Trucking Trends- Better Drivers and Better Equipment on the Road/ Less Severity

From Professional Safety

According to the Commercial Vehicle Saftey Alliance Roadcheck 2009, there were declines in the vehicle and driver Out of Service rates(OOS) versus last year. The numbers:

Drivers- 4.4% of drivers were OOS versus 5.3% in 2008
Equipment- 19.6% of vehicles were OOS versus 20.8% in 2008

While the differences are not huge they do show trucking is getting better and more compliant

At the same time the US DOT announced that traffic fatalities reached a record low. The fatality rate is 1.27 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. This represents a 9% decline from the previous year

What does this mean respects trucking insurance today?
Most insurance capacity is geared for the better truckers. So as you can see trucking operations are getting better and better. So for the truckers who are able to endure in this economy, the trend is that their operation will be better

Also less severity means there is a better chance for underwriting profit so look for a continued softness and reduced pricing