Providing Essential Services
“If the freight’s there, it’s got to move. If people are going to eat, the trucks are gonna move. If they need medical supplies, the trucks are gonna move. If we stop, the world stops.”
Those are the words of 57-year-old trucker Ron Applegate, one of the individuals on the frontlines of our nation’s commercial transportation industry. On any given day, these men and women provide an essential service, ferrying the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the products that fill our homes from one destination to another.
As COVID-19 has proven, that service is more critical now than ever.
We’ve recently taken a closer look at a growing cottage industry that is driving litigation against commercial trucking companies. The increase in nuclear verdicts in litigation involving commercial vehicle accidents has created a corresponding increase in insurance costs for trucking companies. Because transportation costs are a meaningful component of the retail prices of consumer products, the costs of unnecessary lawsuits and unreasonable verdicts are ultimately borne by consumers.
But the Tort Tax is only one consequence of the spike in trucking litigation. In some cases, companies have been forced out of business because they are unable to handle the significant increase in insurance costs and the ever-increasing risk of litigation.
Decreased truck capacity is especially alarming in our current crisis. As the past couple of weeks have proven, every one of us depends greatly upon having a robust commercial trucking infrastructure. We have all seen photos of empty grocery store shelves across the country. State officials and retailers have assured us there are ample supplies of products, but the challenge remains in getting them from distribution centers to stores as quickly as possible to meet the demand.
Without the commercial transportation industry, the entire supply chain breaks down.
TLR is studying the root causes of this issue in Texas and developing reforms that will help ensure commercial transportation operations can, well, keep on trucking. Whether it’s a time of crisis or business-as-usual, we simply cannot allow lawsuit abuse to continue targeting one of the most essential functions in our society.
OP-ED: “As a small business owner in Bakersfield, I know firsthand how desperate the California small business community is to catch a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has already gone on longer than anyone expected, but instead of receiving help from our state leaders in Sacramento, we are left to suffer needlessly with no end in sight.” Read and share: bit.ly/3BOMVQO
bit.ly
As a small business owner in Bakersfield, I know firsthand how desperate the California small business community is to catch a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has already gone on lon...OP-ED: Texas policymakers must allow Texas employers to decide their own best practices to maintain workplace health and safety. To do otherwise would establish a concerning precedent of state interference into determining what workforce health and safety policies are best, without regard for a particular industry’s needs or the differences in manufacturing work environments. Read and share: bit.ly/3pbp22j
bit.ly
The Texas economy is strong because policymakers trust employers to run their businesses in ways that grow jobs and maintain a productive workforce. A healthy workforce results in a more productive wo...Texans for Lawsuit Reform And if you dont intervene, freedom suffers another blow and socialism gains a firmer foothold because businesses have shown, regardless of need or difference of environment, they are more than willing to violate an individual’s freedom and restrict their ability to work.
Republicans in the Texas Legislature face an uphill battle as they try to pass a bill exempting most of the state’s workforce from vaccine requirements enacted by their employers. In another sign of trouble, Texans for Lawsuit Reform came out against one of the bills ordered up by Abbott, House Bill 155, which the Texas House State Affairs Committee considered Wednesday. Read and share: bit.ly/3jfBsCK
Opposition grows as Texas Republicans try to upend vaccine mandates - Texans for Lawsuit Reform
bit.ly
Republicans in the Texas Legislature face an uphill battle as they try to pass a bill exempting most of the state’s workforce from vaccine requirements enacted by their employers. For one, Republica...
OP-ED: “I know firsthand how desperate the small business community is to catch a break during the #COVID19 pandemic. Instead of receiving help from our state leaders in Sacramento, we are left to suffer needlessly with no end in sight.” Read & RT: https://bit.ly/3BOMVQO
Since TLR’s founding, our supporters have made their voices heard at the Capitol by phone, e-mail & personal visits on every issue that affects a healthy civil justice system. Make your voice heard & get involved with TLR today!
Get Involved - Texans for Lawsuit Reform
Texans for Lawsuit Reform has thousands of supporters from across Texas who are committed to a fair and balanced civil justice system.
bit.ly
OP-ED: Texas policymakers must allow Texas employers to decide their own best practices to maintain workplace health and safety. To do otherwise would establish a concerning precedent. Read & RT: #tortreform
Commentary: Texas employers need flexibility to maintain workplace safety - Texans for Lawsuit Reform
The Texas economy is strong because policymakers trust employers to run their businesses in ways that grow jobs and maintain a productive workforce. A...
bit.ly
