The best insurance company for hotshot trucking is the one that properly covers you at the best price and allows you to haul the loads that match your business plan.
Hotshot trucking involves moving goods in a short time frame and as such, most hauling-for-hire businesses are high-risk and high-reward businesses. The primary aim of this insurance is to protect your hotshot trucking business from third-party liability claims involving bodily injury, physical damage you cause, physical damage to your vehicle, and injury to your person.
In the United States, it is illegal in all 50 states to drive without Commercial Auto Insurance and freight brokers and clients will also require specific limits from your hotshot trucking business, which can only be secured on a Commercial Auto policy.
Hotshot insurance sometimes referred to as expediter’s insurance is developed around the unique risks encountered when smaller trucks (class 3, 4, and 5) are used to haul expedited loads instead of class 8 semi-trucks.
Hotshot haulers tend to mostly use heavy-duty pickup trucks, usually a dually. You will see a lot of Chevy Silverado 3500s, Super Duty Fords, Ram, and GMC one-ton pickup trucks. These trucks aren’t cheap and they take beating, so adequate physical damage insurance coverage is imperative.
Hotshot truckers also use various trailers to increase their hauling flexibility and expand their number of potential clients. The trailers will also have to be insured too because of their high replacement cost. Many hotshots will use a 20 to a 40-foot gooseneck trailer. Deckover trailers and lowboy trailers allow for significantly larger commercial hotshot freight.
When you do find the right insurance policy for your hotshot business, one way to save money is by paying the premium in full instead of in monthly payments.
Paying in full could save you 10-20%. So you might drop a $7,000/year policy to $5,600/year just by paying in a lump sum. However, if you are a start-up hotshot business, many would recommend you start out by paying monthly until you are sure of your cash flow.
If you have a pickup truck and can manage tight delivery time windows, hot shot trucking can be lucrative. A hotshot truck driver is typically paid per mile, and your experience and truck capabilities can help you negotiate premium rates and the best mile pay.
Hotshot truckers can gross close to $200k per year. The more you can control your expenses, the more you will take home.
While financial strength is always a consideration when picking a carrier, you also want to look at the services that the top insurance companies offer. Risk management resources and 24/7 claims processing can make your life easier. Here are the top insurance companies to consider when acquiring hotshot trucking insurance in the United States.
Best Insurance Companies for Hotshot Trucking
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Colonial Insurance Services
This is a family-owned brokerage that prefers to work with commercial truck insurance carriers. Note that they offer key policies for hazmat haulers, including pollution liability, hazmat general liability, and coverage for loading and unloading.
This, coupled with its knowledge of the transportation industry and emphasis on safety, makes Colonial Insurance Services the best choice for hazmat trucking companies. Colonial Insurance is well known in that it offers sample quotes for the different types of insurance programs it offers. In various ways, this is much better than getting a minimum premium.
In addition, it allows you to compare the sample business’s characteristics and policy terms to yours, giving you a ballpark figure to evaluate any quotes you get. In addition to hazmat truckers, Colonial Insurance can find coverage for car carriers, expeditors, or hot shot truckers, reefer, flatbed, container, and agricultural haulers, to name a few.
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Progressive Commercial
Note that small business owners looking for ways to save money on their hotshot trucking insurance may benefit from getting quotes with Progressive Commercial. The insurer boasts of eight discounts for qualifying policyholders, including some for bundling policies, paying premiums in full, and signing up for electronic payments.
Business owners with a fleet of vehicles can also get a 5% discount by signing up for Snapshot Proview, a plug-in device that helps Progressive Commercial offer personalized auto rates and fleet management assistance.
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CoverWallet
Hotshot trucking business owners who intend to comparison-shop should fill out an application with CoverWallet. As an online broker, CoverWallet submits your information to all available carriers, including top companies like Chubb and Liberty Mutual, and often returns multiple quotes from a single application.
If you have questions while completing your application, you can call, chat, or email an insurance advisor for assistance.
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Geico
Geico is a renowned commercial auto company for ride-share and on-demand delivery drivers who want one auto insurance policy. Note that the company developed ride-share insurance that’s a hybrid of personal and commercial auto and provides coverage through all phases of a ride-share, including when the driver is driving to pick up or waiting for a passenger.
Geico can also write commercial auto insurance for a sole proprietor with a single company car or a fast-growing business with a well-run fleet of vehicles and offers fast 24/7 claims service.
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Commercialinsurance.NET
Commercialinsurance.NET is a different sort of insurance company. Instead of writing policies, this company tends to refer small business owners to the best carriers, agencies, and brokerages for their particular insurance needs.
As a hotshot trucker, you submit your information, and a representative calls to walk you through your commercial auto insurance quotes. You choose the right one for you, and the representative connects you to the individual who can write the policy. Most business owners can get insured within 30 minutes of submitting their information.
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The Hartford
Aside from being perfect for truckers and business owners, the Hartford is a wonderful option for professionals, such as consultants, architects, and engineers who need commercial auto insurance and have excellent driving records. The company includes two programs automatically in its commercial auto premiums: accident forgiveness and fender bender forgiveness.
The first keeps business owners’ auto insurance rates the same after an accident if they have maintained a clean driving record for three years. Meanwhile, fender bender forgiveness coverage protects against glass claims, towing claims, and increased premiums after accidents that cost less than $1,000.
With hotshot insurance costs ranging from $7,000- $12,000, it really does pay to shop around. Not every truck insurance company welcomes hotshots, so finding the ones that do can be tough. Shopping for multiple quotes from different hotshot insurance companies is even harder and more time-consuming.