Heavy-duty trucks are the big guns out on the road. Their weight, unique uses, and the long distances many travel make it challenging to insure them.
This article will reveal the five best providers of heavy-duty truck insurance and explain what you need to know to get the right coverage for you.
- 5 best heavy duty truck insurance companies
- What are heavy duty trucks?
- What kind of insurance do I need for a heavy-duty truck?
- How much does heavy-duty trucking insurance cost?
- What factors affect the heavy duty truck insurance cost
- How can I lower heavy-duty truck insurance costs?
- Am I required to get heavy duty truck insurance?
- How can I get heavy-duty trucking insurance?
5 best heavy duty truck insurance companies
We’ve researched insurers offering heavy-duty truck insurance to come up with the top 5 providers for a range of reasons.
- Progressive: Best for discounted coverage
- Simply Business: Best for comparing several quotes
- Tailored Insurance Group: Best for specialized heavy-duty trucking coverage
- Commercialinsurance.net: Best online insurance shopping experience
- The Hartford: Best for heavy duty truck fleets
Progressive: Best for discounted coverage and online quotes
Heavy-duty trucking insurance is costly. The good news: Progressive is known for offering discounts, and you may be able to save on your coverage by taking advantage of them.
You can earn discounts for:
- Bundling your insurance
- Having a safe driving record
- Allowing Progressive to track your driving habits
- Agreeing to autopay or paying your premium upfront
- Avoiding making claims.
Progressive has been offering vehicle insurance for more than 80 years and is the top commercial vehicle insurer in the United States. This is a clear sign that Progressive is doing something right. The company is known for its flexibility, great rates, and top-quality service.
Progressive makes it easy to get a quote online or secure coverage through a licensed insurance representative. in fact, they are the only carrier offering truck insurance quotes online. With insurance as complex as heavy-duty trucking coverage, you will likely have to apply for a quote online and finish the process by speaking with a Progressive representative over the phone.
Simply Business: Best for comparing several quotes
Simply Business is not just a company name. It’s how the organization conducts business. The company takes pride in making insurance for truckers and others understandable, easy, and affordable.
The firm was founded in 2005. It’s an online insurance brokerage representing top-tier small business insurers.
No matter the size or scope of your heavy-duty trucking business, Simply Business will help you find the right coverage for you at a fair price. With Simply Business, all you have to do is input information about your trucking operation on the company’s website. Once you do that, it will present you with quotes from top insurance providers or request that you connect with a representative over the phone to discuss your coverage. The multiple quotes generated by the Simply Business platform allow you to compare costs and coverages and select the best insurance for your heavy-duty trucks.
Tailored Insurance Group: Best for specialized heavy-duty trucking coverage
Tailored Insurance Group is known for conducting ongoing research on insurance companies. They only partner with ones that have solid reputations and deliver great overall client experiences. Tailored reviews them for their ability to pay out on claims, customer service, and quality of employees. It stays on top of their roster of insurers to make certain they always provide customers with the best insurance solutions and claims experiences.
Tailored Insurance Group offers:
- Vehicle liability limits of up to $5 million
- Access to A+ rated carriers
- Certificates and filing completed the same day
- A full range of coverages for heavy-duty truckers, including vehicle liability, cargo, trailer interchange, physical damage, general liability, and more
- Low down payments and monthly payment options
- New drivers, DOTs, and CDLs acceptance.
If you want to get your insurance from a heavy-duty trucking specialist, Tailored Insurance Group could be a good option.
Commercialinsurance.net: Best online insurance shopping experience
Commercialinsurance.net is a top digital insurance marketplace specializing in small business coverage. Heavy-duty truckers and other types of businesses can find the right insurance for them through the company’s website.
Commercialinsurance.net was founded just over a decade ago. It’s a top provider of general liability, commercial auto, and workers’ compensation coverage. It partners with leading insurers, including Progressive, The Hartford, and Liberty Mutual.
Commercialinsurance.net is licensed to sell insurance in most states, except Hawaii and Alaska. To get a quote, Commercialinsurance.net asks you to provide information about your business and insurance needs online. Within a few minutes, it’s platform finds the best insurance carrier for you and connects you with an agent who will go over your options.
The Better Business Bureau has accredited Commercialinsurance.net since 2010. It has earned an A+ rating. Customers have positive experiences with Commercialinsurance.net, earning it favorable ratings and reviews. The company is known for being responsive to customer requests.
The Hartford: Best for heavy duty truck fleets
The Hartford is the oldest — and one of the best-established — insurance companies in the United States. It’s offered insurance solutions for more than 200 years. During that time, it has helped more than one million businesses with their insurance needs.
The Hartford has earned the Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Company honor twelve times. The Hartford’s long history and focus on ethical business practices make it a company that you can feel confident about entrusting your insurance needs to.
Hartford’s dedicated and highly experienced small business team is available to help small business owners explore their heavy-duty trucking insurance options. The Hartford’s heavy truck coverage has been customized to meet the needs of fleets, small or large.
If you decide to purchase insurance from The Hartford, you can rest assured knowing you’re entrusting your business and the heavy duty trucks it depends on to a solid and ethical insurance provider.
What are heavy duty trucks?
Heavy-duty trucks are several categories of trucks as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) based on gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR). The weight includes the truck, its freight, passengers, and fuel.
The USDOT officially recognizes nine weight rating classes, and they are grouped into light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty trucks.
