Flor & Associates Insurance Agency

El Paso Texas Insurance Agent Flor & Associates Insurance

Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Truck Insurance Renewal Tips

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Truck Insurance is a vital part of being a trucker and is as essential as diesel is to a truck! The law states that you are unable to operate a truck at all that is not covered by insurance, so it doesn’t hurt to learn about what you will need to have come renewal time in order for it to go smoothly!

First and foremost, if you do not renew due to late or non-payment, it will hurt your ability to find coverage during renewal—which you may have to settle for a company that you do not prefer at that point! Always be sure to keep up with your payments!

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Second, take note of the methods that you get around in your truck, if you travel  without a trailer regularly you should consider Bobtail Insurance, or if you live in an area that is prone to natural disasters you could get Physical Damage insurance to cover any costs that you might run into due to a fire or even vandalism!

Third, let your agent know about any life changes that you have, such as getting married, getting divorced, or any difference in your family situation. Sometimes these changes can cause your pricing to go higher or lower depending on the situation, but either way it is always good to know that you are getting the right coverage for the right price!

Physical Damage Coverage Can Save Your Wallet

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Buying or leasing a truck is a huge undertaking and usually an even bigger investment, this means for many truckers that their truck is more than just a means to haul cargo—it’s essential to their livelihood! Most truckers that I have talked to put up most, if not all of what they own for their truck, so it makes sense to want to have the best coverage for every situation!

Physical Damage coverage is used to repair or replace any type of damage to your truck or trailer, so things like collision, fire, hail, natural disasters, and even theft are covered through this coverage! Another sweet part of the deal is how if you are broken down, or need to have your truck in storage while it waits to get repaired it will be covered!

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Say for instance you are heading west from the Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee and you run into some motor trouble, if you don’t have Physical Damage coverage you can be paying out of pocket upwards of $15,000+ on some of these newer tractor trailers! Instead of suffering through a huge hit to the wallet like that, look into getting Physical Damage coverage! You’ll thank yourself later!

Finding The Right Truck Driver

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Finding the right driver is pretty hard, but it isn’t rocket science—there are ways to make it easier on yourself so you can find the right driver quickly! You may have to spend a little money to find one with a hiring agency, but there are ways around this as well!

If you already have a current driver you should utilize them as a tool during the interview process, during interviews have them ask each candidate questions and see if they feel they could handle the job since they know it firsthand, this will help weed out some of the ones that shouldn’t be there in the first place!

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After they have passed the first interview have them demonstrate basic skills for you and your driver, see if they can handle the truck correctly—backing up, turning, going through each of the gears. Also see if they know how to do the normal day-to-day tasks such as connecting air lines, and hooking and unhooking a trailer without issue!

Then if they have passed on to the next stage, you will need to run their CSA profile (Compliance, Safety, and Accountability, when you are able to do so legally) in order to see if they have been a safe driver throughout their career—if they have gone through this process with flying colors, I think you might have a quality driver on your hands!

CSA Score and What It Means

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If you are in the trucking industry at all, you definitely know that your CSA score is extremely important to the trucking company and to their drivers as well. CSA is short for Compliance, Safety, and Accountability, and these publicly published scores are used to identify motor carriers that are ‘high-risk’. These scores play a huge role in your insurance rates since all insurance companies use this score when drafting up a new insurance plan, so it helps to know what goes towards your score!

The lower the score the lower your premium, the higher the score the higher your premium is a good way to think about your score. Actions such as unsafe driving, amount of crashes, vehicle maintenance, driving under the influence, driver fitness, as well as unsafe driving with hazardous materials all influence and raise your score! If you practice safe and defensive driving, and keep your truck in good shape your score will go lower over time! 

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Another way to improve your score is to have regular inspections both in-house to makesure your fleet is up to snuff, and by not failing government inspections, whether it be for tires, leaks in brake lines, and the biggest violator: broken lights, which makes up over a quarter of all violations! Most violations are issued during roadside inspections when the officer is looking over mileage logs—so be sure those are accurate too!