SO riddle me this Mr insurance man.

Perhaps the OP and others are not aware that the 2yr requirement is not a hard rule. True, when I got my CDL, my insurance company told me they would not insure me until I had 2 years experience. BUT, they said (there is always a "but"), if you complete our $5,000 driver training course (or another course by a provider that we approve of) we will credit you with 2 years experience.

 

I believe that is how they are doing it yes...according to what Markell Insurance (now Northbridge) told me in 2006.

A driver right out of a recognized school will have an easier time getting insurance than a veteran that has been un-insured for 6 months.

So the lessons are:
1. stay insured...even if you have to take a part time driving job.
2. Make sure you are insured. You would be amazed at how many drivers are not listed on the company policy. If you leave a company and they didn`t name you on the policy...guess what. You were un-insured. Your new insurance company *might* accept a letter from your old employer saying that you were driving for them....but do you really think your old boss will do that for youÉ
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I have been down this road many times trying to get drivers insured to work for us.

 

Nobody is holding a gun to anyone`s head. By all means, pony up the 1,000,000 or more and insure yourself. I pay $7,000 per truck and I would WAY WAY rather pay that than pony up to be self insured. $7,000 is NOTHING compared to the potential claim.

 

Paying for insurance is no fun, especially when it is something you are forced to pay and feel like you have little control over. However, we really take it for granted. What if there was no such thing? What if you got into an accident and were responsible for both you and the other parties medical bills and property losses? I couldn't afford to pay them, therefore I probably wouldn't have been able to drive in the first place. Not for personal or for business. I'd have to ride a bike everywhere to avoid the risk and hopefully I wouldn't wreck it because I wouldn't be able to afford medical care either. Insurance is a mechanism that allows our capitalist market to work. The only way to get rid of it would be to completely erase all rules and completely start over society as we know it. Since that is not likely, then I will just be grateful to live in a place where I can own my own business, write off the premiums, and sleep sound at night.

 

I'm still stuck on this idea that the insurance man is the cause of the alleged driver shortage in the OP. When I was a fleet owner, it wasn't the insurance man who stopped anyone from working for me, it was the driver who I could not trust after they did something.

 

Do you really think $7,000 is too high a premium to protect me from million dollar judgements? I think you're crazy. If you want to blame someone, blame the courts for awarding the money.

 

I really don't get this thread (or other threads about the poor trucker being taken advantage of). Did I miss something that says when you buy a truck you are the only person allowed to make a profit? And insurance companies profits aren't great when you look at a percent of revenue. New drivers have huge losses compared to an experienced driver with a good driving record. So why is this an issue?

But hey, this is trucking. I have never found any regulation in the little green book that says you have to have single ounce of business sense to own a truck.

And I wonder what fool would load a small carrier that is self-insured.