Whether you are an entrepreneur with one commercial truck or your company uses a fleet of trucks, you need commercial truck insurance tailored to your business and your risks.
Perhaps you have drivers who make deliveries, or you have trained and certified commercial truck drivers who drive tractor trailers and deliver freight cross-country. No two businesses are alike in their use of vehicles, their specific risks and the amount and type of coverage needed. That is why it is important to work with an agent who understands your business.
Commercial Truck Risks
- About 130,000 people are injured each year in truck accidents
- 70% of truck accidents report only property damage
- 22% of truck accidents result in injuries
- The average cost of a commercial truck accident is about $59,000
Types of Commercial Truck Insurance
The category of commercial trucks involves several types of large vehicles, including:
- Semis (tractor-trailers or 18-wheelers)
- Dump trucks
- Garbage trucks
- Car haulers and auto trailers
- Tow trucks
- Flatbed trucks
- Tank trucks
- Box trucks
Each of these types of trucks has a very different role. The amount you and/or your employees drive your commercial trucks, the miles your trucks travel each year and what they haul will all factor into the type and amount of coverage you need to protect your business investments.
What Does Commercial Truck Insurance Cover?
Like many auto insurance policies, commercial truck insurance comes with several types of coverage, each of which is specifically designed to protect your business and your personal assets form catastrophic loss. The coverage you need may include:
- Commercial truck liability insurance: Covers your liability risks in the event that you or one of your employed drivers causes an accident. Your commercial truck liability will include bodily injury liability to cover the costs of injuries and medical expenses for the injured party, and property damage liability to cover the cost of property damage in an accident. Your commercial truck liability insurance will typically also cover the costs of legal defense, whether or not your company is found to be at fault in an accident.
- Physical damage coverage: Covers the costs of damage to your vehicle from an accident or other incident. This coverage includes both collision coverage to pay for damage from a crash as well as comprehensive coverage to pay for damage from theft, vandalism and “other than collision” causes.
- Uninsured/underinsurance motorists coverage: Covers the costs of injuries and damages if you or one of your employees is in an accident where another driver is at fault, but that driver does not have adequate coverage to pay for your injuries and property damage.
- Truck cargo coverage: Covers damage or theft of items your truck is hauling.
In addition to these types of coverage, you will have many other options as you structure your policy to cover your specific concerns. For example, if your employees sometimes need to drive their own vehicles in the course of business, you may want a non-owned vehicles policy.
This coverage will protect you and your drivers from the costs associated with accidents that occur during business hours when an employee is driving a vehicle that your company does not own.
How to Get Commercial Truck Insurance Quotes
Since commercial truck insurance varies widely depending on the type of truck and the use of the vehicle, it can be very difficult to get a side-by-side comparison of different quotes for the same types and amounts of insurance coverage.
Fortunately, an independent agent can help by comparing quotes for you from several different insurance companies. Working with an agent who will take the time to understand your business, and how you use your commercial trucks, can help you save time and money.
Your agent will be able to quickly do the leg work to get several different quotes that match your commercial truck insurance needs. There is so much to consider when insuring your commercial trucks. To get accurate quotes, your agent needs to know things, like:
- Which employees will be driving your trucks?
- What kinds of certification or training to your drivers have?
- Will they be in hard-hat areas or construction sites?
- Will they be hauling heavy equipment hazardous materials?
- How many miles will they be driving your commercial trucks each year?
- Will they cross state boundaries?
Questions like these, as well as the driving records of your employees, will help your agent gather a range of quotes from several different companies, including various commercial vehicle discounts that may be available to you.
Get Commercial Truck Insurance and More
Having a local agent can make sure you get the best commercial truck insurance coverage for your needs and budget. Additionally, your agent can help you get all of the coverage needed for your business operation.
Many insurance companies will give you discounts if you package all your business coverage with one company, and our agent can find these opportunities for you.
Even if you carry many policies through several different insurance companies, when you work with an agent, your transactions take place all at one time, in one office. If you ever need to file a claim, you will have one agent who can help you with the process.
Source: Trusted Choice