Commercial Auto
Commercial auto insurance presents several different types of coverages for cars, trucks, vans, tankers, trailers, and similar vehicles used by your business which are not covered by your personal auto policy. This insurance policy is most commonly referred to as truck or fleet insurance.The passenger auto limits are clearly defined at 30/60/25 (needs revision), Commercial Auto Liability depends on what you are hauling, whereyou pick up your loads from, where do you drop them to, Inter-State vs intra-state vs international.
Here’s a quick check to see if you will need commercial auto insurance, if:
- Your business owns, rents, or leases vehicles or trucks.
- You have employees who drive a company car.
- You have employees who driver their own vehicles for business purposes.
- You have employees who lease, rent, or own company vehicles.
Anytime we are discussing Liability we are referring to helping pay the other party for your fault
Every State mandates minimums for the Liability coverage, so you don’t have to pay out of pocket.
The following are the commercial auto insurance policy coverages:
This will protect you against the cleanup costs, testing, monitoring, and other activities required to perform by law or because of government claim or lawsuit. Pollution liability is non-negotiable addendum if your commercial freight is carrying hazmat material including but not limited to any form of chemicals, gases, auto or aviation fuel, battery powered merchandise, and other such environmentally harmful or damaging materials.Here is an example for one scenario: Phulki is an employee of Chanulal Plumberji Inc. Inc. She and two other employees are heading to a job site in a large company truck. Phulki is driving on a rural road and approaches a railroad crossing. The warning bells begin to sound, and the lights start to flash. Phulki ignores the warnings and attempts to clear the tracks before the train arrives.Meanwhile, a freight train carrying a tank of sodium hydroxide is approaching the crossing. The locomotive operator applies the brakes but is unable to avoid hitting the back end of the truck. No one is hurt but the tank car derails, spilling 3,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide.Because sodium hydroxide is caustic, the railroad immediately reports the spill to the state environmental authority.
The state summons a hazardous materials cleanup crew to mop up the mess.Several months later, Chanulal Plumberji Inc. Inc. receives two demands. One is from the railroad, which seeks $50,000 to repair the damaged tanker car. The second demand is from the state environmental authority, which orders Premier to pay $500,000, the cost of cleaning up the sodium hydroxide.Phulki’s accident took place away from premises owned by Chanulal Plumberji Inc. Inc. The accident occurred while Phulki was driving an auto covered under the plumbing company’s auto policy. The pollutants (sodium hydroxide) were not in or on a covered auto and were released as a result of an accident that caused property damage covered by the policy. Thus, Premier’s insurer should pay both the $80,000 to repair the tanker car and the $700,000 in cleanup costs.
This will cover any permanently installed custom parts or equipment, devices, accessories, enhancements and any other modification other than the original manufacturer (usually alters the performance or appearance of your commercial vehicle). The following is the list of general customized equipment that is covered under this endorsement:
- Any custom installed equipment that is not offered by the original manufacturer.
- Customized wheels – magnesium or alloy wheels, wheel overs, aluminum wheels, wire spoke wheels, titanium wheels, designer wheels.
- Special equipment – running boards, roll bars, brush bars, fog lights, bed liners, camper shells, undercarriage lighting, trailers, hitches, special roofing, and similar items.
- Chrome or reverse chrome.
- Customized decals or paint displaying company logo or advertisement.
- Stereo and sound recording equipment.
- Aftermarket leather seats, or Recaro seats.
- Anti-theft devices, alarms, or buzzers not installed by manufacturer.
This coverage will be tailored to your business vehicles based on the vehicle’s size class – based on the gross vehicle weight (GVW), use class – the mannerit is used, radius class and zone rating – the distance and zones it travels, vehicle’s age, and vehicle’s actual cost or replacement value, and deductible. This policy will cover comprehensive, collision, bodily and property damage for your trailer type. There are two types of coverages: standard and trailer interchangeable coverage (this will cover any trailers you might haul regardless of which VIN is registered with your insurance). The following are some common examples of the trailers covered:
Auto Hauler Trailer
Flatbed Trailer
Dry Freight Trailer
Utility Trailer
Tank Trailer
Other types of commercial trailers might include variations of the following:
- Bulk commodity trailer
- Concession trailer
- Dry freight trailer
- Dump body trailer or transfer box
- Pole trailer
- Refrigerated dry fright trailer
- Aviation transport trailer
Cargos are of two types: hazmat and non-hazmat.
Hazmat includes:
a) Explosives.
b) Combustible solids.
c) Oxidizers.
d) Corrosives.
e) Radioactive materials.
f) Flammable gases and liquids.
Non-Hazmat includes:
a) Industry materials – ash, sludges, antifreeze, grinding dusts, liquid contaminated with non-hazardous chemicals.
b) Medical waste – plastics, glass, copper, aluminum, gold, recycle electronic devices, and non- hazardous parts.
c) Non-RCRA (Resource Conservative and Recovery Act) hazardous waste.
d) Dry goods – edibles, clothing (silk, cotton, polyester, etc.), packaged goods, non-combustibles, non-flammable, vehicles, and other similar items.
- BMC91X (Endorsement to liability and cargo liability policy)
- State e-filings (Certifies that your liability insurance complies with the state’s financial responsibility law)
- BOC-3 (Designation of agents for service or process – basically allows your agent to accept legal documents on behalf of your business)
- IFTA – International Fuel Tax Agreement registration (Only required if your vehicle is 26,000 GVWR. Required for uniform distribution of fuel tax revenues)
- HVUT 2290 form – Heavy Vehicle Use Tax form used to figure and pay taxes for the vehicles with taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more.
- Any other compliance documents required to keep your company running smooth and sound.