2022 Letter from the ChairFebruary 2022
Dear Indiana Motor Truck (IMTA) Member, Another political year is upon us and it’s as aggressive and rough and tumble as any political season we’ve seen for a while. The decennial redistricting has generated primary races unexpected by several incumbents. We have already received several calls and other communications from legislators asking us to consider supporting their campaigns. We were presented with an unanticipated challenge from railroads last year which forced us to protect OS/OW carriers from changes to divisible loads law. We engaged and successfully protected our member’s ability to do business in Indiana. Although permit fees were ultimately increased, the amount of the increase was significantly less than originally proposed. We have recently secured additional support to help address our tort reform efforts on the Indiana Seat Belt Act. The current Seatbelt Act (Indiana Code 9-19-10-7(b)) states that someone who fails to use a seat belt in an accident does not face consequences with the state’s comparative fault rules, and this will not be used to establish negligence or partial fault and responsibility for injuries from a motor vehicle accident. Defendants are prohibited from presenting evidence of a plaintiff’s use or nonuse of a seatbelt to the jury. This prohibition limits the defendant’s ability to assert key affirmative defenses including comparative fault and failure of the plaintiff to mitigate damages. A rise in ‘nuclear verdicts’ in lawsuits threatens the trucking industry, and this Act allows trial lawyers and plaintiffs to stack the system in their favor. Our objective is to change the law to allow seat belt activity as admissible evidence. Every contribution is important and vital to the success of our advocacy efforts and benefits all members. Last year contributors brought TIPAC to within 80% of the goal. This year the goal is $75,000. A contribution form is available here. Please return with your company or personal check made payable to TIPAC or donate online. We deeply appreciate your contribution in support of TIPAC. TIPAC is a non-partisan, voluntary, political action committee. Please contribute today. Any questions can be directed to Gary Langston at gary@intrucking.org or 317.941.1775 or Lance Riegle at 317.402.4618 or lriegle@mjai.com. Thank you, Lance Riegle, TIPAC Chairman Gary Langston, IMTA President and TIPAC Secretary |
Lance Riegle
TIPAC Chair
TIPAC Leadership
Chair Lance Riegle Marvin Johnson & Associates, Inc. Vice Chair Eli McCormick Bestway Express, Inc. Vice Chair Events (Vacant) Secretary Gary Langston Indiana Motor Truck Association TIPAC Committee Members Casey Stump, Ag Trucking Mark Haag, Perfect Pallets, Inc. Ted Pappert, Buchanan Hauling & Rigging John Whittington, Grammer Logistics. Inc. John Paugh, Carter Logistics, LLC Garrett Knollman, Transmark Logistics, Inc. Parker Harrison, Old Dominion Freight Line Greg Shipman, Vertical Alliance Group, Inc. Wade Day, Hoosier Air Transport, Inc. |
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