Commercial Auto

By helping trucking clients understand the risks and insurance solutions available to protect their cargo, agents can provide valuable support across the supply chain.

On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, we meet Miles Lee, transportation insurance broker at McGriff in Savannah, Georgia.

In a market with such high selectivity, it falls on the prospective insured to show why it would be a good risk. Independent insurance agencies can help insureds implement approaches that demonstrate insurability and manage costs.  

While factors like increased repair expenses, more frequent claims and stricter regulatory requirements are responsible for over a decade of premium increases, insurance remains a large cost of doing business.

Trucking companies faced $165 million in nuclear verdicts in 2023, with an increasing trend of thermonuclear verdicts. Mounting costs from these large verdicts present significant challenges for the commercial auto insurance market.

The new endorsement protects truckers by expanding coverage for perils attributed to wetness, rust and corrosion, as well as driver error and changes in temperature on refrigerated loads.

Challenges such as driver shortages, distracted driving, social inflation and changing marijuana legalization continue to impact the commercial auto market.

As the journey toward autonomous trucks begins to unfold in earnest, technology is playing a significant role in improving industry safety.

A U.S.-based trucking client’s truck and cargo were stolen in Canada, but the carrier denied the claim due to a territorial exclusion. The loss happened “before the insured had a chance to read the policy.”