1 million cargo insurance

I have been wrestling with two agents about this deal, but to no avail. Again...when I'm hooked to the tanker owned by the carrier I lease to and under their authority and dispatch...I am covered under their liability 100%. Even when empty headed to and from somewhere as long as it's work related, I'm under their insurance. Once I disconnect and bobtail someplace, I am automatically covered under MY OWN policy from that moment on...hence the term "bobtail insurance", or non-trucking liability. But I am one step above having bobtail/NTL, with a full-blown liability policy of my own now due to having a financed trailer that they required full blown coverage on. It's expensive enough now, without adding another vehicle to it. Sickening.

I cannot see for any reason other than greed, fear of litigation on the insurance company's part, or plain ignorance as well, why I have to be scrutinized for doing part-time hazmat/part time non-hazmat while still having to pay my own full liability premiums that I should be able to utilize for what I do aside from the hazmat work.

It's cut and dried to me; and many people do this in the northeast to survive in seasonal vocations. They have triaxle dump trucks that once the season ends, they yank the body, bolt the 5th wheel back on and haul fuel oil all winter, switch back in the spring. Been doing it for years. All I'm doing is dropping the tank in the driveway and hooking to my lowbed and going to do my thing...and still catching heat for hauling hazmat seasonally. It's aggravating to me to have to fight tooth and nail for every single little issue pertaining to the business some days.

 

This isn't a trip lease; the carrier's name is on my truck permanently, and when I am not working for them under their MC, I cover that up with my own business name. Then my own insurance takes affect at that point. Not complicated at all, especially when it's a mutual agreement, it's MY truck and INSURANCE and PAYMENT BOOK, my livelihood, and my own work I have to continue to perform to keep steady revenue flowing. And again I emphasize....I'm under the CARRIER'S insurance during dispatch/transporting the tanker...my own insurance once disconnected from it. I don't see it as being that hard to understand myself.

Believe me, if this guy I'm leased to could provide steady, normal, adequate weekly revenue for me on a weekly/monthly/annual basis, I wouldn't be driving myself into the asylum like this trying to keep my private business and customers coming all the time to survive. It's just the nature of the fuel business in the northeast; straight-out, crazy when it's cold....they forget your name when it gets warm. It's also weather related, supply-driven...lots of factors. I stay in it though, because I haven't found another source of revenue in the $4.00-$6.00 per mile range in this neck of the woods that I get a check for every week so far, that allows me to eat my own food, shower and sleep in my own bed every night, and use my own property to live on rather than Pilot's or TA's or Flying J's....let alone the stressless environment I am in working for these people. They don't bother me at all, no issues ever...very pleasant to deal with so I look at all that as an incentive to try and make this whole thing work to my advantage. Shouldn't be this difficult, it's the insurance companies that make it this way, until I find one that "GET'S IT".

 

But, it IS complicated and difficult. liability issues galore, it's just the world we live in. Why not buy a little cheap day cab for your own stuff and leave it at that?

 

I don't see the complexity. Roll it over while hooked up to the tanker... Covered by carrier.
Roll it over hooked to a flatbed... My liability takes over. No reason to associate the two whatsoever in my opinion.

 

I agree that there shouldn't be a question or problem with which insurance is used per which trailer your hooked to But I also can see the insurance problem, because of lawyers litigation and insurance, lack of taking responsibility mentality! Pass the Buck if they can.

Bottom Line is the insurance is "attached" to the truck, aswell as trailer.
So effectively if your truck is involved in an accident no matter which trailer your hooked to, the likelihood is that Both insurance companies will be pulled into the ensuing melay of BS!
A party nobody wants to be invited to and they will all make provisions so it was worth it, for them.

 

You

You hit it right on the head though in terms of the insurance company "making provisions"... All they want from me to make this all work is another $5,000.00/yr., and everybody's welcome to that same exact party you mentioned... Lawyers and all.

 

I see your point, but that vin#and everything that has to
Do with it is involved in case of an accident. A rollover, you are correct, not much of an issue. Hit another car, everyone who has ever done maintenance on that thing is open to a lawsuit. It sucks, I know, but just the way it is nowadays.

 

At this point I'm thinking about shopping for another agent/underwriter and not mentioning the hazmat side of this (because again, I'm covered while under dispatch for that carrier,) and just seeing what a policy would cost me on a truck, trailer and this rollback carrier truck for equipment and general freight. Then it'll give me a rough idea of how greedy someone is being with all this.

 

May as well not have insurance. By not disclosing something like this and you give the insurance company an out. This isn't a traffic ticket that you hope they don't find and they are expected to do their due diligence.

From what you are saying it sounds like you have a nice, very profitable deal. Why not just shop this straight, show all the underwriters that you are keeping this clean from a safety and compliance stand point. But make sure that you talk to an expert on the safety and compliance side that can make sure that you have a well thought out and documented plan. You want to answer the questions before they think of them.

Things like what are you doing to document that you are moving from one carrier to the other. They are going to want to she documentation of a release of liability when you go back and forth.

Also think about HOS. How are you making sure that each carrier is accounting for HOS? What about random drug testing? Are you part of two programs? What does the FMCSA say about the moving back and forth between carriers? Do they consider this as canceling your lease each time you move?

 

I do have a nice profitable little operation after ironing out most of the wrinkles. Now the mission is to keep it that way. Adding more excessive costs isn't how you do it.
Compliance, HOS, drug testing.... I hardly think it would be feasible to operate a transport business without the aforementioned things in place, which are and have been since they became mandatory. Readily available for the next auditor to review.
This isn't about asking advice on compliance to me, it was asking anybody else on here if they shared the same business model or similar one, and if they had any other customized insurance plans... Not a lesson in how to organize my file cabinet.