3 Tips to Reduce Your Trucking Insurance Cost
Real talk here. In Louisiana and Texas trucking insurance markets, there are not any insurance carriers filing for rate decreases. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, nor without some major legislative changes. We are, on occasion, able to reduce insurance premiums for our trucking partners.
This is typically achieved for one of two reason:
1) the motor carrier has crossed the new venture threshold with 3 or more years in business; which opens the doors to more insurance carriers or
2) the motor carrier has “cleaned up” their CSA scores and are now a more attractive risk to quality insurance carriers.
There are insurance premium rating factors you can control. I plan to go into greater depth on each in future articles.
Let's look at 3 tips to reduce your trucking insurance cost:
- CSA Scores – Clean them up! The first thing our agents look at before taking a meeting or completing an application are a motor carriers CSA scores. These can tell a lot about an operation. Insurance companies do the same. I have received declinations from insurance companies to quote trucking risks with no loss history, because of unfavorable CSA Scores. Data shows motor carriers with higher than average scores are at greater risks for accidents to occur. All categories are important, but vehicle maintenance and hours-of-service are the two biggest problems areas we see.
- Drivers – I know. I know. We hear it every day - “good drivers are hard to come by”. Driver qualifications vary from insurance company to company. I would suggest having a conversation with your agent. Ask them where the sweet spot is for the insurance company you are with. Many have rating factors that are not just based on violations – many take age, years CDL experience, and length of employment into account. You may be surprised to find out that some insurance carriers will give you a break on drivers over a certain age, but surcharge for others. Unfortunately, there is not industry standard here. Your best option is to talk to your agent about it.
- Radius of Operation – Just like driver qualifications, there is no industry standard for insurance carriers and rates by radius. Some insurance companies prefer risks that are operating within a 250-300-mile radius, while others prefer long haul. If you are working with a quality agent, they should know all about your operation and the radius you run. Talk with your agent about what insurance companies they have access to and their appetites. You may find you can save serious money by reducing the radius you have historically operated in. Or the opposite could be true, as some insurance carriers want the long-haul risks over the short-haul.
Trucking insurance is one of your biggest, if not your biggest investment. There are many great trucking insurance agents out there. Hopefully you are already working with one. The information I’m providing should already be discussions you are having or have had. I can be reached directly at jeffrey@bayouagency.com, if you’d like to discuss your operations needs.
You can also give our office a call at 318-805-6448. Any of our experienced team members will be happy to start a conversation.
Cover Image: Thomas Ivy with Southern Transport