Trucking companies hit with $165M in nuclear verdicts in the U.S. in 2023

Trucking companies across the U.S. faced US$165 million in nuclear verdicts — jury awards exceeding $10 million — in 2023, according to the latest Marathon Strategies report. To address such challenges, Iowa became the first state in the U.S. to cap liability damages against trucking companies, helping companies affected by nuclear verdicts. The legislation limits such damages to $5 million (all figures USD). 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. Louisiana continues to be one of the hardest-hit states for trucking-related verdicts. Last year, the state accounted for 15 nuclear verdicts for the trucking, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical industries, ordering nearly $10 billion in payoffs. Meanwhile, Florida ordered companies in trucking, automobile, real estate and tobacco industries to pay more than $33.2 billion in 175 verdicts since between 2009 and 2023.