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Commercial Truck Insurance – Special Policies Designed for Motor Carriers

Commercial Truck Insurance – Special Policies Designed for Motor Carriers

Motor carriers must insure their fleets. That is a stone cold fact. Freight employers must do this for two basic reasons. First of all, these companies want to protect your money and assets. An incorrect claim can destroy a business and driving is always a risky business. Without proper commercial truck insurance, a business is open to being hit with lawsuits in the event of accidents that will statistically happen anyway. Second, federal and state regulations require truck driver employers to comply with certain insurance coverages. These requirements vary from state to state.

The amount of coverage, as well as the specific type of coverage required, will vary from company to company and driver to driver. There are many specific types of truck insurance to cover all types of drivers and situations. However, all carriers should consider the following options:

General freight

General freight insurance covers your cargo for a specific dollar amount agreed upon by you and your insurance company. A deductible payment may also be required. Companies with large fleets of trucks under their command need a policy like this to cover the costs associated with lost, damaged or stolen cargo. Paying for a truckload of anything will be expensive. General freight insurance makes sure that no one gets stuck paying for the entire load if something unfortunate happens.

Overall responsibility

Trucking companies need general liability coverage to protect company employees and vehicles by covering costs associated with damages and injuries caused by other drivers. It can also help protect against lawsuits initiated by accident victims seeking compensation from the company. This is a broad policy that generally protects businesses and employers from lawsuits involving accidents.

Primary responsibility

These policies cover damages and medical costs to other drivers involved in truck driver accidents. This type of insurance coverage protects the driver from being liable for costs, hence the term “liability” coverage. Damage to the truck or truck driver is not covered without additional coverage, such as physical damage insurance.

This is also legally required by federal regulations for all commercial trucks. It is not a primary liability insurance purchase option. Driving without primary liability coverage puts you and the drivers around you at financial risk, because no one will be able to pay for the damages. Unless you have a breadbox-sized wallet to pay for it all, you need primary liability coverage.

Cargo insurance

You may need separate commercial truck insurance if you are a motor carrier regularly transporting dangerous or urgent goods. If you break an item in a store, you have to pay for it. If something happens to the cargo, someone will be responsible and no one wants to pay for a truck full of anything.

Trailer exchange insurance

Many carriers enter into trailer swap agreements with each other, in which drivers swap trailers and complete each other’s routes. This is done to save both companies money. Once trailers are changed, they are no longer covered by the driver’s policy and trailer exchange insurance is needed.

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