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Decrying an “unmanageable vicious cycle,” South Carolina’s trucking industry pleaded with Palmetto State lawmakers this week to enact tort reform in the hopes of stopping wealthy, well-connected trial lawyers from launching another “barrage of lawsuit marketing” against them. Such marketing campaigns – which target a range of industries – seek “excessive claims demands” and routinely result in undeserved cash windfalls for the state’s über-liberal trial lawyer lobby.
“Our trade group takes the brunt of the image impact, but it’s small business, Main Street-type businesses, that operate half of the trucks out on the road,” said Rick Todd, leader of the S.C. Trucking Association.
According to Todd, these are the companies “feeling this financially.”
Two-thirds of commercial vehicle registrants in South Carolina only operate one truck, according to Todd – while 95% of companies operate less than ten trucks. These are the companies Todd says “can least afford to absorb the excesses they see being demanded by injury lawyers in even routine minor traffic incidents.”
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According to Todd, truckers need South Carolina lawmakers to step in and provide these small businesses with “relief from an escalating spiral of unlimited exposure.”
Todd cited an “abusive lawsuit system of mistake-mining, inflated claims and fault-shifting” that is stifling job growth and leading to higher costs for consumers.
“In the last few years many (carriers) have seen rates skyrocket, with reports of 50 to 200 percent increases,” a release from Todd’s association noted. “Sixty percent (of trucking firms) report having to assume higher deductibles, despite most of them reporting no accident claims. An alarming trend shows twenty five percent reporting they have reduced their coverage limits, refusing to ‘provide a bigger target for the lawyers to shoot for.’”
“It’s also causing local, niche-freight or service fleets to close, and the trucks taking their place don’t have South Carolinians’ names on their doors,” Todd said.
South Carolina-based trucking companies have independently cited “skyrocketing insurance premiums” related to trial lawyer excess as forcing “many small- and mid-sized carriers” to go out of business.
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RELATED | TRIAL LAWYERS PUT ON NOTICE
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“When this occurs, supply chains suffer leading to higher costs for consumers and disruptions in essential goods transportation,” Paul Riddle, a senior vice president with Lexington, S.C.-based Southeastern Freight Lines, wrote in a letter to lawmakers. “If the industry cannot find a balanced approach to liability and litigation reform, the long-term economic consequences could be devastating.”
“Plaintiff attorneys frequently target trucking companies with lawsuits that demand exorbitant payouts, even when liability is questionable,” Riddle added. “The sheer cost of defending against these claims, regardless of merit, can be crippling for small to mid-sized carriers and extremely taxing on larger carriers.”
Certainly drunk or negligent truck drivers who directly cause accidents should be held accountable for their actions, but the current system penalizes truckers even when they are not responsible for accidents.
Historical data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has shown in accidents involving large trucks, car drivers are solely responsible in 70% of cases. Despite this, South Carolina’s current liability laws prevent juries from considering non-parties at fault in a lawsuit -meaning business truck owners are forced to pay damages they didn’t cause.
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Contrary to trial lawyer spin, truckers are far less likely to drive drunk – or have prior issues with their licenses – than other motorists. According to the latest data (.pdf) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), only 3% of drivers of large trucks who were involved in fatal traffic crashes in 2022 had blood alcohol concentrations of 0.8% – which was much lower than drivers of other vehicle types (28% for motorcycles, 25% for passenger cars, and 21% for light trucks).
The report also found that drivers of large trucks involved in fatal traffic crashes were far less likely (6.0%) to have previous license suspensions or revocations than drivers of other vehicle types – including motorcycles (16.3%), passenger cars (12.9%) and light trucks (10.1%).
Truckers aren’t the only victims of the trial lawyer lobby. As we previously reported, South Carolina recently reappeared on a national “judicial hellhole” list related to controversial asbestos rulings from a retired liberal judge. Also, unfair judgments targeting bars and restaurants are forcing these mom-and-pop businesses out of business by the dozen.
Much of the anti-competitiveness stems from the erstwhile ‘Murdaugh playground,’ a clique of corrupt Lowcountry lawyers who basically turned Interstate 95 into their personal piggy bank for decades.
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Never forget, the S.C. trial lawyer lobby didn't call #AlexMurdaugh out until he literally killed people. And the "brave" attorneys who initially challenged him only did so because he crossed into their "territory." Brood of vipers, the lot of them… https://t.co/KWDSQ6NXDG
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) February 13, 2025
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“No amount of lawyer advertising and social media misinformation can whitewash what was ignored in Hampton County for decades, and what has spawned across the state,” Todd said.
It’s not just civil lawfare crippling business, either, As my media outlet has documented, faith in South Carolina’s “independent” judicial institutions has plummeted to an all-time low. Rather than protecting the vulnerable, organizations like this one have enabled and empowered a corrupt system in which violent criminals are coddled via sweetheart plea deals, anemic sentences, ridiculous bonds and not-so-mandatory minimums.
Victims? They are trampled over. While new victims are created…
But these trial lawyers are the ones purporting to stand for “justice?”
Count on FITSNews to keep our audience in the loop as Massey’s effort to curb trial lawyer excesses makes its way through the S.C. General Assembly.
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TRUCKERS’ PACKET…
(S.C. Trucking Association)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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3 comments
Keep pressing on this.
There is no accountability for the attorneys and judges who are ruining our state.
We are in desperate need of tort reform in this state. Attorneys and juries are out of hand. The deep pocket theory should be outlawed in S.C. as it is in many states. For those who aren’t familiar with this concept,
The deep pocket theory is a legal concept that holds that a defendant with more money should be responsible for paying damages to an injured party. It’s used in tort law, environmental law, and other areas of economics..”