Understanding Insurance Policies

If you are an owner-operator of your own truck you're going to need commercial insurance. Although you've probably maintained continuous coverage on your personal vehicle for a while, commercial truck insurance is a different animal. Your truck is your livelihood so anything you can do to protect it is well worth the investment. Making sure you have the right riders on your policy allows you to get your vessel fixed quickly in the event of an emergency. Check out the information below to become familiar with two important coverages you may want to include in your commercial truck insurance policy.

Add Downtime to Your Rental Reimbursement

Accidents can happen at any time. Colliding with another vehicle is bad when it happens in a passenger vehicle. However, the situation can be even worse if it occurs while you're driving your truck. The longer it takes to have your truck repaired, the longer you'll go without getting paid. Going extended periods without bringing in income could spell disaster.

That's why you definitely want to include rental reimbursement in your policy. With this coverage, you choose a set limit to be paid out daily to cover the cost of renting another truck. You'll then be able to keep working as usual while you wait for your main mode of transportation to be ready for the road.

If your insurance company offers downtime as a companion to the rental reimbursement portion of the policy you should consider adding it on as well. If you're hurt in the accident and need some time to recuperate, downtime will essentially provide you with money to cover truck payments or other bills for a stated number of days, weeks or months.

Cargo Insurance Is a Must

Your clients trust you to get their loads to customers and vendors in a safe manner. If your freight is damaged or lost in transit you could be held responsible for paying for replacements. Be sure to include coverage for your cargo in the policy. If a fire breaks out in your trailer or the doors fly open and the goods go flying all over the highway, you'll have built-in protection to help offset the costs of damage to other vehicles, legal fees and more.

Pad your policy with the right coverages so you're protected through and through. Ask your agent to give you a quote for these riders and get them placed on your policy immediately.