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Truckers Burned by ‘Nuclear Verdicts’

[ December 6, 2024   //   ]

U.S. trucking companies were T-boned by US$165 billion in nuclear verdicts, or jury awards of more than $10 million, in 2023, according to a report from Marathon Strategies.
Overall, U.S. juries ordered companies in 47 different industries to pay a nuclear verdict last year, in a report by Krystyna Shchedrina of Today’s Trucking. There were 89 cases with verdicts of more than US$10 million in the U.S., the highest in 15 years and a 27 percent increase since 2022. Of those, 27 cases topped US$100 million, eight topped US$500 million, and two were more than US$1 billion. These are referred to as “thermonuclear verdicts.”
Texas was far and away the hardest-hit state for trucking-related verdicts, with 207 verdicts totaling US$45 billion, for the banking, telecommunications, tech and hardware industries between 2009 and 2023. Florida ordered companies in trucking, automobile, real estate and tobacco industries to pay more than US$33.2 billion in 175 verdicts.
California was third, with 117 verdicts totaling US$33.2 billion against companies in application software and health care equipment. Missouri, Pennsylvania and Louisiana were next on the list, with losses ranging from US$10 billion to US$11 billion and nuclear verdicts from 15 to 30.
Automobile manufacturers and trucking companies – both frequent targets of nuclear judgments – combined for more than US$1.3 billion in nuclear verdicts in 2023. Much of this total was driven by a US$976.5 million verdict against Mitsubishi Motors ordered by a Philadelphia jury.
To address the challenges nuclear verdicts bring, Iowa became the first state in the U.S. to cap liability damages against trucking companies. The legislation limits such damages to US$5 million. It does not include cases where a trucking company acted negligently, such as through hiring, training, supervising, or trusting an employee driver involved in a crash, according to the report.
Several states are stepping in to help industries affected by nuclear verdicts, including trucking and transportation companies. For example, Indiana passed a law requiring more transparency in how lawsuits are funded, while Texas introduced rules to limit liability claims against transportation providers.

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