Name on registration.

Always have you equipment in your business name. Contact your insurance agent and ask them for clarification, don't get insurance advice from a public forum....

 

Are you going to pull somebody’s else trailer?if not just lease the trailer to the company,a simple one page lease you can find online.

 

The statement “under lease agreement” is misleading. Despite a lease agreement being a contract. IMO it should read “under contract”. Anyways, here’s the deal. Under your own authority, Trailer interchange coverage is needed to pull other companies trailers, and to let other companies pull yours. You will also need a legal interchange agreement with the company, filed with both parties insurance companies. Interchange coverage doesn’t apply to you pulling your own trailer, regardless of whether it’s in your name or your company’s name. Regular Trucking Liability insurance covers your Truck and Trailer. Non Trucking Liability covers Truck w/or w/o trailer while unladen (empty).
If you lease your equipment onto another carrier, you’re authorized to pull their trailers (or your own) running under their authority and Liability policy. They may have interchange agreements with other carriers, allowing you to pull their trailers too. Bobtail policy is needed in your name, ( instead of non trucking liability ) to cover you during any personal use. Collision, Fire, Theft, Towing, etc. is optional. As far as whose name it’s in? Up to you. I’ve done both. I even wrote up a simple one page lease agreement from myself to my company, because the equipment was in my name. Kept it in my permit book, just in case a DOT officer questioned the legality. It was overkill, wasn’t needed. It doesn’t matter. Lot of other reasons though. Maybe it’s better to have equipment in the company name. May help separate you from Liability. Maybe keeping in your name, leasing it to your own company might shield
it from creditors, discourages lawsuits. I don’t know. Questions for an Attorney and an Accountant. I have worked at more than one very large privately held companies that had all their equipment in the owners actual name printed on the registration. Some have had equipment in a separate leasing company name and lease it to themselves. May want it in company name to help build company assets and company credit. Most Truck loans require a personal guarantee anyway. Personally I prefer Truck and Trailer in the Company name. DOT inspectors seem to be more lenient on a “Company” driver.

 

Disagree, the problem is this - too many don't learn the terminology of the industry.

One thing that every owner needs to do is to talk to a lawyer, not to do things on their own.

 

I think the OP is misunderstanding the term Trailer Interchange agreement and insurance requirements. Short answer is it’s only needed for power only loads, to cover their trailer, or to cover your own trailer when allowing another company to pull it on public roadways.

 

Agree.