What Truckers Are All About:
This industry involves both long distance and local truck transportation services. This can include specialized freight services, such as those for waste or hazardous materials, or more general freight services for all kinds of goods and non-hazardous materials.
Whether you travel long distance or locally, deliver freight or non-freight items, truckers spend a lot of time on the road. Being on the road constantly is tiring and rewarding for many truckers. It also means you face serious risks. Risks that can destroy your driving reputation and ability to keep consistent work in your queue if you don’t have the right truckers insurance.
Common Risks Faced by Commercial Truck Drivers
Truckers insurance protects you, your family, and your assets from financial ruin. What risks do you need to be concerned about? Let’s take a look.
- Damage to Property or Vehicle: Days and nights on the road can be long and tiring. There have been many reports of drivers falling asleep and causing major highway accidents. You also have numerous blind spots to be concerned with. One wrong move and you can potentially cause an accident. If you cause an accident, you need insurance to pay the costs to repair your truck as well as any other property damaged. You are also responsible for medical payments if another driver is injured.
- Theft of Truck or Property: Sometimes being on the road means parking your truck in areas unknown to you. If your truck or property in the truck is stolen, you will need to replace it. Replacing a big rig requires more cash than most people have in the bank.
- Theft or Loss of Cargo: Some truckers store cargo at warehouses or in their trailers. In either case, the items you are transporting are owned by somebody else. If they get stolen or damaged in transit, you are responsible to financially replace them.
Insurance is more than a piece of paper; it protects you from high expenses associated with accidents and losses.
What Types of Coverage Do You Truckers Need?
Every trucker needs primary liability insurance to be compliant with federal laws. If you park your truck at home during off hours, you also need non-trucking liability.
- Primary Liability: Primary liability insurance is required in all fifty states. It pays costs associated with individuals injured in accidents you cause on the road.
- Physical Damage: This policy pays costs associated with damage to your truck and trailer. It is an insurance coverage required by most lien holders if your truck is financed.
- General Liability: Pays for expenses from property damage or injuries to third parties when your truck is not on the road.
- Cargo Insurance: Pays to replace any lost or damaged cargo that you were transporting for your customers.
- Non-Trucking Liability: Also known as bobtail liability, this coverage covers expenses that arise from accidents when you are on the road but not on the clock.
Cost of Truckers Insurance
Not every carrier offers truckers insurance and those that do use different details to calculate costs. Most insurance carriers review driving record, truck condition and age, types of freight transported, experience, and previous claims history. Request a free trucker’s insurance quote by filling out the form below.