My ins. costs me $30/wk for my Sprinter and I work for one of the big exclusive carriers.
Anyone out there letting O/O's bid their own loads?
- Thread starter RoadSaint
- Start date
RoadSaint
Expert Expediter
That does seem pretty cheap. Is it insurance they provide at that price? I provide my own insurance, so I don't pay weekly, but if I did it would be about double that. $70/wk. But I don't have qualcomm fees or anything.
Some multi-carriers charge a small admin fee any week that you take work from them, but you're only charged for it if you work for them in a given week. So that means no escrow account that gets charges applied to it on weeks you don't work for them.
To be honest, I think it's a mistake for small carriers to charge this admin fee. It makes it less likely for drivers to accept work from them later in the pay period if they hadn't already worked for that carrier earlier in the week. If you charge $30 on any week I take work from you, and it's the end of a week that I haven't taken any work from you, I'm definitely not taking that short 150 dollar load that I'm losing 20% of.
On the other hand, if you take lots of work from a carrier to the tune of a couple thousand dollars in a week, paying $30 isn't so bad. Basically, as long as you know how to play the game, you can do fine with the multi-carrier. Just make sure you have multiple options in any given scenario and don't let anyone take advantage of you(any more than usual).
no, not saying that at all, not sure how you got that out of there, just saying what all costs that owner operators pay...it is pretty much the same in both models though, with more and more of the exclusive guys requiring that their owner operators pay for all the insurance...as do the multis.
when actual, specific names and faces are brought up instead of the bad ole multi's, it's a little different to demonize them; it would be like if donald duck trump would call his servants by their real names, instead of mexican criminals and rapists....but I digress.You brought up an excellent point
They'll participate If they are "Allowed."
The Multi(s), the Penske(s), the Russians and many others. They'll come. They'll become members, stop lurking and actively participate.
To accomplish this, EO community must provide them with the "buffer zone."
Only when they are safely allowed to voice their opinions, we will never know what more we can learn from these new members.
I would love to see this happens. If it does, I'll be glad to donate extra bottles of Advil to the Administrators and staff members..... Lol
When things go bad it's a lot easier to blame a group that you can identify with then blame your own darn carrier
RoadSaint
Expert Expediter
Just out of curiousity, how are you guys getting insurance so cheap? Do you have 1 million liability and 100k cargo? I'd love to cut my insurance costs down by 65%....
Our company pays for cargo and all those other type of things. Membership has its benefits, lol.
RoadSaint
Expert Expediter
Good to know. Thanks for responding!
What company do you run for Xiggi? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post it here.
As xiggi noted, membership has its benefits.
Actually, we have $1 million Commercial General Liability, $1 million Automobile Liability, and $5 million Umbrella excess Liability. Cargo is $500,000
(according to the FMCSA, minimum cargo insurance is $300,000 for non-hazardous freight moved only in vehicles weighing under 10,001 lbs.).
RoadSaint
Expert Expediter
Yeah, I do see that on that page, but that chart is a bit ambiguous. From the same website, under "Types of Operating Authority", comes this:
FMCSA.GOV said:
Regulated commodities are defined by the FMCSA as basically all manufactured goods, or non-manufactured goods that are worth money.
While the FMCSA web-site info can indeed be confusing, make no mistake that you must have both public liability and cargo insurance to obtain and maintain operating authority. "Contract" carriers are not required to file cargo insurance information with the FMCSA, whereas "Common" carriers are required. The minimum amount of cargo insurance required by statute is paltry in relation to the levels required by any reputable shipper or broker. Additionally, the cargo insurance component of any policy (in any amount really) is rather small ... Public liability is the big number.
Turtle, I believe the minimum liability insurance for a contract or common carrier is 300,000. I'm not sure there is a minimum limit on cargo insurance, but most brokers require their carriers to carry 100k in cargo insurance. Some customers like Ford or GM I believe require their carriers to have 250k in cargo insurance and 2 or 3 million dollars in general liability. You can elect to get 500k in cargo insurance on your own just like Load 1 did, but it is not a requirement. Just like you can elect to have a 100 thousand or 250 thousand dollar broker bond through TIA even though the FMCSA only requires brokers to carry a 75 thousand dollar bond. Somme shipments require a carrier to have 1 million dollars in cargo insurance, but you can only get that kind of coverage on a by shipment basis. Insurance carriers do not write standing cargo insurance policies for that high of an amount. I think it's a good thing when carriers get higher insurance levels than what is minimally required by the FMCSA. It can only help the industry in the long run and serve to protect all parties involved in the day to day business of a carrier.
I know I bash the bigger companies a lot, but I am also an ethical businessman and I believe in doing it the right way. I have personally learned a lot about being properly insured over the past few years. I have taken notes for when I start another carrier start-up.
That personal injury policy you have is pure gold. A lot of drivers fail to plan for catastrophic events. We do a job that is more dangerous tan being a police officer. We are on the roads in all manner of adverse driving conditions every day of the week. If you are ever injured in an accident, you will be covered for medical bills up to 1 million dollars, and for loss of income. I did not have this insurance when I fell off my truck and it really set me back a lot of time and money! Most of the multi-carrier drivers do not have personal injury insurance. That 120 dollars a month you're saving can come back to bite you in the arse if you ever become disabled from an on the job accident.