From private businesses to global corporations, there is an age-old dilemma when it comes to managing large or complex business enterprises. What approach — centralized or decentralized — provides the best outcome and optimal cost savings?

The struggle regarding this question is seen even in workers' compensation programs. Busy employers, stretched ever thinner in today's marketplace, want the cost and operational efficiencies touted by a centralized approach to claims. The thought is that a single point of contact and a centralized location will be more cost-effective, and ultimately save the employer and internal staff time and money. The flip side is the argument that a decentralized approach provides better jurisdictional knowledge and market flexibility while enhancing the ability to target and address problematic claims.

Such was the dilemma (among others) confronting Knight Transportation, a self-insured multi-state truckload company with exposure in approximately 25 states. As a for-hire truckload carrier, its workers' compensation risk is exacerbated by multiple factors: drivers are working in an uncontrolled environment, and they are almost completely acting autonomously. More significantly, Knight is self-insured in 19 of those states.