WASHINGTON – A new report examines how lawsuit abuse involving commercial truck accidents is driving up litigation and insurance costs for carriers, crippling supply chains and increasing prices for consumers and businesses.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform released a new edition of Roadblock: The Trucking Litigation Problem and How to Fix It on October 18
The study reviewed 334 truck accident verdicts and settlements from June 2023 to July 2026 and found an average award of $16.8 million and a median award of $2.15 million with plaintiffs’ verdicts averaging nearly $28 million. It says rising legal and insurance costs imposed on carriers ripple through the supply chain and show up in the prices families pay every day.
Waguespack
“Every dollar lost to excessive litigation promoted by billboard lawyers is a dollar that could have gone toward wages, equipment and jobs,” said ILR President Stephen Waguespack. “And these costs work their way from the courtroom through the supply chain to the register, where American families ultimately pay the price of lawsuit abuse.
“The trucking industry is under attack, and the Institute for Legal Reform is fighting back. We will continue to work to protect America’s truckers and ease the burden of lawsuit abuse that drives up the costs of everyday goods and services.”
The report highlights how lawsuit abuse in the trucking sector affects far more than transportation companies. And it shows how the industry also faces a growing threat from staged collision schemes.
These schemes involve organized crime rings – often working with billboard lawyers and unscrupulous healthcare providers – that deliberately causing crashes with commercial trucks to manufacture bogus injury claims and flood the courts with fraudulent lawsuits.
One such decades-long staged crash conspiracy was recently uncovered in New Orleans. And earlier this year, two attorneys were convicted for their roles in another New Orleans staged wreck scam.
The report also outlines how excessive litigation, inflated claims and abusive legal tactics can increase settlement pressure and contribute to rising insurance premiums. It makes the case for commonsense reforms that preserve access to justice while discouraging lawsuit abuse.
The report comes as lawmakers at the state and federal levels continue to examine ways to reform the justice system. For example, U.S. Senator Ashley Moody (R-Florida) recently introduced the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act to combat the growing number of illegal staged auto accidents. Moody’s bill is the companion to H.R. 2662, sponsored by Representatives Mike Collins (GA-10) and Brandon Gill (TX-26).
And last month, Representatives Laura Gillen (D-New York), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) and Vince Fong (R-California) introduced the bipartisan Stop Auto Fraud Act of 2026 to make motor vehicle collision fraud a federal crime, improve safety for drivers and could help lower insurance costs.
