When the coronavirus outbreak first took hold in North America, miles traveled by the general public on the nation’s highways plummeted in the spring and early summer. Those conditions did temporarily reduce the risk of crashes, but trucking insurance experts said the broader landscape for insurance and risk management in the commercial transportation industry has not changed permanently. Most likely, experts said, insurance costs for carriers would continue on their upward trend for reasons outside of the pandemic, including the proliferation of so-called nuclear verdicts in cases involving truck crashes.