If you have a dump truck business, you might wonder how you can protect your vehicles with the right insurance. Unfortunately, driving is not without its risks, and since your dump trucks are an extremely important asset to your business, you need to protect them. Those trucks were expensive! We’re going to do over some of the coverage you ought to consider for your vehicles when you get dump truck insurance.
What insurance coverages do you need for dump trucks?
As we said, it’s important to make sure you have the right insurance to protect your dump trucks. These are some important insurance coverages for dump trucks:
- Auto liability
- Physical damage insurance
- Cargo insurance
- Pollution coverage
- Non-trucking liability
- General liability
Let’s look at each of them in more detail and check out some examples of how these coverages work.
Auto liability.
Auto liability insurance can help cover your legal obligation to the other driver if you’re on the job and get into an at fault accident. The road is a dangerous workplace, and wrecks happen. This insurance can help cover your legal fees if the other driver sues you.
- Bodily injury liability can help cover the other driver’s medical bills and pain and suffering.
- Property damage can help cover the repairs or replacement of the other driver’s car or other property you may damage.
Pro tip: Check out state and federal insurance requirements to make sure you have at least the minimum requirements of auto liability insurance.
Example: You accidentally run a red light and cause an accident, injuring the other driver. Bodily injury liability can help cover their medical bills while property damage liability can help with the repairs to their car.
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Physical damage.
Physical damage insurance can help you get your truck back on the road ASAP if it’s damaged. Liability insurance WON’T cover damage to your truck, which is why physical damage is so important.
- Collision – Can help repair your truck if it’s damaged in a wreck (or if you collide with something)
- Comprehensive – Can help repair your truck if it’s damaged by something other than a collision. It generally covers losses such as fire, theft, vandalism, animal strikes, and falling objects.
Example: You accidentally rear-end the SUV in front of you. Collision coverage can help cover repairs to your truck.
Cargo.
Cargo insurance can help protect the load you’re hauling from losses like collision, theft, and fire. If you’re hauling a load and you get into an accident, for example, you may be responsible for compensating the client for the loss of the cargo. That’s where cargo insurance can help.
Example: You are driving and hauling a load for a client. You get into an accident and the cargo is destroyed.
Non-trucking liability.
Non-trucking liability functions similarly to auto liability, but it protects you while you’re not actively dispatched – for example, when you’re using your dump truck for personal use. It can help you cover your legal obligation to the other driver if you’re at fault in an accident but you weren’t on the clock.
Example: You’re not hauling a load and you’re not dispatched. You get into an accident when you miss a stop sign. Non-trucking liability can help you cover your legal obligation to the other driver.
Pollution coverage.
Pollution coverage can help you take care of your obligation to clean up the environment following an accident. Environmental clean-up can get expensive.
Example: You wreck your dump truck, and the load you’re hauling spills into a nearby creek. Pollution coverage can help cover the costs of cleaning up the environment.
General liability.
General liability can help you cover lawsuits about things like bodily injury or property damage that aren’t the result of you driving your dump truck. Read your policy to find out what is and isn’t covered. Things like slander and libel or delivering a load to the wrong place can be covered.
Example: A customer trips and falls on your premises, resulting in a broken arm and concussion. They decide to sue you.
These are some of the main coverages you can consider for your dump trucks, although they might not be the only coverages you need for your business. It’s important to protect your investment in your trucks – they’re a crucial part of your business, after all. Different losses are covered by different coverages, which is why it’s important that you read through your policies to find out what is and isn’t covered.
Our transportation insurance experts can help you get the insurance you need to protect your vehicle. Get started with insurance quotes by filling out our online form, giving us a call, or messaging us on LiveChat. We’re committed to helping trucking businesses get great insurance at a great rate, and we’re also committed to making insurance easy.