Insurance

[big guy]

Been shopping around for Insurance and have had several quotes. Question is: is $1,000,000 non-trucking liability enough? It was suggested to me (by a recruiter) that it is not enough. Is this true? How much is enough? Any suggestions for the best rates?

Thanks for any help!

Big Guy

 

[terryandrene]

If you were to be involved in an accident while driving your truck for personal reasons, an injured party would likely bring a suit againt you AND your carrier because your truck is branded with their logo. It's the American way, sue the deep pockets.

In this day and age, $1 million is probably a good figure to protect you and your personal assets; some carriers require $2 million non-trucking liabilty. I believe they require you to have this much to protect themselves more than you. Your large limit just might keep the wolves from their door. Although this large amount of insurance is required as a condition of the lease agreement to which we agreed, I think it inappropriate for the carrier to require this large amount. It is not unlike Freightliner requireing you to have a large policy because you are driving a truck which, if involved in an accident, might subject Freightliner to litigation.

Enough venting. to answer you specific question: Yes a million dollar policy is common in the expedite industry.

 

[big guy]

Thanks so much for the info. My wife and I will be starting out probably some time in February. We just purchased a Kenworth T300 and are anxious to start. What do you hear about the Kenworths?

Stay safe!

 

[Broompilot]

One million is about all your gona find, seems that fleet owners are the only ones that can get the 5 mill or more. I hope someone will post if they have a REASONABLE rate on more than one mil.

As for KWs junk, never does anything work right. Just kidding you should be delighted, I would take a used KW with 800K on it than just about anything else with 300K on it. As another owner of a couple of KWs and a Freightliner told me they are as durable as Tanks. All other truck mfgs have been bought out except for KW and Pete they still remain individual and hold the highest resale value of all large trucks. People want these USED over all other truck mfgs. One could buy cheaper just not better.

 

[Crazynuff]

I've been told it's better to get unladen liability rather than non-trucking . With non-trucking the carrier's company and your NTL company can dispute whether the truck was being used for personal use or was deadheading for another load . With unladen liability you are covered when unloaded , no questions .

 

[big guy]

Broompilot:

Thanks for the scare! You had me going for a minute there!

Thanks for your input though, it's reassuring.

Big Guy

 

[ChopChop]

The amount of insurance you require may depend on what your assets are. If you have little/few assets you may not see the need for much insurance. One way to cover yourself for a fairly small cost is the use of an umbrella policy. I have the company required 2 million and a 2 million umbrella at a cost of around 300.00 per year. Just a thought.