Insurance is one of the most important factors when starting your trucking company. Trucking Insurance is one of largest expenses you encounter along with fuel, maintenance, and driver pay. It’s required to run your trucking business legally and there’s no way of getting around it. When you get your trucking authority, you will be required to shop around for insurance. We’ve put this article together to help explain the factors that go into quoting rates for trucking insurance and how you can get the best rate for your company.

What do insurers look at when quoting trucking insurance rates?

Trucking insurance companies look at a multitude of factors when quoting insurance. Insurers will usually ask for your MC number or USDOT number to give you an accurate quote on your trucking insurance.

1) Location your company is based out of:

States like Florida, California, New Jersey, New York tend to have higher trucking insurance rates. Some parts of Texas have higher rates, and some more rural parts have lower rates. States like Kansas, Oklahoma, Georgia tends to have lower insurance rates.

2) What type of cargo your company is hauling

Rates can be higher depending on the risk type of your cargo. Hazmat drivers tend to have higher rates due to the danger of their cargo, however they’re compensated with higher rates than non-hazmat drivers.

3) Years in business

New entrant trucking companies tend to have higher premiums in their first year. More experience and a clean history help lower your rates.

4) Loss Run history

Your loss run history is a report of any claim your business has had while insured. It shows the insurance company how risky your company is to insure. The less claims you have, the better it is for your rates.

5) Length of routes

The number of miles your trucking company runs affects your trucking company’s insurance rates. If you’re running more miles, your rates will be higher. However, running more miles results in more money made on loads, which makes the increase in insurance rates worthwhile. If you’re running interstate (between multiple states) or intrastate (within your home state) and if you’re running within a 150-mile radius affects your rates.

6) CSA scores

CSA Scores are how the FMCSA measures the safety performance of commercial trucking companies and their drivers. They take into account 7 factors known as BASICs

  • Unsafe Driving
  • Crash Indicator
  • Hours-of-Service Compliance
  • Vehicle Maintenance
  • Controlled Substances and Alcohol
  • Hazardous Material Compliance (Hazmat Trucking Companies)
  • Driver Fitness

How to keep your trucking insurance rates low:

1) Hire safe drivers: hire responsible drivers with good safety records

2) Keep important documents for your trucking company in your trucks

3) Challenge citations: You can challenge CSA citations to remove points. We can help you with that at TexasTruckPermits.com

2) Maintain your trucks and driving records. You will pay less on insurance, if your trucks are well maintained and you have a good driving record.

3) When shopping for insurance, get quotes from multiple insurance companies. However, you need to make sure they’re an acceptable insurance company for your customers!

4) Take the time to look for quotes. Take at least 1-2 months when renewing your insurance. The more time you spend on filling out your insurance company’s insurance application, the better insurance rates you can get. This allows you to make sure you’re getting the correct coverage for your company and not getting unnecessary coverage you may not need.

At TexasTruckPermits.com, we help you to start your trucking company and beyond. Our services range from getting your trucking authority, additional required permits, factoring, help getting insurance and more! Visit us at TexasTruckPermits.com or give us a call at 832-787-2111.