Previously, the Tilt-Up Concrete Association has served notice of Transportation & Infrastructure legislation being developed that would result in a federally mandated increase in minimum liability coverage for all commercial motor vehicles from $750,000 per truck to a proposed $2,000,000. TCA’s manager for technical and regulatory affairs, James Baty, participated in over two dozen of the virtual conferences with staff members of key legislators during the first half of this year. The coalition itself tallied more than 150 meetings with staff members from an increasing roster of critical stakeholders and key legislative opponents. These meetings averaged 7–8 representatives of the coalition with evolving availability to hold steady the vast reasons against such an unwarranted increase.

“We became convinced through our research that such an increase would be yet another layer of unrecoverable expenses for an industry already strapped with unparalleled challenges including workforce and material shortages, increased competition, and pricing pressure from the escalating costs of construction,” stated Baty. “As a coalition, we were continually reinforcing the simple fact that this was an effort brought about by trial lawyers seeking deeper pockets for revenue and leveraging falsified data to key members of the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.”   

During the week of September 27, 2021, the coalition was informed that the effort on the issue prevailed. The insurance increase never got beyond the House effort as only the Senate-drafted highway bill was incorporated with the infrastructure package. This meant the coalition could officially claim victory. Revisiting this in 2022 is very unlikely due to the supply-chain crisis looming amid the midterm elections. Should control of either chamber change thereafter, it is even less likely Republican leadership would consider such legislation.