A $26 million jury verdict against a flooring company operating a four truck fleet is drawing new attention to how carriers use, or fail to use, the telematics data their vehicles generate. The company had a speed monitoring device installed on its trucks but did not follow or enforce the data it produced, a factor that influenced the size of the verdict.
Trucking attorney Doug Marcello described the case during the Motive Vision conference in Nashville, warning carriers that the legal risk is not the existence of telematics data itself. The exposure comes when fleets collect the information but fail to actively monitor, analyze, document, and act on it. Plaintiff attorneys increasingly subpoena telematics records to show that a carrier knew about unsafe driving behavior and did nothing.
The warning lands at a time when many fleets acknowledge they struggle with the same problem. A survey released by SambaSafety in October 2025 found that 66 percent of fleets named interpreting or acting on telematics data as a top challenge. Industry attorneys advising carriers recommend documented coaching programs tied to telematics alerts, consistent enforcement of speed and safety thresholds, and retention policies that demonstrate the data is reviewed on a regular schedule rather than ignored after installation.
Source: Truck News - https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/ignoring-telematics-data-could-expose-fleets-to-nuclear-verdicts/1003216191/