Liability Protection

Ultimately, how much coverage you have is pretty meaningless. Your coverage does not limit the judgment against you. One jury may find you liable for $500,00 in a particular circumstance, while another finds you liable for $10 million. There's no math that solves that problem. Anyone that has ever worked for a mega carrier has heard, "Every accident is preventable" and while there are always exceptions, the statistics largely bear that out. Safe driving not only limits your chances of an accident but, should you have one, also limits the severity AND your share of the liability; a safe driver should never be the cause of an accident. This extends to equipment maintenance; catastrophic failures that cause accidents rarely happen completely out of the blue.

If you do have an accident, your best defense is good representation, not higher coverage limits. Your primary representation is your insurer. When I started out, Great West wouldn't underwrite new authorities, but as soon as I was eligible I made the switch. Their reputation was unsurpassed and, surprisingly, after a short time they were cheaper. Some insurers make money on volume and the numbers game, others on quality and service; who do you want going to bat for you? After your insurer, knowing a good attorney is always nice.

The two primary arguments for higher limits than minimum are 1) provide low-hanging fruit, and 2) make you feel better. If you have a reasonable level of assets, an umbrella policy makes good sense. I would argue that going with a different provider is the way to go...brings another legal team into the picture.

Once you hire a driver though, it becomes a whole different ball of wax.

 

And exactly why a quick $100-$500 consult with an attorney will help you better understand how LLC really isn't going to limit your liability at all. Corporate veil piercing is a thing, its when the person suing the LLC or corporation also sues its owner and it is demonstrated in court that the owner and corporation are one and the same. That is usually determined by your actions in the LLC. So if you are driving the truck, you wreck the truck, you own the LLC, well, you see how that can go just thinking about it all together, right?

 

You are puting the trailer in front of the tractor.

Find a trucking savy insurance broker; they will be worth every cent.

First they will pick potential insurance carriers that provide you the best in coverage like Best AAA rated companies only and will make sure they maintain that rating.

I've seen where the insurance dropped to a Best AA and the owners had him obtain another company; voiding the existing carrier force majure due to the drop in rating to make sure you are protected.

Every renewal they will be there with two or three 'potentials' in their pocket in case the existing company decides to cancel.

The last broker I worked with provided our MVR's for potential hires and anual review giving copies of all the ones he used for the insurance renewal.

If you and your broker decide you do need additional protection; they will work out how much, etc. based on what you need.

Did I mention the broker is always a phone call away?

Had mine on the line as I begged the foreign call center to get me the Cat Loss people trying to call in a fatality and seeing that I couldn't avoid the 'script' the call center follows jumpped on another line calling the companies underwriter to get the immediate response we needed.

Get a broker, maybe you can write off their fee......