Insurance help!

kazookz

Active Expediter
Hi I am new here I am 21 I own 2004 dodge sprinter van. I am wondering what all I need to start this household moving,moving business. I am wondering if anyone would give me a estimate on how much insurance would cost. I live in ohio and will be driving all over the USA. And I would like to know about DOT Number an other stuff that I will need.

Please help I need to get started I have a few loads ready to go.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Have you been watching "Shipping Wars"?
Might want to call CIS insurance.
 

kazookz

Active Expediter
No I just love to drive. Last summer I drove from ohio to los angeles last summer. I would like to do this for a living.
 

tbcabs

Seasoned Expediter
You can call progressive, ooida, and cis. If you do your research you can find alot of insurance companys will give you bobtail insurance but they will not cover cargo insurance. Plus you also need at least one million in liability for most brokers to even give you a chance to cover their loads. This is what I found out when I started in the business.
 

CharlesD

Expert Expediter
If you plan on looking for your own freight, and you want to do more driving than sitting, you might want to consider a bigger vehicle. Don't get me wrong, I love my Sprinter and had a blast driving it, but now the only thing it has to haul is my butt to the lake with the canoe in the back. If I had to go back on the road in today's market, it would be in a straight.
 

mugurpe

Seasoned Expediter
For household goods you'll need a number of things:

a DOT #, which means atleast 3/4 of a million coverage for auto
you'll need inland marine coverage (cargo)
You'll need to get HHG endorsement when you fill out your DOT application
You'll need a tariff (I use a guy named Stan Levy in CA who wrote mine, but there's lots of options)
You'll need a lot of blank paperwork (Milburn printing, JJ Keller)

I use eastern insurance in MA, but you'll want someone with HHG experience who can get your coverages right and guide you through the process.

doing HHG (household goods) across state lines improperly licensed is a $30K fine per border, and they DO actually fine people that much, I've known of a couple local companies that got nailed.

good luck.
 

tknight

Veteran Expediter
In ohio as well you will need a puco number for hhg's This number is different from the regular puco number by the way.

tk
 
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mugurpe

Seasoned Expediter
Also, the federal HHG authority does NOT allow you to move things within a state, only between states. You'll need local HHG authority for any intrastate work as well (granted by the state). The instate rules here in MA are also totally different from the federal ones.
 
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