Higginbotham announced it has grown its transportation specialty practice into a full division.
The 31-person division brings 372 combined years of transportation insurance experience and greater capacity to address increasingly complex transportation risks.
“Transportation insurance is a highly specialized business,” said Higginbotham Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid. “The claims, legal environments, insurance markets and operating risks are different. This team knows what they’re doing, deeply. And that gives us tremendous ability to keep serving our clients — and keep growing.”
The specialty practice began at Memphis-based Lipscomb & Pitts, which partnered with Higginbotham in 2020.
Brent Allred, who is based in Chattanooga, assumed leadership of the specialty practice in March 2021. Fourteen employees joined within his first 10 months leading the practice, more than doubling the team at the time.
Division status gives the team greater ability to invest in transportation-specific resources, including a customized version of Higginbotham’s Day Two Services, the company said.
In the division’s Day Two model, claims and loss prevention professionals come from transportation backgrounds and can tailor their approach to the size, insurance and operational needs of each client.
A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration whistleblower investigation has concluded that Union Pacific Railroad Co. violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act by removing from service and later terminating a North Little Rock, Arkansas yardman who notified management of nearby lightning and federal safety standards.
OSHA determined that the employee voiced concerns about nearby lightning, cited OSHA and NOAA lightening safety guidelines, initiated a safety stand-down, and refused to work until the storm passed.
Within minutes of the stand-down, Union Pacific removed the employee from service and was later charged with insubordination. Union Pacific terminated his employment on May 30, 2024.
On June 10, 2026, OSHA ordered Union Pacific to remove from the employee’s employment records any reference of the incident, and pay back wages, lost benefits, compensatory and punitive damages totaling at least $304,869, and attorney’s fees. Union Pacific filed objections to OSHA’s order and has requested a hearing before a U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge.
