Tractor trailers are quite the investment just as enclosed trailers, flatbed trailers, tractors, utility trailers, dump trailers, and other commercial trailers. A simple accident could jeopardize the livelihoods of those that rely on their tractor trailers for financial freedom.
Tractor trailer insurance is a specialized commercial truck insurance product that provides a shield against the costs resulting from liability claims, business property damage, chemical spills, and other exposures.
Note that tractor trailer truck insurance consists of different types of business insurance policies. Let’s take a look at each in the following sections.
| NEXT | GEICO | Progressive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto liability bodily injury coverage aggregate limit (minimum) | $25,000 per injury$50,000 per accident | $100,000/$300,000 CSL | $25,000 per injury$50,000 per accident |
| Auto liability property damage aggregate limit (minimum) | $15,000 | $50,000 | $15,000 |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage limit | $25,000 per injury$50,000 per accident | $100,000/$300,000 | $25,000 per injury$50,000 per accident |
| Rental reimbursement coverage aggregate limit | $1,500 | $900 | $1,500 |
| Trailers can be added to commercial auto insurance? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roadside assistance coverage included | Yes | No | Yes |
| Safe driving discounts included? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Your tractor-trailer constantly travels from one place to the next to deliver products, materials, and goods just like box trucks, car haulers, commercial vans, and cargo vans. Because of this, it’s important to purchase commercial auto insurance.
Commercial auto insurance protects your tractor-trailer against unfortunate events while it’s running on the road.
Different types of coverage comprise commercial auto insurance. The following are the most common inclusions in this commercial tractor trailer insurance.
The auto liability coverage of commercial auto insurance covers the medical treatment of injured third parties if your tractor trailer causes an accident. It will also provide compensation for any resulting property damage.
Your tractor trailer must carry the minimum auto liability coverage. The specific amount varies, depending on which state you’re located. Here’s a quick reference.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, just like auto liability coverage, is always included in commercial auto insurance. If your tractor-trailer gets involved in an accident caused by a car with no insurance or isn’t adequately insured, this will cover the medical treatment of the driver and the passengers.
Physical damage coverage can be optionally included in your commercial auto insurance. Get this if you want to save money on repair or replacement expenses if an accident happens.
There are two types of physical damage coverage-collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage only covers repair or replacement expenses if your tractor-trailer got damaged after crashing into a car or object.
On the other hand, comprehensive physical damage coverage takes care of damage caused by fire, theft, vandalism, weather, and other covered perils.
Another optional inclusion to commercial auto insurance is emergency roadside assistance. Emergency roadside assistance coverage kicks in if your tractor-trailer experiences issues while running on the road. This coverage will cover or reimburse the cost of gasoline delivery, tire delivery and replacement, battery jumpstart, towing, and other services.
| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Hiscox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $300,000/$2,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $300,000/$2,000,000 |
| Products and completed operations aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Advertising injury coverage aggregate limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Tenant’s legal liability coverage limit | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Excluded |
| Hired/non-owned auto liability coverage included? | Yes | No | Excluded |
| Equipment breakdown floater included? | No | Yes | Excluded |
| Can you get a certificate of insurance online? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deductible | $0 | $0 | $0 |
It’s smart to get general liability insurance if you don’t only operate a tractor-trailer but also a registered trucking business with a physical space.
Think of this type of tractor trailer insurance coverage as the foundation of your trucking business insurance coverage that protects you from bodily injury liability, property damage liability, and advertising or personal injury liability.
General liability insurance can help if an independent mechanic or any other third party sustains an injury or property damage because of an accident that happened while in the premises of your business. This insurance will cover the following costs:
Medical treatment
Compensation for the damaged property
Legal defense expenses
Court judgments
| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | |
|---|---|---|
| Building coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $110,000 |
| Contents coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $15,000 |
| Outdoor signs | Excluded | $2,500 |
| Accounts receivable | Excluded | Excluded |
| Money and securities | Excluded | $2,500 |
| Lock and keys | Excluded | $2,500 |
| Business interruption floater | Excluded | Included |
| Equipment breakdown floater | Excluded | Included |
| Inland marine insurance floater | Excluded | Excluded |
| Employee dishonesty floater | Excluded | $5,000 |
Get commercial property insurance if you use a warehouse, office, or any other building to operate a trucking business that uses tractor trailers. Use the table above to compare the quotes of commercial property insurance.
This insurance will grant reimbursement if the building is hit by fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. The coverage of commercial property insurance also applies if furniture, and other valuables inside got damaged.
| NEXT (Best) | CoverWallet | |
|---|---|---|
| General liability aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Commercial property insurance limit | $110,000 | $50,000 |
| Optional policies can be added? | Yes | Yes |
| Name additional insureds for free? | Yes | Yes |
| BOP discount? | Yes | Yes |
A business owner’s policy is a combination of general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. It grants protection against legal liabilities and business property damage or loss.
