Trucking Insurance Tailored for You

This entirely depends on what shipping companies you plan to work with and whether you’ll be pulling your own trailers or the shipping companies. One of my appointed carriers, Great West Casualty, has some really great coverages for trailer interchange agreements.

Under a trailer interchange agreement, the shipping company’s coverage must be equal to your company’s coverage, as Physical Damage coverage will not apply while someone else is using the trailer. Coverage can apply on an excess basis. The coverage chosen should ideally equal the value of all the shipping units in the insured’s possession. The limits should include empty containers currently being held to return later.

Great West has two additional features on this endorsement:

• Option 1: Trailers can be interchanged based on an oral as well as a written agreement.
• Option 2: Trailer Interchange coverage can be made to apply on an excess basis as opposed to the more traditional primary basis. There is no difference in premium for this feature.

When you’re coming up on your yearly commercial auto renewal, a good insurance broker is going to ask you to review your Power Units and determine whether the stated value for each power unit is accurate?

In a total loss/wrecked truck situation, the insurance company will look at your stated amount and the actual cash value of your vehicle and pay whichever is less. There is no benefit to your company to list the stated amount of your vehicle at a higher cost than its actually worth.

I recommend being as accurate as possible when putting a stated amount on your power unit. Take the time to check out websites like commercialtrucktrader.com or truckpaper.com to compare similar trucks. Consider the year, mileage, condition, and any upgrades you’ve made to the vehicle that year. Remember, if your stated amount was $50,000 last year, chances are the vehicle has depreciated and is worth a little less the following year. Don’t be afraid to reach out to manufacturers or truck dealerships to get their opinion of what they would value your truck at.