For several years now, the commercial auto segment has been among the property/casualty insurance industry’s worst performing lines. Wounded by a sharp uptick in claims frequency and severity and helped little by inadequate premium increases, average direct loss ratios and combined ratio hover around 66 and 110, respectively.

The market’s distress is attributed to a variety of higher loss exposures, including increasingly distracted and fatigued truck drivers and the high cost of repairing vehicles embedded with expensive collision avoidance cameras, sensors and telematics devices. The good news is that these same technologies are expected to positively alter the status quo, positioning commercial auto for a market rebound within the next five to 10 years.

Transportation experts project that semi-autonomous and fully autonomous electric trucks using crash avoidance sensors, cameras, telematics and deep learning forms of artificial intelligence will guide the way toward unparalleled safety. While semi-autonomous trucks equipped with lane correction and automatic braking systems are already on the road, fully autonomous/driverless vehicles are being tested across the country and the world.