Cargo Van Insurance rates

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
"Garaging area" is a HUGE factor even thought that doesn't mean a car or truck is there often. You can see BIG swings on car insurance depending on where you live. My dad used to insure his car out of my address because it was almost 30% cheaper. We lived ten miles apart and that was 25 years ago.
 

Jim Tropf II

Active Expediter
Carrier Management
They would easily be liable under their contract to the carrier. The carrier may say....don't worry we have a policy too. But those policies normally don't kick in until the owner operators policy has paid. So two insurance companies saying....claim denied.

And in the case of a large liability or cargo claim, lawyers could/would then seek damages from the carrier and probably the owner operator as well right? And depending on what ignorance/negligence is determined both could be in a world of hurt.
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
If insurance for owner operators was as much of a cash cow as some believe it is for progressive I would think you would see more companies jumping in. I'm guessing they don't for a reason.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Like all things trucking, costs will continue to rise. The independent who does their own loads, will typically pay considerably higher costs verses someone who is leased to someone. Sometimes the type of insurance and that specific coverage gets left out.
 

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
Well simple math says.....carrier one buys the same coverage with one truck for $3000. Carrier two with 75 trucks buys the same coverage for $5000 per truck......common sense and the rules of risk wont keep those rates. Insurance works on the law of averages....the bigger the company the more the risk is spread....the less exposure. A one truck guy can be perfect but one serious accident would be hard for them to recover even if they had the one truck guy covered for 20 years. Its all math.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
So between Carrier One and Carrier Two, the insurance company now has 76 trucks in the coverage pool. Same math.
 
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jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
So between Carrier One and Carrier Two, the insurance company now has 76 trucks in the coverage pool. Same math.

True, but do you think they are going to rate it the same? The 75 truck fleet can recoup in a policy year and odds are will stay with the carrier as often with a big loss it is even more expensive to move.

Similar thought but different....does a tire dealer give someone who buys 100 tires a month the same price as the guy who buys 4 every year or two?
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
True, but do you think they are going to rate it the same? The 75 truck fleet can recoup in a policy year and odds are will stay with the carrier as often with a big loss it is even more expensive to move.
If the insurance carrier only insures the 75 truck fleet and the single owner operator, then being able to recoup in a year from within that pool becomes very important. But the pool for insurance carriers is much larger than 75 or 76 trucks.

Insurance is basically a group of people agreeing to share risks by paying insurance premiums to an insurer. The concept goes back to sailing ships when their cargoes would get destroying when a ship was lost. The merchants found that by dividing their cargoes among several boats, they all shared the risks and protected themselves from total financial ruin. If one of the boats was destroyed, no merchant lost everything. Each stood to lose only a small portion.

When you buy insurance, you join many others who pay money to an insurance company. The insurance company uses the money collected to pay claims that are submitted by those who have purchased insurance. The money is "pooled" and losses and expenses are shared. A critically important aspect is, of course, the members of the pool share similar risk characteristics.

All things being equal (driving and accident record, average miles driven per vehicle, amount of coverage, etc.), the one-truck guy being covered for 20 years presents no more of a risk than the 75-truck fleet, and the insurance carrier doesn't have to worry about whether or not the premiums paid by the one-truck guy will cover his losses, as the losses and expenses are shared by all in the pool. True enough, the bigger the company the more the risk is spread, but insurance carriers don't insure truck companies in a vacuum, they put them all in a larger pool to spread the risk even further. It's exactly the same with individual auto insurance. A large number of individuals constitute the pool as a whole where the premiums for one individual doesn't have to be recouped explicitly to pay a claim.

If an insurance carrier pools all of their insured vehicles into the same pool, and they do, then the rates for individuals and large fleets should not be astonishingly different. The only difference (again, all things being equal) would be the second car discount, so to speak.

Similar thought but different....does a tire dealer give someone who buys 100 tires a month the same price as the guy who buys 4 every year or two?
That's the second car discount. There's no risk involved. It's not like where 4 tires costs $1000 and the tire dealer goes, :Well, since you're just the one truck and you're only buying 4 tires, for you it's $3000 because it's more risky to sell to you." :D
 
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OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
If the insurance carrier only insures the 75 truck fleet and the single owner operator, then being able to recoup in a year from within that pool becomes very important. But the pool for insurance carriers is much larger than 75 or 76 trucks.

Insurance is basically a group of people agreeing to share risks by paying insurance premiums to an insurer. The concept goes back to sailing ships when their cargoes would get destroying when a ship was lost. The merchants found that by dividing their cargoes among several boats, they all shared the risks and protected themselves from total financial ruin. If one of the boats was destroyed, no merchant lost everything. Each stood to lose only a small portion.

When you buy insurance, you join many others who pay money to an insurance company. The insurance company uses the money collected to pay claims that are submitted by those who have purchased insurance. The money is "pooled" and losses and expenses are shared. A critically important aspect is, of course, the members of the pool share similar risk characteristics.

All things being equal (driving and accident record, average miles driven per vehicle, amount of coverage, etc.), the one-truck guy being covered for 20 years presents no more of a risk than the 75-truck fleet, and the insurance carrier doesn't have to worry about whether or not the premiums paid by the one-truck guy will cover his losses, as the losses and expenses are shared by all in the pool. True enough, the bigger the company the more the risk is spread, but insurance carriers don't insure truck companies in a vacuum, they put them all in a larger pool to spread the risk even further. It's exactly the same with individual auto insurance. A large number of individuals constitute the pool as a whole where the premiums for one individual doesn't have to be recouped explicitly to pay a claim.

If an insurance carrier pools all of their insured vehicles into the same pool, and they do, then the rates for individuals and large fleets should not be astonishingly different. The only difference (again, all things being equal) would be the second car discount, so to speak.

That's the second car discount. There's no risk involved. It's not like where 4 tires costs $1000 and the tire dealer goes, :Well, since you're just the one truck and you're only buying 4 tires, for you it's $3000 because it's more risky to sell to you." :D
So in your scenario Iam pooled with say Load 1 pool of trucks if they were progressive customers?
So all like drivers things being equal we are all lumped into the same pool?
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
So in your scenario Iam pooled with say Load 1 pool of trucks if they were progressive customers?
So all like drivers things being equal we are all lumped into the same pool?

It would be more expanded than that to include other drivers working independently or with other carriers.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Yeah, all Progressive truck insurance customers are in the same pool. The pool needs to be as large as possible so that Progressive can minimize their own risk.
 
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