Depending on where you get it, a business owner’s policy might showcase other insurance products such as commercial auto insurance, pollution liability insurance, and more. Take a look at the table above to compare the quotes of companies we recommend for a business owner’s policy.
Get pollution liability insurance if your tractor trailer transports gasoline, wastes, chemicals, and other hazardous substances or materials.
With pollution liability insurance, you can cover legal fees, compensation for injuries and property damage, as well as environmental restitution if your tractor trailer gets involved in an accident and causes a spill.
Depending on which insurance company you approach, pollution liability insurance might be offered as an optional policy to general liability insurance.
You might be required by state authorities to attach an MCS-90 endorsement to your commercial auto insurance.
An MCS-90 endorsement acts as proof that you can provide the adequate amount of coverage in case your tractor trailer causes an accident that results in property damage or bodily injuries to the members of the public.
Even if your commercial auto insurance doesn’t basically grant the adequate funds, the MCS90 endorsement sees to it that the insurance company will be compelled to cover the necessary costs on your behalf.
However, note that an insurance company can compel you to return or reimburse any payment it made through an MCS90 endorsement.
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As agreed upon by the client, you might end up leaving behind the trailer at a designated destination. If an accident were to happen while driving without the trailer being attached, you will not be covered by your commercial auto insurance.
What provides coverage instead is bobtail insurance. This type of commercial insurance for tractor trailers will cover medical expenses or refund the value of damaged properties if you caused an accident while driving a tractor without a trailer (bobtailing or deadheading). But note that for coverage to apply, the accident must have happened while you’re deadheading to get another load. In other words, this tractor and trailer insurance can’t help if you’re using the truck for personal purposes.
You or an employee will use the tractor-trailer to go to a nearby retail store, visit relatives, etc. And if the tractor-trailer causes an accident while being used for such purposes, know that bobtail insurance and auto liability insurance can’t help.
Since it’s inevitable not to use a tractor trailer for personal activities sometimes, insurance companies underwrite non trucking liability insurance.
This commercial insurance for tractor trailers covers the medical expenses or property damage of third parties who got involved in an accident you caused while driving a trailer for personal purposes. Coverage kicks in regardless if the tractor is attached to a trailer or not.
Do you plan to get bobtail insurance and non trucking liability insurance? Instead of doing that we recommend you get unladen insurance. Doing so saves time and money. Policy management is also easier.
Unladen insurance is an inclusion in commercial tractor trailer insurance that has the function of bobtail and non trucking liability insurance. In other words, it will:
Cover medical expenses or refund the value of damaged properties of third parties resulting from an accident you caused while driving a semi truck for personal purposes, which was attached with a trailer or not attached with a trailer
Cover medical expenses or refund the value of damaged properties if your tractor trailer causes an accident while deadheading or bobtailing to get another load
Tractor and trailer insurance can be added with a trailer interchange insurance policy. Use this if you constantly borrow or hire trailers for your business’s operations.
When you borrow or hire trailers under a trailer interchange agreement, you become liable to grant compensation or cover repairs in case the trailers get damaged or lost while under your custody.
The job of trailer interchange insurance is to ensure that you don’t use your own money when doing so. It provides $20,000-$30,000 you can use to cover repairs of damaged hired/borrowed trailers or reimburse the losses of the owner.
Cargo insurance allows you to cover the load of your tractor-trailer. By having this, you can recover the value of cargo that got damaged because of fire, theft, vandalism, etc., and reimburse the losses of your clients.
Many clients will ask you to get cargo insurance, especially if the product, materials, and goods they want you to transport are very valuable. The cost of cargo insurance is determined based on a fixed percentage multiplied by the value of the cargo you’re about to transport. And so, it’s hard to determine a fixed cost.
Cover the operators of your tractor-trailer (if there are any) with workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance can be used if your tractor-trailer operator gets involved in an accident while driving and sustains injury .This will cover the following costs:
Medical treatments
Hospitalization
Medication
Rehabilitation and retraining
Lost wages
Death benefits in case of death
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Deductible | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cargo insurance | Depends on the value of the cargo | Depends on the value of the cargo | $1,000 |
| Truckers general liability insurance | $50 | $600 | $0-$500 |
| Commercial property insurance | $54 | $648 | $500-$1,000 |
| Commercial auto insurance | $83 | $996 | $1,000 |
| Business owner’s policy | $100 | $1,200 | $1,000 |
| Pollution liability insurance | $208 | $2,496 | $1,000 |
The average tractor trailer insurance cost is $50 per month or $600 per year for a $1 million trucker’s general liability policy. Tractor trailer insurance rates will vary greatly depending on a number of factors.
