Deciding to start a trucking business means getting insights about trucking insurance, possibly for the first time. Determining which trucking insurance would be best is much easier when shoppers understand the options available they have.
Having the correct trucking insurance is paramount for trucking businesses for numerous reasons. Without it, success within the trucking industry is nearly impossible. Read on for a closer look at why that’s the case.
How Does Trucking Business Insurance Work?
Trucking business insurance provides trucking businesses with protection on their drivers, vehicles and products being hauled. It works similarly to home or auto insurance in that having it can protect trucking businesses from legal ramifications and high fees.
What Are the Types of Trucking Insurance?
There are numerous types of trucking insurance that offer different forms of coverage. Some of the most common types of trucking insurance include:
Motor Truck General Liability Insurance
Motor Truck General Liability Insurance is required by all 50 States. Trucking businesses with this coverage are able to protect truckers for hire in numerous ways. Those ways include claims for personal injury, bodily injury, property damage liability, and more.
Primary Auto Liability Insurance
This type of coverage is vital for trucking businesses because it covers the expenses that outside parties incur due to their vehicle. In case the driver from the trucking company is at fault in an accident, primary auto liability insurance provides the business with protection.
Physical Damage Insurance
Although trucking businesses aren’t legally required, they are highly recommended. That’s because this coverage offers protection in cases where vehicles incur physical damages.
Non-Trucking Liability Insurance
This coverage option is essential for trucking businesses because it covers anything that doesn’t fall into the umbrella of their usual coverage. It’s crucial for insuring trucks that sustain damage when they aren’t being used for business purposes.
Bobtail Insurance
Since bobtail insurance is necessary for protecting tractors when they aren’t pulling trailers, it’s often confused for non-trucking liability insurance. Bobtail insurance is also known for protecting tractors being operated without trailers regardless of their dispatch status.
Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
This type of coverage provides trucking businesses with coverage for freight or commodity and liability for cargo. The premium typically depends on the type of freight the business hauls.
Rental Reimbursement Insurance
This type of coverage provides trucking businesses with funds to replace trucks that are down with maintenance.
Medical Payment Insurance
This type of coverage disperses payments for any medical bills accumulated by passengers while driving or riding in company trucks.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists Insurance
This type of insurance is necessary in order for protection against uninsured drivers and drivers without insurance policies that cover the damages that have been sustained.
Trailer Interchange Insurance
This coverage provides trucking businesses with protection on trailers that are pulled under trailer interchange agreements. Trucking businesses with trailer interchange insurance have protection for physical damage sustained on trailers that aren’t owned. This coverage option is ideal for protecting un-owned trailers against collisions, vandalism, theft and fires.
Reefer Breakdown Coverage
This coverage option is particularly important for trucking businesses that own refrigerated trucks. Reefer breakdown coverage provides trucking businesses with reimbursement for fixing things like lost or damaged cargo and breakdown of refrigeration.
Major Insurance Requirements for a Trucking Business
Legally, the only type of trucking insurance required for trucking businesses is primary auto and general liability. Even though that’s the case, overestimating the amount of coverage they’ll need is better for the business than having them go with the bare minimum amount of coverage.
Finding out what coverage a business will need is a difficult task to do alone, but not with a partner. Working with an insurance agent can make obtaining the perfect insurance policy simple.
Is Trucking Insurance Necessary?
Not only is trucking insurance legally required, but it also offers vast amounts of protection to people and products that are necessary for completing jobs.
Let’s say for example a trucking business has an accident with a driver who doesn’t have any form of auto insurance. If a trucking business has full coverage, the damages sustained to the truck and the cargo in it will be covered.
Additionally, in case any other people or properties were damaged, a high level of coverage will make it so that everything else is covered, too. All in all, more coverage is better than little to no coverage. Accidents happen, but they’re costly. For trucking businesses to financially stay on track, even in the face of an accident, trucking insurance is absolutely necessary.
Considerations When Shopping For Trucking Insurance
There are a handful of concepts to keep in mind when exploring options for trucking business insurance. Let’s take a look at some of the things to consider when looking for trucking business insurance!
Risk Level
Shopping for insurance coverage that matches the needs of the trucking business is a must. The best way to determine which policy is best for you is by thoroughly evaluating your risk levels.
Doing that entails evaluating specific details about the business including opportunities for product loss, accidents, injuries, etc. Accurately determining risk levels helps ensure that businesses make the right choice when it comes to trucking insurance.
Coverage Needs
Even though the price of trucking insurance is an important factor, it should be prioritized over the business’s coverage needs. While having reduced amounts of coverage may be appealing, it may not be best for the long-term health of the business. Prioritizing coverage needs when shopping for trucking insurance means situations like damaged cargo or collisions won’t cause lasting damage.
Budget
Even though budget isn’t the most important factor, disregarding it completely when shopping for trucking insurance is a mistake. One of the most crucial steps in choosing the best trucking insurance for a business is making sure it works within the budget.
Customer Service
Another important factor in choosing the best trucking insurance is making sure the insurance company provides a satisfactory level of customer service. There’s no telling when they’ll be needed. That’s why businesses need to look for great service from potential trucking insurance providers.
Reputability
An often-overlooked factor that can lead to major headaches later on if it’s not paid attention to is making sure the company providing the trucking business insurance policy is a reputable one.
Reputability is important because it allows businesses to gain real-life insights as to what can be expected from a company they decide to receive trucking insurance from. Finding out if the insurance company is reputable before signing paperwork can be a major time and money saver.
Advantages of Trucking Business Insurance
The advantages of maintaining a trucking business insurance policy are immense. They include protection from costly situations arising from accidents including medical expenses, liability protection, and damaged goods.
This protection can be hugely important in helping to save a trucking business from going out of business. Without it, business owners are likely on the hook for any damages that occur which could put the trucking business in jeopardy.
Disadvantages of Trucking Business Insurance
Trucking business insurance provides trucking businesses with protection, but it does so at a cost. The high costs associated with trucking insurance are one disadvantage that can’t be overlooked.
Another is the time-consuming nature of finding the best trucking insurance option for a business. Taking those factors into consideration, the advantages of trucking business insurance outweigh the drawbacks.
Get the Best Trucking Insurance For Your Needs
Finding the best options for trucking insurance can be a tall task, especially considering its importance of it. Fortunately, there are numerous resources available that can make the process of finding the best trucking insurance easier.
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