Five Tips To Lower Your Commercial Fleet Insurance Rates

After I was involved in a large auto accident a few years ago, I realized that I was about to become innately familiar with the claims process. Sure enough, within a few months I started to receive paperwork regarding my accident, and it was really interesting to see how my insurance company handled things. I was able to save a tremendous amount of money by talking with agents about covered and non-covered claims, and it really opened up my eyes about the entire insurance coverage process. Check out this blog for great tips on saving money, living better, and receiving the coverage you need.

Five Tips To Lower Your Commercial Fleet Insurance Rates

19 February 2020
 Categories: Insurance, Blog


As a fleet operator, you know that your trucks help you bring in profit, but they are also responsible for a large chunk of your bottom line. One place where you can often save costs is with your commercial truck insurance. The following are a few strategies to help bring down the cost of your trucking policy.

1. Hire Drivers With Care

Your drivers have a major impact on your insurance costs. You can lower costs by ensuring that all new hires meet exacting criteria. Drivers with plenty of experience, a strong safety record, and who fall into the low-risk age range for accidents (generally those in their late twenties through retirement age, but this varies by insurance company), will help increase your eligibility for fleet discounts.

2. Implement Route Management Tactics

Your routes can impact your insurance costs. Generally, you want to choose safe routes with low traffic density and lower accident ratings. For example, you may be able to lower your insurance costs if your drivers regularly bypass a large city on the path to their destination instead of braving the metro traffic. You may also be able to lower rates if you choose a winter snow route on a well-maintained interstate, as opposed to a less frequently maintained state route.

3. Ace Your Safety Inspections

Your fleet's safety record may influence insurance rates, so make sure that your fleet is always prepared for a DOT safety inspection. Bad marks on a safety inspection, such as a missing fire extinguisher, can raise red flags with your insurance company, which can lead to a high risk mark on your fleet. Minimize safety risks and your insurance rates may lower.

4. Implement Safe Driving Initiatives

Insurance companies often offer several options to improve driver safety and lower insurance rates. Safe driving programs are a favorite. Check with your agent to see if there are discounts available for safety incentive programs, for example. Another option may be ongoing driver safety training classes. Many insurance companies will even provide a list of qualifying safety courses you can implement to lower insurance costs.

5. Maintain Your Fleet

Finally, keep your fleet maintained. Newer vehicles that are equipped with all the modern safety equipment tend to be less expensive to insure than older fleet trucks, but a well maintained and updated older fleet may be able to garner a few discounts. Your insurance rates will go up if fleet condition results in a lot of claims, so make maintenance a priority.

Contact a commercial truck insurance agent for more help.