driver to take down details about the authorities involved—including badge numbers, who contacted them, the agency the police belong to, whether anyone was charged, and what the charge was (as well as arrests, if any). There will also likely be towing and cleanup vehicles present – make sure to keep detailed notes on these! Unscrupulous towing companies will sometimes exaggerate the number of vehicles present or the time spent, so making clear notes about this can help later on if there is a dispute about exaggerated fees.
Photograph…everything?
The point of all of this is that more information is better when it comes to figuring out what happened. But even if everything else is written down in great detail, there may be some critical scene information that’s not on this list. Encourage your drivers to take photos of the scene (respectfully, of course). Even just a panoramic shot of everything can sometimes reveal details that might have otherwise been missed or forgotten.
Again, this is not to suggest that worrying about documenting the scene of a crash should take precedence over looking out for your driver’s well-being. But navigating a crash incident is a bit of a long game—you’ll be dealing with stakeholders sometimes for years after the fact, so if you can help your drivers remember everything they need to do once they are safe, you’ll be able to deploy resources more effectively when you’ve got the information you need.
Lawsuit Abuse Is Driving Up the Cost of Everything You Buy
Doug Marcello
While politicians debate tariffs and tax policy, a hidden “lawsuit tax” is quietly inflating prices on groceries, consumer goods, and everything that moves by truck—which is nearly everything.
America’s litigation system has turned commercial trucks into “18-wheel ATMs.”
The “hit a truck, get a check” mentality isn’t just hurting trucking companies—it’s hitting your wallet every time you shop.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been tracking this crisis:
47% — That’s how much trucking insurance rates increased from 2010-2020.
$529 billion — Total U.S. lawsuit costs in 2022, representing 2.1% of our entire GDP.
7.1% — Annual growth in lawsuit costs from 2016-2022. Compare that to inflation (3.4%) and GDP growth (5.4%). Lawsuit costs are growing faster than the economy itself.
$4,207 — What every American household pays annually as a “lawsuit tax.”
The Perryman Group dug even deeper in their 2023 study, isolating the excessive lawsuit costs—the amount above what a reasonable legal system should cost:
$342.9 billion in excessive lawsuit burden nationally.
$3,965 per household in costs that simply shouldn’t exist.
Why This Hits Your Grocery Bill First
Here’s what most people don’t realize: lawsuit abuse hits food prices hardest.
The Federal Highway Administration estimates that every $1 of agricultural products requires 14.2 cents in transportation services—compared to 9.1 cents for manufactured goods and about 8 cents for mining products.
Food depends on trucking more than any other sector.
When nuclear verdicts and runaway settlements drive up insurance costs, trucking companies pass those costs forward. And those costs land on your dinner table.
The Bottom Line
Affordability is the defining political issue of 2025.
Every candidate, every policy proposal, every economic plan is being measured against one question: Will this lower costs for American families?
Any serious conversation about affordability must include lawsuit reform.
You can’t fix inflation while ignoring the litigation tax embedded in every product that travels by truck.
Perspective: Building a Safety-First Truck Fleet Culture
Safety Often Revolves Around Regulations, Inspections and Compliance Scores; While Essential, They Rarely Tell the Full Story
Aidyn Kanagat
In the U.S. freight industry, safety is often framed around regulations, inspections and compliance scores.
These measures are essential, but they rarely tell the full story. For many fleets — especially small and midsize carriers — true safety performance is shaped long before an inspection occurs. It develops through everyday decisions, communication practices and leadership habits that influence how drivers operate on the road.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations establish minimum standards for safe operations. However, compliance alone does not automatically translate into reduced risk. Many carriers meet regulatory requirements and still experience preventable incidents, near-misses or driver turnover tied to safety-related stress. In practice, many fleets only begin addressing these issues after seeing the same minor problems repeat across multiple drivers or terminals. The difference often lies in whether safety is treated as a checklist — or as a core operating mindset.
Moving Beyond Compliance
One of the most effective shifts fleets can make is redefining compliance as a baseline rather than a finish line. Instead of focusing only on passing inspections, safety-focused fleets examine how work is actually performed day to day. This includes reviewing minor operational errors and near-miss situations — not just recordable incidents.
Near-miss reviews help identify patterns in decision-making, fatigue, equipment handling or communication before those issues escalate into reportable events. Fleets that normalize these conversations tend to resolve risks earlier and with less disruption.
Training as a Conversation
Many carriers still rely on onboarding as their primary training touchpoint. While initial orientation is important, safety culture strengthens when training becomes an ongoing process.
Short safety briefings, periodic refreshers and practical discussions based on real-world scenarios help reinforce expectations. Drivers are more receptive when training focuses on situations they actually encounter — load securement challenges, weather-related decisions or time-pressure scenarios — rather than generic rule recitations. These challenges tend to surface most often during peak seasons, weather disruptions or periods of tight capacity, when pressure on drivers increases.
Some fleets have found success by involving experienced drivers in peer discussions or mentoring roles. When safety guidance comes from fellow drivers, it often carries greater credibility and encourages engagement rather than resistance.
Clear Communication
Today’s freight operations are increasingly multilingual and multicultural. This diversity strengthens the industry but can also introduce communication challenges if expectations are not clearly defined.
Fleets that invest in simplified instructions, visual checklists and consistent follow-up tend to reduce misunderstandings. Clear communication standards — regardless of language background — help ensure accountability and alignment across the operation. When drivers fully understand expectations, cultural differences become an asset rather than a safety risk.
Counseling Drivers
Another effective strategy is shifting from a purely corrective approach to a coaching mindset. When safety issues arise, successful fleets focus on understanding the cause rather than assigning immediate blame.
Counseling conversations that explore why a decision was made — time pressure, unclear instructions, fatigue or equipment limitations — often lead to more durable behavior change. Drivers who feel supported rather than penalized are more likely to raise concerns early and engage in safer decision-making.
Safety as a Business Advantage
Over time, the business impact of a safety-first culture becomes measurable. Fleets often see fewer operational disruptions, improved driver retention and more predictable performance. Customers benefit from reliability and reduced claims exposure.
In an environment of rising costs and regulatory scrutiny, safety should not be viewed as an expense. It is a strategic investment that supports long-term resilience, operational stability and public trust.
Conclusion
Trucking plays a critical role in the economy, and safety remains central to its sustainability. Carrier owners and fleet leaders influence safety outcomes every day — through leadership tone, communication practices and routine operational decisions.
For fleets looking to strengthen performance, focusing on safety culture remains one of the most effective and practical strategies available. It protects drivers, supports compliance and builds a foundation for long-term success.