General Trucking Liability and What It Means
Insurance forms an important part of any automobile business, but more so in the trucking industry. The magnitude and the number of risks involved in the business require a large number of different types of coverages to help protect truckers, whether they are employed with one particular business or are independent owners/operators. Thus, different insurance policies exist for the trucking industry in particular, such as trailer interchange insurance, non-trucking liability insurance, motor truck cargo insurance, bobtail insurance and general trucking liability, to name a few.
In this article, we take an in-depth look into general trucking liability.
What Is General Trucking Liability?
General liability insurance (GL) for trucking companies or simply general trucking liability insurance covers any risks that your business may face apart from the operation of a truck, such as:
- Delivery of load to the wrong address
- Misbehaviour of employed drivers
- Accidents to clients at your workplace
Whether you’re a business or an independent owner, it is always a good idea to cover all your risks, whether on-road or off-road. This is where general trucking liability insurance can be considered an important type of coverage to have.
What Coverage Is Provided?
General trucking liability provides the following types of coverage:
- Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability: Bodily injury protects against bodily harm to any third parties due to an accident caused by the insured party, while property damage liability insures against any damage to a third party’s property in the same case.
- Personal Injury and Advertising Injury Liability: Personal or advertising injury provides coverage in the case of any injury to a person that isn’t physical or tangible in nature, resulting from the negligence of the insured party, such as the usage of another company’s logo or tagline in advertising campaigns of the business.
- Medical Payments: Medical payments refer to the coverage provided for any physical injuries that people may face while on the property of the insured party.
- Products/Completed Operations: This type of coverage is for bodily injury or damage to property that results from the delivery of another person’s goods.
Damage to Any Premises Rented by You: A type of overall temporary coverage provided if the property is rented for a period of 7 days or lesser, consecutively.
What Are the Limits of General Trucking Liability Insurance?
Generally, most general trucking liability policies start at a limit of $300,000. However, the most commonly purchased policies are those with a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence or incident, with an aggregate value of $2,000,000. If necessary, general trucking liability policies are available with higher limits, depending on the magnitude and the corresponding risks of the business.
Requirements for General Trucking Liability Insurance
In order to have a general trucking liability insurance, it is necessary to have a primary liability insurance policy already in place. Sometimes, hauling certain commodities such as tobacco and hazardous materials may also result in the refusal of a policy by insurance companies, so look for companies that can offer relatively unrestricted coverage.
Do you want to Read about Tow Truck Insurance?
Check our article.
Restrictions and Exceptions to the Policy
As mentioned earlier, primary liability insurance is necessary to purchase general trucking liability insurance. Apart from this, general trucking liability is only available for risks that occur from on-hire trucks. Operating an additional business with operating an on-hire truck is counted as a disqualification for general trucking liability insurance.
Additionally, general trucking liability is not available for fleet policies and drivers who are limited to a radius of 500 miles.
General trucking liability is also not available for the following types of vehicles:
- Cement trucks
- Garbage trucks
- Limousines
- Buses
- Hearses
- Passenger vans
- Ice cream trucks
Ways to Lower Your General Trucking Liability Costs
As with any insurance policy, there are ways to lower the costs of your general trucking liability insurance as well. The following tips might help:
- Maintain a clean driving record.
- Maintain and protect your credit limit.
- Work with large carriers or seek association rates.
- Keep the number of claims you file to a minimum.
- If you’re a business owner, ensure your drivers are trained in safety procedures, have ample experience, and a clean driving record.
- Comply with rules.
- Have safety policies in place.
- Shop around for quotes by looking at a minimum of at least 3 companies and the type of coverage they provide.
- Pay your premium upfront instead of in installments.
- Increase your deductible amount.
How Much Is a Commercial General Liability Insurance?
Commercial general liability insurance can protect businesses that deal with trucks and other commercial vehicles. General liability means that the insurance would cover you against a few usual issues like the delivery of load to the wrong address, inappropriate behavior from employees, and accidents that are caused due to your problems.
Therefore, the coverage contains even more elements such as bodily injury, property damage liability, medical payments, personal injury, advertising injury liability, and product or completed operations. The limits for these insurance options may go as high as $300,000.
Based on these figures, you may have to pay a different premium for the package. However, you can lower the costs of general liability insurance by keeping a cleaner record, complying with policies, and paying up.
In conclusion
Accidents can happen at any time, no matter the precautions you take. It may be easy to assume that automobile industries are only prone to accidents on the road; however, the risk of accidents is prevalent even off the road, as we’ve explained in the article. Thus, to truly protect your business on a more wholesome level, general trucking liability is a great option!
