This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ 3PL Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Legal issues and regulations to watch for in 2024.
DETAILS: Transportation attorney Matthew Leffler dives into three hot topics affecting commercial trucking — nuclear verdicts, speed limiters and noncompete agreements — and how brokers should prepare for them.
KEY QUOTES FROM MATTHEW LEFFLER:
“If I’m the plaintiff’s attorney with someone involved in a catastrophic accident, I’m going after the motor carrier and the driver. But I will go after the broker and the equipment provider if that’s what I have to do to make my plaintiff whole. So few brokers understand that when you’re operating in this industry, you can be held responsible even if you do everything right.”
“There is an underinsurance question within our industry, and we don’t see a lot of traction to increase those limits.”
“If you make your living paid per mile, the slower you go, the longer it takes. If [the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] mandates speed limiters on trucks], things will take longer to get moved. It’s something brokers should be aware of, because if it takes your driver longer to make it to a destination, you want to be on top of the regulations that underlie that.”
“The FTC estimated that American workers are making $300 billion that they don’t get every year because of the use of noncompetition agreements. It’s a way to depress compensation for workers. They are by far the most hated — and most common — employment agreements we see.”
