If you run a small trucking company, you know that one of your biggest expenses is insurance. Every professional trucking company is required to have several different kinds of insurance. General liability insurance is critical to any business and will protect visitors and workers when they are on your property.
The trucking professionals at Simplex Group know how important general liability insurance is to a startup trucking company. We will ensure that the language in your insurance policy is written to cover any accident you may experience. When you hire us, we consider ourselves to be part of your team, so we want to make sure that our team is successful.
What Is General Liability Insurance?
A trucking company is a busy place. You have workers loading trucks, drivers performing inspections, potential clients coming in to talk to your sales team, and mechanics working on vehicles. With all of that activity going on, there are bound to be some mishaps.
General liability insurance is designed to cover incidents not covered by your auto insurance policy and covers any injuries incurred by anyone who visits your business.
Equipment and Repair Accidents
General liability insurance will cover accidents caused by equipment not directly attached to your truck, such as a crane or forklift. If your mechanics take in any outside repairs, it will also cover you if the customer is dissatisfied with those repairs or if they result in an accident.
Violations of your Contract
No matter a company’s business, they are bound to have many contracts. A trucking company will have contracts with its clients and suppliers. If they do not own the building from which they operate, they will have a contract with their landlord.
General liability insurance can pay for the damage if one of your employees causes a plumbing problem or a mechanic causes an explosion. Simplex Group will ensure you have comprehensive coverage that will take care of your bills in the worst situations.
Employee Screening
The HR director of any company in the United States can tell you that screening employees is very important. The proliferation of employer-employee lawsuits and laws protecting employees from harassment has caused companies to exercise extreme caution before hiring someone permanently.
Screening is more important in the trucking industry than other kinds of business. A trucking company is legally required to keep a file on every driver. If they do not keep those files up to date, they may face fines and other penalties from the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration.
A driver’s record must include every company for which they have worked in the last three years and a record of any accidents the driver has had in the last three years.
A trucking company must contact all the states in which a driver has held a license in the last three years and ensure that the driver does not have a suspended license in any of those states.
You must keep a record of all drug tests administered to each employee. If someone has been put on corrective action for substance abuse, you must keep a record of that as well.
Simplex Group will make sure that your driver’s records are always up to date. However, sometimes drivers are not completely honest about their employment histories.
A driver may omit information about the states in which they have held licenses. They may even lie about their criminal history and then steal products from one of your clients. If this happens and your company gets sued, you may be able to file a claim on your general insurance policy.
Safety and Security
The average trucking company will have thousands of dollars of products coming in and out of its doors daily. A company may take many precautions to ensure the safety of its property and the property of its clients.
A company may spend a lot of money on security cameras and high-tech locks. They may also employ security guards or use a guard dog. If the security guard hits someone or the dog bites someone, the company may be sued for personal injury. Your auto insurance will not pay for such a claim. Property owners’ insurance or renters’ insurance may also deny such a claim. Simplex Group can ensure your insurance policy covers injuries caused by employees and contractors of your company.
General liability insurance should cover injuries to a person’s body and damage to property. When you get general liability insurance from Simplex Group, you will never have to worry about how you will pay your bills in a crisis.
Incorrect Deliveries
If one of your truckers damages property during their haul, your cargo insurance will cover it. But what if they deliver a package to the wrong address? Cargo insurance will not cover a driver’s mistakes. However, some general liability insurance policies will cover cargo that is delivered to the wrong address and will also cover missed deliveries.
A driver may fail to pick up a product they were supposed to. General liability insurance should take care of shorted orders and pick-up failures. Your drivers are only human and are certain to make the occasional error.
Simplex Group has worked in the trucking industry for over 20 years. Our specialty is helping new trucking companies establish their business, staying compliant, and obtaining insurance. We can ensure your insurance policy is airtight and covers anything that may come your way. Call us today for a free consultation.