Not all truck drivers need a big rig to succeed or earn a handsome salary. With the eCommerce industry likely to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, there’s likely to be a nearly limitless market for deliveries – the kind of load box trucks can easily manage.
But what is a box truck?
Box trucks are single-unit vehicles with a cuboid storage space designed for transporting cargo and payload. The trucks seamlessly transport cargo from distributors, warehouses, and depots to the worksite.
As these box trucks transport goods via road, they are prone to accidents, thefts, and other risks. With more and more drivers getting addicted to their mobile phones, distractions during driving are common, creating an unprecedented risk for business owners and truckers.
That’s why if you’re a box truck business or use a box truck for your financial livelihood, having the right insurance cover protects you from such unprecedented situations and ensures you don’t lose your goods due to someone else’s negligence.
In this article, we list the type of insurance to protect your box truck business.
4 Types of insurance to protect your box truck business in 2023
As trucking is inherently a high stake and risky business, knowing about the types of box truck insurance makes it easy to decide the best insurance to safeguard your drivers, goods, and trucks.
1. General liability insurance
General liability insurance covers your trucking business when you face claims associated with medical costs, bodily injuries, and damage to property occurring because of your box truck.
When your box truck meets with an accident and people receive injuries, this insurance pays the medical bills for the injuries. It offers two main types of coverage:
Property damage
The property damage portion of your general liability insurance pays for repairing or replacing property damaged due to the accident. When your box truck collides with another vehicle, the property damage section pays for that vehicle’s replacement.
With a myriad of companies offering trucking insurance, it becomes a challenging task to choose one meeting your business requirements. So, rather than spending hours searching and comparing the most comprehensive and affordable company, use CoverWallet’s box truck insurance and be rest assured.
Bodily injury
As mentioned above, when your driver is at fault, this insurance pays for the transportation and hospitalization of the injured person. Bodily injury insurance pays only for standard medical care, including emergency room visits and prescription medication.
This insurance pays for their funeral if someone dies because of the accident.
Depending upon the insurer you use, a bodily injury coverage pays for the lost wages due to time off from work and the pain and suffering caused by an accident.
2. Medical payments
Medical payment coverage provides payments for injuries to the truck driver, you, your employee, or anyone riding or driving the truck with your consent.
Accidents involving trucks often result in extensive injuries and damages, so you may end up paying for another person’s medical bill as well as your own.
This insurance is a must because it prevents your business from incurring costly medical bills.
What makes medical payment coverage interesting is you receive coverage benefits irrespective of who is responsible for the accident. When buying this insurance, set your medical payment limits. This determines the maximum amount you will get from your insurance company in case of accidents.
If your medical bills exceed the limit of your insurance, you pay the rest yourself.
As this insurance is unavailable in many cities, talk with your insurance broker to determine if the coverage is available in your area.
3. Physical damage insurance
Finally, you have insurance covering the box truck itself. If your truck gets destroyed in an accident, your physical damage protection covers the cost associated with repairs and replacements.
It covers damage resulting from
- Theft
- Fire
- Windstorm
- Hailstorm
- Vandalism
- Flood,
- Mischief
Physical damage insurance comes in three parts:
Comprehensive physical damage protection
Having comprehensive physical damage protection is essential for any box truck business.
When you lease trucks or buy them on an auto loan, comprehensive damage provides you with the most loss protection possible.
Interestingly, comprehensive physical damage insurance applies to damages not caused by collisions or rollovers.
Collision damage protection
As the name suggests, collision damage protection activates when your box truck gets involved in a rollover accident or collision with other objects.
For instance, if your truck takes a sharp turn, causing a tree climb to tear a gash in the sides, your collision damage protection pays for it.
Typically, this policy is comparatively more expensive than comprehensive coverage accidents because they’re costlier and riskier than damages.
Specified Peril (CAC)
But what happens when there is non-collision damage? Specified Peril or CAC is like comprehensive coverage but has a smaller list of damages it covers. CAC stands for Fire and Theft with Combined Additional Coverage.
When you buy the CAC policy, it covers you from damages to your vehicle from:
- Fire, earthquake, or explosion
- Theft
- Weather – windstorms, rising water, and lightning
CAC doesn’t cover vandalism, hitting an animal, and windshield damage.
4. Other insurance for your box truck
Here are some insurance for your box truck:
- Rental: If your box truck is under repair, you may use a replacement truck for conducting your business operations. Your rental insurance policy covers the rental cost.
- Trailer: Trailer insurance safeguards the policyholders from potential damages to trailer contents or damages caused to another while using the trailer.
- Trailer interchange: Trailer interchange insurance policy provides financial coverage for physical damage caused due to a trailer while it’s being used by a party that does not own the said trailer. This insurance protects you while you have a container or trailer that you don’t own. Typically, a trailer interchange agreement occurs when a trailer is transferred from one trucker to another to complete a shipment.
- Accessories: Often, you carry extra equipment and accessories in your box truck, which gets damaged or destroyed in an accident. Protect yourself from losing your GPS units, communication radios, and other essential accessories by adding this coverage to your insurance policy.
- Unattended truck coverage: Drivers often stop for food or drinks at a highway, leaving your box trucks unattended. This puts your truck at risk of vandalism and theft. The unattended truck coverage prevents your truck and its components when drivers leave them unattended.
- Cargo: Another valuable insurance is cargo insurance, protecting you from damages and losses to the cargo you’re shipping.
How to keep your insurance cost less
Insurance costs can be a significant financial burden on your company. It’s important to keep an eye on the insurance cost to ensure your business doesn’t hesitate to buy box truck insurance. Use these ways to keep your insurance cost low:
Claim and reimbursement policy
Regarding your box truck business, ensure the insurance company you choose has sufficient money to make payments if any accidents occur. You don’t want to hand your insurance to a company with extremely shaky finances.
Before selecting an insurance company, find its financial stability with the help of your insurance broker.
The reputation of the insurance company
Next, focus on the reputation of the insurance company. This is a vicious circle because if the company doesn’t have a good reputation, it also reflects on your business.
So, read their online reviews and check whether they’ve good ratings on Google and other sites.
Customer service and responsiveness of the company
Who doesn’t want to work with a company caring about its customers? Choosing an insurance company providing seamless and superior customer service is beneficial.
Focus on ones offering free advice on how to avoid accidents and how to stay safe.
Check whether the company handles logistics around the clock. Know how proactive they’re in communicating about a change or new requirements.
Know your budget
Different companies provide different prices for the same insurance because some offer superior services than competitors.
Some companies offer add-on facilities you may not need. So, with the help of a broker, ask the company to reduce your cost and inquire about any hidden charges that may surprise you later.
Choosing the right insurance for your box truck business
Box trucks are large, heavy, and challenging to drive as they frequently inflict significant damages in accidents, considering their sizes and weight.
If you’re planning to scale your business, ensure you provide timely shipment to customers and purchase box truck insurance offering protection from liability, property damage, medical expenses, and truck liability.
So, how are you choosing insurance for your box truck business?
Author’s bio
Priya Jain has been copywriting professionally for over eight years. She has attained an engineering degree and an MBA. She teaches math, spends her time running behind her toddler, and tries new recipes when she isn’t writing. You can find her on LinkedIn.
