While most people think of trucking as a simple way to transport goods from place to place, it’s one of the most regulated industries in the United States. If you’re considering getting into the industry, you might be curious about what exactly that entails. Here are five things you should know before buying trucking insurance.
You Need a Special Certificate
Getting trucking insurance doesn’t entail the same steps as acquiring other types of insurance. With trucking insurance, you need a specialty certificate. If you don’t have one, you’re going to want to get one right away. A specialty certificate is needed to do most of the things that a trucker needs to do. It will allow you to drive certain types of trucks, and it will let you drive long distances in certain states. It’s also needed to do things like haul hazardous materials, or deliver goods to military bases. Without this, it’s going to be harder to get the insurance you need as you can’t prove you’re qualified to even do many important trucking operations.
You Need The Required Commercial Coverage
Commercial vehicles are covered under special insurance policies. You’ll also need to make sure your vehicle is covered under a commercial policy. Then you’ll also need to make sure that it has the right coverage. The commercial coverage that you will use is “required” coverage. Required coverage is what is most commonly used in the trucking industry. It includes $100,000 of bodily injury per person, $300,000 of bodily injury per accident, $100,000 of property damage, $50,000 of medical payment, and $100,000 of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. The coverage is available in a variety of amounts. The bodily injury amount is the maximum amount of compensation that will be paid out if someone was hit by a truck or injured. The property damage amount will be paid out if a vehicle is hit by another car, or if it’s damaged another way.
Excess Can be Good — But Not Too Much
Most trucking companies will require that you carry $100,000 of commercial trucking insurance. This is reasonable since it helps limit what can be recovered from your insurance company if you are seriously injured or a truck is involved in an accident. The problem is that many people think that carrying $300,000 of coverage is good enough, but that is not necessarily true. Your commercial insurance policy should have a $300,000 excess. If you have a policy with $100,000 coverage, then you should have $200,000 worth of insurance in total.
Collision Coverage Is Essential
As you might expect, collisions are one of the most common causes of trucking accidents. This makes it vital to find a policy with collision coverage. This coverage typically comes in the form of a deductible. For example, if your collision deductible is $1,000 and you have an accident in which you only incur $2,000 in damage, you will be reimbursed by your insurance company. Collision coverage will often offer a higher combined single limit of $3,000,000.
Don’t Forget to Buy In-Transit Coverage
If you’re hauling goods across the country, you should make sure to buy in-transit coverage. This will cover any damage to your truck while it is in transit, but not yet unloaded. This protects you while doing the basics of your job and moving the many items a truck is typically expected to move.
Conclusion
You need to make sure that you’re covered in the event of a collision, or if you’re hit from behind while driving. You need to make sure that your policy covers any damage that is caused to your truck while it is in transit. And you need to make sure that your coverage is at least as high as your vehicle’s value. These are all important things to keep in mind when it comes to trucking insurance. If you want to find out more, you can always contact an agent at a trucking insurance broker.
