4 Proven Methods to Find Cheap Truck Insurance

In today’s economy, finding cheap truck insurance is becoming increasingly important for trucking companies looking to maximize their profits. With low freight rates and high operating costs, finding the cheapest truck insurance can mean the difference between a thriving business and one struggling to stay afloat.

Truck insurance is a crucial investment for any trucking business, providing coverage for accidents, theft, and liability claims. However, the cost of premiums can quickly add up, eating into profit margins.

That’s why it’s essential for trucking companies to find ways to lower their insurance costs without sacrificing coverage.

In this article, we will explore the importance of cheap truck insurance and provide tips on how to find affordable coverage for your fleet. By implementing cost-saving strategies and comparing quotes from different providers, you can ensure that your business is protected while also saving money on insurance premiums.

Manage Your DOT Inspections

Insurance companies use data from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to rate your company. This includes roadside inspections. Whenever the DOT puts your company out of service for vehicle maintenance problems, unsafe driving, failure to comply with hours of service regulations, or drug and alcohol violations, insurance companies are more likely to increase premium. On the other hand, “clean” inspections, or inspections without violations or out of services, can help decrease your truck insurance and may even attract high quality insurance carriers with lower premium. This information is condensed into a number call the CSA Score which stands for Compliance, Safety, and Accountability.

Many top-tier insurance companies will automatically decline to quote insurance for a company with documented unsafe driving or hours of service violations.

How Do I Check My DOT Inspections?

You can find your DOT inspection history through the Safety Management System (SMS) online portal. Search your DOT number or company name. Next, on the bottom right of the page, select “Complete SMS Profile” to review DOT inspections, violations, and out of services for the last two years.

How Do I Check My CSA Score?

Checking your CSA Score is easy and takes a few minutes. Visit csa.fmcsa.dot.gov and enter your USDOT number and PIN to review your score. If you don’t have a PIN, you will need to request one from the USDOT and it will be sent to you within a week.

How Do I Improve My DOT Safety Score?

The good news is you can fix your DOT Safety Score if you are unhappy with it. There are several ways you can improve your safety score and safely share the road:

• Frequent vehicle maintenance. Create a maintenance schedule and stick to it. In addition, hiring a good mechanic with DOT certification to work on your equipment can prevent unnecessary violations and out-of-services.
• Be mindful when hiring drivers. Your drivers are a reflection of your hiring practices, so it’s important that every driver follows your company guidelines. Thoroughly reviewing PSP records will reduce crashes.
• Conduct pre-trip and post-trip inspections. Before and after every trip, be sure to perform a quick inspection of the vehicle from top to bottom for maintenance and compliance issues. Check tire pressure and tire tread depth specifically.
• Enhance driver training with incentives. incentivizing drivers to pass roadside inspections with rewards such as gift cards, bonuses, or accolades is a quick way to steep drivers in your culture of safe driving.
• Hire a consulting firm. When all else fails, consider hiring a consulting firm to create procedures and guidelines. They can lead driver training programs and create incentive packages.

Hire Safe and Experienced Drivers

The surest way to get cheap truck insurance is mindful hiring practices. The truck driver you put behind the wheel could determine your insurance rates for years to come. We recommend conducting comprehensive background checks on drivers. This includes checks on any criminal history, employment history, and their driving record.

Next, conduct a thorough interview process to assess the driver’s qualifications, experience, and attitude toward safety and professionalism.

Outline what qualities you want in a driver and stick to it. Don’t deviate from your ideal driver. Insurance companies want to insure safe drivers and reward those with clean records.

Once you’ve hired a driver, make sure to keep your driver qualification file up to date, regularly drug test, and check MVRs annually.

Ask For Discounts

Insurance companies are always looking for a way to reward you for safe driving. With the rise of technology, insurance companies are able to access data from electronic logging devices (ELDs), dash cameras, and devices that plug into your truck’s diagnostic port. These devices transmit data on hard breaking, rapid acceleration, speeding, hard turns, and even what time of day or night you operate the truck.

By sharing this data with insurance companies, they will often reward you with discounts ranging from 3 percent to 20 percent or more.

In addition, you can find discounts for competitive rates by having an active auto insurance policy, setting your policy up on automatic draft, and paying your premium in full.

Tell Your Agent Why You Deserve Cheap Truck Insurance

Your insurance agent’s job is to find you the cheapest insurance quote with the best insurance coverage. Their job is easiest when you provide details about your business operation, safe driving practices, and company procedures.

Some of the cheapest truck insurance rates aren’t determined by a computer that spits out numbers, it’s between your insurance agent and a commercial truck insurance underwriter. Your agent creates an application detailing your company’s equipment, drivers, and coverage requirements along with a narrative about your company and why you deserve low rates. Think of it like a sales pitch to an insurance company.

Here are a few important details to give to your insurance agent:

• Garaging location: Your garaging location heavily impacts your insurance rate. Tell your agent if your truck is parked in a secure lot with a fence, security, and cameras or if it is garaged in a rural area with a low crime rate on your family’s land.
• Regular routes: The closer more often you drive a route, the less likely you are to have an accident. You know when there’s a sharp turn that requires reduced speed or when to slow down before traffic.
• Dedicated contracts: Similar to driving a regular route, having a dedicated lane tells the insurer that you are familiar with your operation and have a stable business.
• Dash cameras: Your dash camera is an important tool to fight frivolous claims. Insurance companies may offer lower rates to a trucker with a dash camera.

How We Can Help Find Cheap Truck Insurance

Our team of knowledgeable insurance agents are experts in finding cheap and affordable truck insurance. With 15 years of experience and the trust of thousands of truckers and owner operators, we leverage our vast network of insurance companies to find you the cheapest truck insurance. Call an insurance agent at 855-281-2924 or request a quote online.