The Insurance Report - August 2006

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
By Roland L. Enz - President, California Plus Insurance Service, Inc.

It’s hard to believe, but I have been writing this column for more than a decade. Each time that I sit down in front of my computer to write my next installment, the same topic runs through my head: “The importance of your Motor Vehicle Record” (MVR). I have written on this subject many times and it seems that as I preach this sermon, the only folks that get it, is the choir. Everyone else doesn’t, judging from so many of you that contact our office looking for insurance.

More than a quarter of you have driving records that do not qualify you for conventional insurance programs. High risk and the assigned risk program are the only alternatives that you face. My sermon only hits home when the prospect is rocked by the enormous cost that he/she will be paying for their insurance. What does it take to convince you that the most important document that you possess as a professional driver is your driver’s license?

You have chosen trucking as your profession, but how carefully do you protect the record that supports that choice? Your driving record is the key to your success and the economic foundation of your livelihood. This foundation supports you and your family, puts food on your table and shelter over your head.

Attitude is the killer. How many times have I heard the same excuses when reviewing an MVR with a potential client? It is always someone else’s fault, or the company has it in for them, or they just say, “I drive a hundred thousand miles a year – what do you expect?” I have many clients that have been driving thirty and forty years without a citation. No tickets or accidents is not a pipe dream – it can be done.

Insurance companies don’t expect you to be squeaky clean, but they have set standards that they think that you can live with. The insurance industry is based on certain laws of probability, supported by some serious actuaries, working in the back room, on just those odds. Each company has established its own criteria, developed from their own particular statistics.

Statistics bear this out. Your MVR is an instant insight into your future as to what the odds of being involved in a claim are. Each speeding citation increases the probability of being involved in a serious accident by as much as 30 percent. 27 percent of all large truck drivers involved in fatal accidents had at least one prior speeding conviction. Most fatal accidents happen in rural areas where high speeds generally occur.

Going through some internet statistics, I came across the following that surprised me. Only 1 percent of truck drivers involved in fatal accidents were DUI related compared to 22 percent of drivers of passenger and light trucks and 29 percent for motorcycles. California has the highest rate of fatal accidents, followed by Texas. In 2005, California had 5,725 fatal vehicle crashes – of those, 332 were truck related. Each year the numbers remain close.

Attitude is the common denominator. It runs through our life, a common thread linking each of us to a certain group. We are not all the same, but we all have a responsibility to the common good of the system.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working toward a safer highway system. They have set up a series of strategic objectives addressing truck related fatalities. They have created a baseline using 1996 data, establishing targets and goals for each year thereafter. You can take it to the bank that as these goals are not met new legislation and standards will be imposed upon the professional driver. You just saw it with the changes regarding traffic school (it's no longer an option for CDL holders that get a ticket). Other laws will be passed as well, making it harder or narrowing the requirements for your license and MVR.

Attitude is the key in being able to adjust to this. It really helps to have a proper frame of mind. Certainly you would not allow a careless surgeon to operate on a member of your family, than why should the public be exposed to the same mentality when driving on the road alongside large trucks?
The professional driver is one of the most important parts of our economic puzzle. Without the transportation of goods and people, we would have nothing. Treat your profession with honor and dignity. Our nation needs you and your services.

If you have any comments or insurance related questions you'd like to discuss with me, I can be reached through California Plus Insurance Service, Inc. in Modesto, California at 1-800-699-7101.