A structural model of safety and safety regulation in the truckload trucking industry

This paper models public policies to improve safety within a structural model of the truckload trucking industry. The policies are designed to ameliorate the market failures associated with the myopic ignoring of crash costs by some trucking firms, and institutional constraints that prevent full internalization of the costs of crashes. The paper compares two alternative public policies: (1) levying post-crash fines and making shippers bear secondary liability for damages incurred in crashes, and (2) imposition of a minimum safety standard, in conjunction with a requirement to hold insurance, and assessing penalties for non-compliance with the standard.