This is a common question I get from truckers all over the country.
They want to know how their premium compares to other truckers in their state, and in other states. Rates vary so much that it can make sense for certain truckers, especially inexperienced ones, to move to a new place to make their operation more profitable.
Here are all 50 states ranked from those with the lowest to highest commercial truck insurance rates based on an analysis by Progressive Insurance. The rankings are for truckers who only transport goods within their states and I’ve also included rates for truckers who drive nationally for each state.
These premium costs are based on a driver who is 40 years old with a clean driving record and median insurance credit score, driving an eight year old tractor worth $40,000 and hauling a trailer worth $22,000. The coverage includes $1 million of primary liability insurance with $1,000 deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage.
After the ranking, I include additional information about trucker insurance including:
- States with the cheapest commercial truck insurance
- What states are best for truckers?
- What factors impact the cost of commercial truck insurance?
- What is commercial truck insurance? And what does it cover?
- Who purchases commercial truck insurance?
- The best commercial truck insurance companies
- How much does commercial truck insurance cost?
- How do I find cheap truck insurance?
States with the cheapest commercial truck insurance
The 5 states with the cheapest commercial truck insurance are Mississippi, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Arizona in that order.
The 5 states with the most expensive commercial truck insurance are New Jersey, Louisiana, Delaware, New York, and Connecticut.
If you are looking for commercial truck insurance in these states, here are our picks for the best companies in these states:
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Arizona
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Massachusetts
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in New Jersey
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in New York
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Louisiana
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Mississippi
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Wyoming
- The best commercial truck insurance companies in Iowa
The table below ranks all 50 states for the cost of commercial truck insurance.
| Rank | Average local premium rate | Average national premium rate | |
| 1 | Mississippi | $3,552 | $4,664 |
| 2 | Wyoming | $4,927 | $7,149 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | $5,447 | $17,017 |
| 4 | Iowa | $5,615 | $8,866 |
| 5 | Arizona | $6,102 | $11,797 |
| 6 | Nebraska | $6,259 | $8,664 |
| 7 | North Dakota | $6,456 | $9,206 |
| 8 | Montana | $6,501 | $9,492 |
| 9 | Kansas | $6,645 | $10,160 |
| 10 | South Dakota | $6,689 | $9,013 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | $6,714 | $9,231 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | $6,817 | $11,390 |
| 13 | Idaho | $6,887 | $9,008 |
| 14 | Alaska | $6,915 | $9,326 |
| 15 | Vermont | $6,937 | $9,643 |
| 16 | Ohio | $7,094 | $9,933 |
| 17 | Colorado | $7,294 | $12,110 |
| 18 | New Mexico | $7,298 | $9,738 |
| 19 | North Carolina | $7,450 | $10,630 |
| 20 | Pennsylvania | $7,536 | $12,470 |
| 21 | Missouri | $7,646 | $11,757 |
| 22 | Illinois | $7,704 | $13,781 |
| 23 | Indiana | $8,430 | $11,141 |
| 24 | Oregon | $8,484 | $11,272 |
| 25 | Washington | $8,484 | $12,706 |
| 26 | Michigan | $8,910 | $13,793 |
| 27 | Utah | $9,121 | $11,110 |
| 28 | Oklahoma | $9,376 | $13,383 |
| 29 | South Carolina | $9,390 | $13,376 |
| 30 | Maine | $9,535 | $13,763 |
| 32 | Tennessee | $9,592 | $13,773 |
| 33 | Minnesota | $9,669 | $12,820 |
| 34 | Virginia | $9,957 | $13,119 |
| 35 | Alabama | $10,284 | $14,216 |
| 36 | Texas | $10,533 | $14,497 |
| 37 | Nevada | $10,681 | $16,912 |
| 38 | Arkansas | $10,973 | $14,922 |
| 39 | Maryland | $11,112 | $16,056 |
| 40 | Kentucky | $11,555 | $15,500 |
| 41 | West Virginia | $11,687 | $14,638 |
| 42 | California | $11,834 | $14,041 |
| 43 | Florida | $12,872 | $19,480 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | $14,046 | $17,220 |
| 45 | Georgia | $15,200 | $20,641 |
| 46 | Connecticut | $16,946 | $17,004 |
| 47 | New York | $16,949 | $17,585 |
| 48 | Delaware | $17,351 | $19,670 |
| 49 | Louisiana | $19,736 | $23,453 |
| 50 | New Jersey | $20,763 | $20,255 |
Best commercial truck insurance companies in 50 states
If you are looking for the best commercial truck insurance in the 50 states, here are our recommendations of the top providers in each state and the reasons why they are our top picks for your consideration:
What states are best for truckers?
