Owner-operators, leased-on drivers and small fleets. We write primary liability, motor truck cargo, physical damage and the bobtail coverage that fills the gap between them — and we'll tell you what your authority and your brokers actually require before you pay for limits you don't need.
Trucking isn't one policy — it's a stack of them, and the gaps between them are where owner-operators get hurt. Here's each piece in plain English.
Pays for injuries and property damage your truck causes to others. This is the coverage your operating authority and your filings are built on, and the limit brokers check before they tender you a load.
Covers the freight itself while it's in your care, custody and control. Limits commonly start around $100,000 and go up with the commodity — and what you haul has to match what's listed on your application.
Collision and comprehensive on the tractor and trailer you own. If the equipment is financed or leased, your lienholder will require it and will want to be named on the policy.
Your primary liability generally stops covering you the moment you're off dispatch. Non-trucking liability picks it up — driving home, running an errand, moving the truck with no load behind it.
Damage to trailers you pull but don't own, under an interchange or equipment lease agreement. If you drop and hook, you almost certainly need this.
The exposures the auto policy doesn't reach — someone hurt at your yard, or a loading and unloading claim that happens off the truck.
New York requires workers' comp once you have employees. Owner-operators leased on to a carrier often carry an occupational accident policy instead — we'll tell you which one your situation calls for.
We handle the BIPD filing your authority needs and the MCS-90 endorsement that goes with interstate operation. Worth knowing: MCS-90 is a public guarantee, not coverage for you — the insurer can come back to you for what it pays out.
Answered the way we'd answer them on the phone.
The FMCSA sets a $750,000 minimum for interstate carriers hauling general freight in vehicles over 10,000 lbs, and $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. In practice most brokers and shippers won't tender a load until you carry a $1,000,000 combined single limit, so that's where we usually start.
Bobtail coverage applies when you're driving the tractor without a trailer attached. Non-trucking liability is broader — it covers the truck whenever it's driven outside of dispatch, trailer or not. Both fill a gap your primary liability leaves open when you aren't under load, and we generally recommend non-trucking liability.
Yes. A broker's contingent cargo policy protects the broker, not you. If freight is lost or damaged while it's in your care, custody and control, the claim lands on your motor truck cargo policy — and your contract with the broker almost certainly requires you to carry one.
Yes — single-truck operations are most of what we place. Whether you're leased on to a motor carrier or running under your own authority changes which coverages you need and what they cost, so we quote it both ways and show you which structure comes out ahead.
One truck or a small fleet. Send us the basics — units, radius, what you haul and your USDOT if you have one — and a licensed NY agent will shop it across the trucking markets for the best rate we can find.