The insurance company will often insist on examining a couple of details before they can determine the premiums of a customer. Some of the factors they will look at include:
Your driver, including their driving history
Your trucks, specifically the make, model, and year
The kind of business you are involved in
Insurance records, including the number of accidents and claims filed before
The location of your business and the radius of your operation
While usually expensive, you can find cheap tractor trailer insurance quotes by:
Having high deductibles
Removing useless add-ons from general liability insurance
Availing safe driving discounts, CDL discounts, and other initiatives that reduce premiums
Further below is a breakdown of insurance cost for tractor trailer based on how much the recommended companies charge for a $1 million trucker’s general liability insurance:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEXT | $30 | $360 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance |
| CoverWallet | $33 | $396 | Tractor trailer insurance online quotes comparison |
| Tivly | $37 | $444 | Comparing tractor trailer insurance quotes over the phone |
| Hiscox | $40 | $480 | Tractor trailer insurance with automatic policy renewal |
| GEICO | $45 | $540 | Tractor trailer insurance with additional coverage for installed after-market parts |
| Progressive | $49 | $588 | Tractor trailer insurance discounts |
By the way, in case you’re asking“ how to get tractor trailer insurance near me?”, we suggest you use our online quotes comparison tool. Click the “Get Quotes” button to start.
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Finding the best tractor trailer insurance companies depends largely on you and the specific needs that your tractor trailer business has. If you are looking for the best semi tractor trailer insurance companies, here are some to consider. Read some of the reviews below to know their pros, cons, and rate for a $1 million general liability coverage.
Best overall
Get an online proof of insurance and send as a text message, email, or social media post
Fastest general liability insurance
Great customer service and reputation
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Outstanding value for money
Bundle two or more insurance policies and get a 10% discount
Couldn’t find any
NEXT sells commercial auto insurance for small businesses that use tractor trailers for their daily operations. However, the coverage isn’t underwritten by NEXT but by its partner, Progressive. Nonetheless, other business insurance policies available, such as general liability and commercial property insurance, are underwritten in-house.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance
Average cost: $30 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Instant quotes available online
You can purchase a policy and get a certificate of insurance in just a few minutes
For drivers with bad or poor driving records, it's still possible to purchase tractor trailer insurance even though it might be for pricier premiums
CoverWallet is not an independent carrier but instead an aggregator platform
Granted, CoverWallet is not an independent insurance carrier. Still, even as an aggregator, it provides a suitable platform through which tractor trailer businesses can purchase basic insurance coverage.
A visit to their official website will yield an instant quote. You can purchase the policy from their website and proceed to get the proof of insurance which will be shared to your email.
Best for: Tractor-trailer insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Compare tractor-trailer insurance quotes over the phone
Get covered online
Work closely with an agent to come up with the most comprehensive cover as a motor carrier or tractor trailer owner-operator
Specialized tractor-trailer insurance policies come from Progressive
Tivly (formerly CommercialInsurance.NET) provides specialized coverage for tractor-trailers in partnership with Progressive commercial. Policies you can include in your tractor trailer insurance plan are trucker’s general liability, bobtail, and non-trucking liability insurance. Note that you can also buy policies Tivly sells on its own such as general liability, workers compensation, umbrella liability, and commercial property insurance.
Note that you can also buy the business insurance for tractor trailers from this company through its partners. Call Tivly now to compare quotes over the phone.
Best for: Comparing tractor trailer insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $37 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Automatic policy renewal
Policy bundle discounts
14-day money-back guarantee
Poor customer reviews
Hiscox sells commercial auto insurance for tractor trailers in partnership with CyberPolicy. As for other policies such as general liability, business owner’s policy, and cyber liability insurance, Hiscox underwrites these itself. Though you can get covered online, note that some policies might only be available if you speak with an agent.
Best for: Tractor-trailer insurance with automatic policy renewal
Average cost: $40 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Progressive is a top commercial vehicle insurer in the United States
Tractor-trailer insurance is offered to businesses throughout the 50 states, including Washington, DC
State and federal insurance filing is free and done within 24 hours
A number of discounts are offered, including a 10% discount for businesses that bundle together several policies
There's a limit to the travel radius covered within the tractor trailer insurance
Progressive is among the largest US commercial insurance carriers. It offers a variety of commercial tractor trailer insurance with multiple discounts.
Arguably, Progressive is one of the best when it comes to the tractor trailer insurance coverage due to the sheer range of coverage and features it offers. It offers flexible coverage and payment options. Further, you will enjoy both state and federal insurance filing, which is done within 24 hours and at no cost.
Some of the discounts that you might enjoy include those designed for businesses that hire drivers with CDL certificates, those given to businesses that invest in electronic logging devices (ELDs), and discounts for bundling together different policies.
Best for: Tractor trailer insurance discounts
Average cost: $49 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Get a discount if you’re a past GEICO customer
Numerous discounts on tractor trailer insurance
Allows you to cover after-market attachments to the tractor trailer
Online quotation available but you might need to talk with an agent to get covered
GEICO is a great option if you’re looking for another carrier that provides a lot of discounts on tractor-trailer insurance. This company reduces its usual rate if you’re a previous customer who wants to buy a business insurance policy for his or her tractor trailer. Other discounts that GEICO offers are CDL discounts, safe driving discounts, and more.
Best for: Tractor trailer insurance with additional coverage for installed after-market parts
Average cost: $45 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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