If you’re thinking about making a move, the short answer is to consider the states that have the highest incomes for truckers and the lowest insurance costs.
When it comes to trucking, the location where you live can play a major part in how much you get paid. The difference between two states located next to each other can be more than $50,000 in yearly pay.
The top state for trucker income is Nebraska, with an average salary of approximately $90,000. PLUS, it’s the sixth cheapest state for trucker insurance. Some other high paying states for truckers include Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Iowa. These states include a mix of low and high cost ones when it comes to trucker insurance premiums. The worst state for trucker pay is Arizona. The average pay for truckers there is just over $35,000 per year. So even though commercial truck insurance is relatively cheap in Arizona, drivers often find it hard to earn a living there.
Another key factor to consider when choosing where to start a trucking business is relative location in the United States. Many truckers prefer to work in the central part of the country, which makes most of the nation accessible to them. However, others like to work in a busy corridor such as the northeast, southeast or west coast of the U.S.
What factors impact the cost of commercial truck insurance?
Here are the things most insurers consider when generating premiums:
State
Some states have riskier roads, are home to businesses that haul more dangerous types of cargo, or are more litigious. Insurance in these states is more expensive. As you can see above, for the same truck and the same driver, commercial truck insurance costs vary significantly across the states.
Cargo
Insurance for trucks that haul dangerous things like gasoline will be more expensive than less-risky things like pillows. Transporting dangerous goods also requires additional coverage like hazmat truck insurance. Learn more at the best hazmat truck insurance companies.
Age and gender
Older, more experienced drivers typically pay less for coverage than newbies. New drivers usually need from 6 months to 2 years to build up their truck driving record to reduce their truck insurance costs.
Credit score
Similar to what we have known in personal auto insurance, it is the same for commercial truck insurance. People who have higher credit scores are more likely to pay their premiums, so insurers charge them less for coverage.
Garaging locations
Businesses that store their trucks in secure, protected places will pay less for coverage than those who keep them in open parking lots. Garage locations also affect the cost of commercial cost insurance. Businesses with garages located in more crime-prone areas will pay more than businesses with garages located in safer neighborhood.
Radius of operations:
Truckers who drive shorter distances typically have lower premiums than those who drive longer ones. This is simple to understand the more you drive, the more likely you will have accidents.
Discounts
Discounts for things like bundling coverage with a single provider or safe driving will reduce insurance prices.
Size and value of fleet
A business with a larger, more expensive truck fleet will pay more for coverage. The more trucks you have the more premiums you have to pay since commercial truck insurance is priced on each individual truck. Similarly, the more expensive your trucks are, the more expensive your truck insurance is. Particularly, the trucking physical damage coverage will be more expensive. Learn more at the best trucking physical damage insurance companies.
Coverage limits and deductibles
Lowering levels of coverage will cost less than higher ones. Increasing the deductibles of the policy will also reduce the premiums. However, you need to make sure the coverage limits still meet the minimum requirements of your state and you must have enough money to pay for deductible when you need to.
Additional insured(s)
If you add additional drivers to your commercial truck insurance policy, your insurance premiums will increase. If the additional drivers happen to be the bad ones, your insurance will cost significantly more.
Department of Transportation operating record:
Similar to personal auto insurance, commercial truck insurance is a lot more expensive for truckers that have violations on their records.
This is especially true if you have accidents on your driving records in the past 3 years. The records might be removed after 3 years.
Taken together, these factors, along with how different insurers calculate premiums, will determine your trucker insurance costs.
What is commercial truck insurance? And what does it cover?
Commercial truck insurance is an umbrella term that includes a range of vehicle insurance policies purchased by trucking entrepreneurs, companies that use trucks, or autonomous truck drivers to protect their vehicles and various aspects of their operations. The coverages protect against financial liabilities related to bodily harm and property damage resulting from trucking accidents. It also covers damage to — and loss of — cargo and gear.
Unlike other types of commercial vehicle insurance, which can cover many types of vehicles used for business purposes, commercial truck insurance applies to large vehicles used to transport merchandise, raw materials, and other things. The types of transportation covered by commercial truck insurance include semis, box trucks, tractors, cement blenders, pickups, and tow trucks.
Who purchases commercial truck insurance?
