By Shannon Newton
Shannon Newton is president of the Arkansas Trucking Association and immediate past chair of the Trucking Association Executives Council.
On February 11, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders signed Act 28 into law, addressing litigation reform in the state relating to large truck crashes. The Bill eliminates phantom damages from medical expense recoveries. This significant legislation defines recoverable medical charges based on amounts actually paid and accepted, rather than inflated billed amounts.
Phantom damages—the difference between billed charges and actual payments—have been artificially inflating settlements and increasing costs across multiple industries, including transportation. While ensuring injured parties remain fully and appropriately compensated, the new law will not affect other damage categories or impact subrogation rights.
Though some state news coverage labeled the bill “tort reform-lite,” this victory is far from insignificant for trucking. What makes this achievement particularly noteworthy is the persistence with which it was secured. This isn't the first time Arkansas has attempted to address phantom damages. The legislation that ultimately passed with 46 cosponsors is practically identical to one that failed in 2023.
Arkansas's success may be attributable partly to a new champion. House Speaker Rep. Brian Evans, a logistics business owner, understands the industry and the effects of an unjust judicial system on businesses, as well as the downstream effects on customers and citizens who ultimately pay inflated prices.
This victory in Arkansas is part of a growing wave of reform across the country. In 2023, Florida scored a major triumph when the state eliminated one-way attorney's fees and fee multipliers. Working closely with Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Trucking Association and its allies secured passage of a law that addresses transparency of medical damages and requires consideration of fault in assessing liability. The Florida law also reduces the statute of limitations from four to two years in order to discourage less meritorious lawsuits and focus resources on legitimate cases.
In the same year, Iowa capped non-economic damages to $5 million per plaintiff in trucking cases and eliminated liability for negligent hiring claims when drivers are acting within the scope of their duties. These successes required strong buy-in from Senate leadership.
The Nebraska and Maryland’s Legislatures are currently taking up bills to cap non-economic damages. Nebraska senators have also filed bills to allow evidence that a person was not wearing a seat belt to be admissible in civil proceedings determining liability, to reduce the statute of limitations in personal injury cases and to disclose third-party financing in litigation.
These state-by-state victories are the direct result of an initiative that began six years ago when American Trucking Associations named lawsuit abuse a tier one advocacy priority. The initiative required restructuring and inverting their advocacy approach to empower state associations in a state-by-state fight.
ATA's prioritization on this topic has generated crucial momentum. Since 2019, over half of U.S. states have filed reform bills, with twelve successfully enacting meaningful reforms.
This strategy is necessary because each state's legal environment and legislative opportunities for change differ significantly. Despite our interstate industry's preference for uniformity, reform on this issue must happen state-by-state, with advocacy strategies tailored to local opportunities. The Arkansas Trucking Association is proud to put the first victory of 2025 on the board, doing our part to make our corner of the map a better place to operate. As more states join this movement, the scales of justice come a little closer back into balance.