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Trailers can be expensive to maintain, so the last thing you want is to incur losses because of an accident that wasn’t covered by insurance. It’s in your best interests to ensure you’re fully protected with a comprehensive commercial trailer policy from a reputable insurer.
This article comprehensive explores the best commercial trailer insurance available and gives the considerations when shopping around for the right policy.
The most basic form of commercial trailer insurance covers liability only. When you have trailer liability insurance, if someone were to sue you for damages caused by your trailer, they’d only receive compensation up to the amount of your policy limit.
Business trailer insurance is offered at relatively low prices, but it does not include personal injury protection.
Note that aside from it being a specialized insurance product, a commercial trailer insurance can be a broad term for specific insurance options for different types of trailers such as:
This type of coverage protects against damage to your trailer caused by named perils such as theft, fire, lightning, and vandalism.
Cargo insurance helps protect your trailer against damage or loss due to accidents involving your trailer’s contents. For example, if you transport goods worth thousands of dollars, you probably wouldn’t want to pay for their replacement after being hit by a car.
If you own not only a trailer but also a tractor truck where it’s attached, then consider getting protection through commercial tractor trailer insurance. Policies included in tractor trailer truck insurance are discussed below.
Commercial auto insurance for tractor trailers consists of auto liability coverage, collision coverage, and comprehensive coverage.
Auto liability coverage will kick in if your tractor trailer caused an accident and you’re being held to pay for the injuries sustained by third parties.
Collision coverage will help you mitigate the cost of repairing the tractor truck and its trailer upon getting involved in an accident.
Comprehensive coverage works the same way as collision coverage. What makes it different is that it caters to repair costs not only in the event of a vehicular accident but also extreme weather, fire, theft, vandalism, and other named perils.
Commercial auto insurance for tractor trailers doesn’t provide coverage if the tractor is running on the road with no trailer attached.
That’s why you should decide to get bobtail liability insurance, which is offered as a stand-alone policy or part of commercial insurance for tractor trailers. This policy helps you pay for victim compensation if the tractor causes an accident while on the way to get another load without any trailer attach.
Truckers General Liability Insurance
Auto liability insurance will only provide protection if you’re obligated to pay for the damages and bodily injuries resulting from a vehicular accident.
If the injuries or property damage happened because the trailer detached or the cargo unloaded on its own without warning while the tractor was moving, then commercial auto liability might not cover you.
Carriers offer general liability insurance that includes such an exclusion. This policy will take care of bodily injuries or property damage to third parties caused by your tractor trailer’s services.
A specialized commercial truck trailer insurance includes commercial auto liability insurance, non trucking liability insurance, and pollution coverage. Some carriers also offer motor carrier policy and MCS-90 endorsement in their commercial truck and trailer insurance for semi truck and trailer owners.
Horsebox insurance is typically included in commercial horse transport insurance. It offers general liability coverage with products and completed operations, collision insurance, comprehensive coverage, and cargo insurance or inland marine insurance.
Are you running a travel trailer rental business? If so, decide to get your equipment covered through commercial travel trailer insurance. This consists of the following insurance policies:
Truck and trailer insurance offers physical damage coverage, auto liability insurance, replacement cost coverage, and cargo insurance. But note that, you might find carriers that only offer physical damage coverage and auto liability insurance.
Policies included in dump trailer insurance are auto liability, general liability, cargo insurance, pollution coverage, non trucking liability, personal injury coverage, loan or lease gap, and truck rental reimbursement.
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Utility trailer insurance is specialized coverage for the different types of trailers commonly used for hot shot trucking such as flatbeds, car haulers, and enclosed trailers. Utility trailer insurance offers roadside assistance coverage and cargo insurance.
Roadside assistance coverage will help pay for costs if your utility trailer is unoperational and needs to be hauled by a towing company. Cargo insurance, on the other hand, will help you reimburse the total value of damaged goods on the utility trailer in the event of fire, theft, vandalism, or accident.
So how much is trailer insurance? The average cost of commercial trailer insurance is $300 a month or $3,600 a year provided that it only includes $1 million liability policies. Commercial trailer insurance cost varies based on many different factors, including the following:
As mentioned earlier, there are different types of coverage you can add to your policy. To get a further idea of trailer insurance cost, look at the table below showing the pricing of different insurance policies for trailers:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | |
| Liability policies only | $300 | $3,600 |
| Cargo loss | $214 | $2,568 |
| Collision | $150 | $1,800 |
| Physical damage coverage | $121 | $1,452 |
Here are a few tips to help you minimize commercial tractor trailer insurance cost:
Shop Around; You don’t want to pay too much for an insurance policy that won’t provide adequate coverage.
Look at All of the Options; If you decide to purchase this extra coverage, make sure you get enough limits to cover everything you need to insure.
Compare Prices; Some companies will give you a discount if you sign up for auto insurance, homeowners insurance, renters insurance.
Trailers used for business purposes must have physical damage coverage and the minimum liability coverage mandated by each state.
Additionally, it must be added to the coverage of the motor vehicle pulling it. Also, those renting or leasing trailers for business purposes must get a trailer interchange policy.
Some of the states that require trailer insurance are Texas, Virginia, and Florida. Before getting trailer insurance, go to the nearest trucking authority and ask if you need insurance for using trailers commercially.
CoverWallet is an excellent platform for searching and comparing truck trailer insurance quotes, tractor trailer insurance quotes and other types of commercial trailer insurance. Note that you can buy the policies of CoverWallet’s partners and have the liberty to manage them using the MyCoverWallet app or the CoverWallet website.
Average cost: $159 per month
State Farm was founded back in 1922, and today they’re one of the largest auto insurance providers in the country. They’re also one of the few remaining independent auto insurance companies left, meaning they aren’t owned by an umbrella organization like other large carriers.
Average cost: $213 per month
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Progressive Insurance has been providing insurance since 1919, making it one of the oldest and most trusted names in the industry. They’re known for offering excellent customer service.
Average cost: $223 per month
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