Truck insurance is purchased to cover specific vehicles, and it is usually bought by the owner of the vehicles or business. Different drivers can be added to an insurance policy. The unusual thing about truck insurance coverage is that even though it’s typically purchased by a vehicle owner, the drivers on the policy can have a big impact on premium costs.
The best commercial truck insurance companies
There are more than 100 companies offering commercial truck insurance. It can be difficult to find the best one for you. We have done the research and recommend the top 6 commercial truck insurance for your consideration:
- Coverwallet: Best for Comparing Quotes from Leading Companies Through an Agent
- Progressive: Best for Online Quotes
- The Hartford: Best for Longevity
- Chubb: Best for Coverage Options
- Nationwide: Best for Customer Service
- Simply Business: Best Insurance Brokerage
Learn more the details of these companies and why they are making our list of the top 6 at the best commercial truck insurance companies.
How much does commercial truck insurance cost?
There are many factors affecting the commercial truck insurance costs. Different truckers will get different quotes from different companies. Based on your research, on average, a trucker who operates their own truck might pay around $15,000 a year, or $1,250 a month for the critical coverages of a commercial truck insurance policy.
| Commercial truck coverages | Average monthly cost |
| General liability insurance | $325 |
| Trucking liability coverage | $750 |
| Non-trucking liability coverage | $137 |
| Bobtail insurance | $38 |
| Physical damage insurance | Vary. As a % of the truck’s value |
| Motor truck cargo | Vary. Depending on the cargo type |
Learn more at how much does commercial truck insurance cost
How do I find cheap truck insurance?
As I’ve already covered, many factors go into determining premium costs. Below are a few tips to get cheap truck insurance:
Shop around to compare quotes
Different insurance companies offer different quotes because they have their own underwriting policies. Make sure that you shop around with a few companies or with a broker like Simply Business or commercialinsurance.net to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you. When you need to renew your policy, don’t renew until you shop around again. The current company might provide you with the cheapest rate last year, but their rate might not be the cheapest this year. Shop around again!
Ensure clean driving records.
We advise you to have a plan in place to address any employee who gets a violation while on the job. The cleaner record you and your drivers have, the cheaper truck insurance you can get.
Reduce driving radius
If possible, cut down on the distance you’re driving especially if you’re new to the business with little or no experience. Try out hot shot trucking before doing long-haul trucking.
Be thoughtful with the truck model and type
Start with older model trucks that have a lower value because the higher the value, the higher the insurance cost. This will particularly reduce the cost of trucking physical damage coverage. Learn more the cost and the best of trucking physical damage insurance companies.
Reduce the number of claims if possible
If there are small damages, you can fix it yourself, this is because most insurance companies take into consideration the frequency of claims you turn in which may result in the costs splurging.
Get discounts
Insurance companies offer several discount programs, make sure you utilize these programs if they are available to you. Always ask for discount programs from your agent or broker. Even if you get quotes and buy the policy online, you should still contact the insurance companies to ask for discounts.
Who has the cheapest commercial truck insurance?
If you are looking for the cheapest commercial truck insurance, you should keep in mind that the carrier offering the cheapest commercial truck insurance for you may not offer the cheapest rate for another truck driver. Different truck drivers and trucking businesses will find different cheapest carriers for themselves.
The only way to find the cheapest commercial truck insurance for you is to work with a few companies to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you. Based on our extensive research, below are the three companies you should consider working with to find the cheapest rate for you:
- biBERK: Offers the cheapest rates thanks to its direct-to-customers model and relatively lower coverage limits
- Simply Business: This is the broker that works with a lot of low-cost carriers. They have access to quotes that may not be easy to access otherwise.
- Smart Financial: If you want to find the cheapest rates for the minimum coverage required by the state, Smart Financial is the best broker to work with.
Cheap commercial truck insurance quotes: online, broker, or agent?
If you want to look for cheap commercial truck insurance quotes, there are several options for you. You can get truck insurance quotes online, work with an experienced agent, or a broker who specializes in providing commercial truck insurance. Regardless of which option you choose to pursue, one option isn’t sufficient. In our experience, you need to get truck insurance quotes online wherever available. Progressive, biBERK, THREE are the three carriers we know offer commercial truck insurance quotes online.
In addition, you need to work with a broker or an independent agent who can help you get several quotes quickly so that you can compare them in one place easily. Simply Business, Smart Financial, and Tivly are the three brokers that we recommend.
If you prefer working with an experienced, we recommend you contacting a Hartford agent. The Hartford as an insurance company has been around for 200 years and their agents are experienced with high ethics and integrity that you can trust.