Any vehicle exceeding 26,001 pounds is considered heavy-duty. Examples include mobile cranes, cement mixers, refuse trucks, tractors designed to pull refrigerated trailers, dry vans, and other equipment. These types of vehicles are primarily used for long-haul transportation and are divided into three classes:
- Class 7: 26,001 to 33,000 pounds
- Class 8: 33,001 to 59,999 pounds
- Class 9: Vehicles exceeding 60,000 pounds (super-heavy/special-duty trucks).
What kind of insurance do I need for a heavy duty truck?
Every business is unique and uses different types of heavy-duty trucks in their own ways. That’s why every organization depending on these vehicles needs a unique insurance plan to fully protect their heavy-duty trucks from all the risks they face. The following are common coverages that business owners purchase for their heavy-duty trucks.
Vehicle liability coverage
Vehicle liability insurance protects your business by covering the costs you’re legally obligated to pay if you’re found at fault in an accident and cause someone bodily injury or damage to their property, including their vehicle. Put simply, liability insurance will cover your business if you or someone who works for your company causes an accident and hurts someone or damages their vehicle or other property. This coverage is required before you’re allowed to drive a truck.
Physical damage coverage
Trucking physical damage insurance comes in two forms:
- Collision coverage pays to repair your truck and get it back on the road as soon as possible if it’s damaged in an accident or a collision with another object.
- Comprehensive coverage helps pay to get your vehicle repaired if it’s damaged by something other than an accident, such as theft, fire, vandalism, and extreme weather.
Learn more at the best trucking physical damage insurance companies
Non-trucking liability coverage
Non-trucking liability insurance will cover you when you drive without a trailer attached to your truck. Bobtail insurance, deadhead insurance, and unladen coverage are all forms of non-trucking insurance. An insurance expert can advise you on whether you need this coverage, which type to get, and how much to purchase.
Learn more at the best non-trucking liability insurance companies
Truck cargo coverage
Truck Cargo insurance covers the freight or load you’re hauling against accidents and disasters like fire, theft, or vandalism. If something happens to your cargo while on the road, this insurance will pay to repair or replace it. There are several types of cargo insurance, including earned freight, reefer, and trailer interchange. An insurance agent or representative at one of our recommended insurers can advise you on whether you need this protection, what type to purchase, and how much coverage you should get.
Learn more at the best truck cargo insurance companies
Pollution/hazmat coverage
This insurance can help you pay expenses if you have an accident and cause pollution or environmental damage. Learn more at the best hazmat truck insurance companies
How much does heavy duty trucking insurance cost?
Heavy duty truck insurance is generally the most expensive compared to other types of commercial truck insurance because the bigger the trucks are, the more serious damage it would cause to third party (both bodily injury and property damage) if it is involved in an accident.
Based on our research, the average heavy duty truck insurance cost is $1,570 per month, which is about 20% more expensive than the general average truck insurance cost. That would include primary liability, non-trucking liability, physical damage, and truck cargo insurance coverages.
This is just the average. Your cost will be different. Be sure to shop around with a few companies. Getting an online quote from Progressive to have a good idea how much your heavy duty truck insurance would cost. Work with a top broker like Simply Business or Commercialinsurance.net to get and compare several quotes before making your final decision.
Learn more at the average commercial truck insurance cost per month
What factors affect heavy duty truck insurance cost?
Many factors impact the cost of heavy-duty truck insurance, including:
- Your drivers, their experience, and safety records
- Your trucks, including their make, model, and year
- The number of trucks you’re insuring
- The type of business you own
- Whether you haul things and what you haul
- Driving radius
- Coverages and limits
- Insurers and how they calculate heavy-duty truck policy costs.
You must get quotes from several insurers so you can compare coverages and premiums to ensure you get the right heavy-duty truck coverage for your business at a reasonable price.
How can I lower heavy duty truck insurance cost?
There are several steps you can take to gain control of your premium prices.
Make safety your number one priority.
Driving heavy-duty trucks is risky. That’s why coverage is so comparatively expensive. Making claims on your insurance will raise your premium rates. Take steps to enforce safety best practices to keep insurance premiums low. Driving safely can help you manage coverage costs.
Insure all your trucks with a single provider.
The more protection you purchase from a single insurer, the less you’ll typically pay for coverage.
Pay your premiums annually instead of incrementally.
If you pay your premium upfront when you purchase or renew your policy, instead of monthly or quarterly, you could earn a discount from your insurer.
Ask about discounts.
Find out about discounts you qualify for now and could in the future. Many insurers don’t automatically offer discounts. Check to see that you get all you deserve.
Get quotes from several providers.
Different insurers calculate heavy-duty truck insurance premiums differently. You owe it to yourself to get quotes from several insurers on the list or a broker or marketplace. You can compare coverages and costs to find the best deal for you.
Am I required to get heavy duty truck insurance?
The short answer is YES. States require coverage before you’re allowed to drive your truck. You’ll need to get more if you travel across state lines. An insurance agent or representative at an insurer specializing in heavy-duty truck coverage can advise you on the protection you need.
How can I get heavy duty trucking insurance?
You can work with an insurance agent to get your heavy-duty trucking coverage or contact the recommended providers on our list. What’s important is that you get several quotes through a broker or marketplaces like Simply Business or insurers like Progressive or The Hartford. You can compare coverages and costs, so you get the right heavy-duty trucking insurance for your business at a reasonable price.
