888-900-0205Reefer Truck Insurance
Refrigerated trucks are a large capital investment for any company. These trucks generate great returns however, since they enable your company to offer chilled goods and cargo regularly, over vast distances. Refrigerated trucks may be used by meat packing plants, retail food warehouses and even catering companies or bakeries in smaller forms.
Being able to transport goods without having it go bad before it reaches its destination is a key reason for using refrigerated trucks in your business. When these trucks are involved in auto accidents however, or are damaged by other forces, your company can suffer from severe financial losses. Protect the truck to the fullest extent by making sure your company carries the right types of commercial auto insurance coverage. Here are the primary types of insurance you’ll need for your refrigerated trucks:
- Liability Insurance – Liability insurance protects you from having to pay other people’s bills when your truck is the cause of an auto accident. Liability is generally required by law in most states, and you cannot get certain types of truck licenses and permits without first having this coverage. Liability protects other people. If the driver of your refrigerated truck causes an auto accident, your liability insurance will take care of the bills in two specific areas:
- Bodily Injury – Bodily injury coverage is the part of your liability policy that pays people’s medical and related bills when they are injured in an auto accident. Bodily injury pays for physician and hospital care for example, emergency transport to a medical facility, and related medical expenses such as lab tests and prescription medications. Bodily injury pays for other expenses that are caused by injuries in an accident as well. For example, if the injured person must take time off of work to recuperate, your bodily injury coverage will cover their lost wages. If a person is killed in the accident, bodily injury coverage can pay for the funeral expenses.
- Property Damage – Property damage coverage pays for the repairs of property that was damaged by your truck in an accident. If your company’s refrigerated truck is in a collision accident with another vehicle and that vehicle is totaled in the accident, your property damage coverage will pay for the vehicle replacement. Property damages also pays for car repairs when another vehicle is damaged, and can pay for other related repairs for property that is damaged in the accident.
Medical Payments – Medical payments insurance is a way for your company to fully protect the driver of your refrigerated truck and any passengers she has on board at the time of an accident. Medical payments coverage benefits apply to any accident despite who may have caused the accident. It pays hospital, doctor and similar medical bills of anyone who was travelling in your truck at the time of the accident. Medical payments coverage is not available in all areas. Contact one of our licensed representatives and we’ll help you determine its availability to and appropriateness for your company.
Physical Damage Insurance – This commercial insurance coverage protects your company from losses to your truck itself. If your refrigerated truck is damaged in some way, your physical damages insurance can pay for the cost of repairing it. This insurance is particularly important for refrigerated trucks because even minor repairs can be quite expensive. If your truck is leased or is still being paid off, this insurance will provide it with the most coverage protection.
- Comprehensive Physical Damage Protection – Comprehensive damage protection provides insurance coverage for events that are not caused by a collision or a roll over. This insurance provides you with protection against theft of the truck for example, or damages caused by vandals. It can also pay for repairs that are needed when road debris or crowds of people inflict damage on the truck.
- Collision Damage Protection – Collision damage protection pays for the cost of repairs when your refrigerated truck is damaged due to overturning or due to colliding with another object. If you or your truck driver backs into a loading bay for example, your collision damage protection insurance will pay for the repairs.
- Specified Peril (CAC) – CAC insurance, or Fire and Theft with Combined Additional Coverage, protects you from specific perils that can arise on a day-do-day basis. This insurance provides for protection from non-collision events but is limited to just those specified hazards that are listed on your policy.
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist – Uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance protects you from having to pay the bills when another person is at fault for an accident. If the driver at fault does not carry insurance, there is no one to pay the repair bills on your truck except for you. If the driver carries insurance it may not be enough coverage to fully pay for the damages they cause to your truck in an accident. In this case the driver is underinsured and your company will find itself having to pay for some of the repairs as well.
When you carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage however, you will not have to pay for the repair bills. Instead, your commercial insurance policy will pay for them. This insurance acts very much like your standard liability coverage, except that it pays for repairs and replacements to your refrigerated truck instead of to the other vehicles involved in the accident.
- Bodily Injury – As covered with Liability Insurance.
- Property Damage – As covered with Liability Insurance.
- Collision Deductible Waiver (CDW) – When you or your truck driver is not the one responsible for causing an auto accident, your company should not have to pay an insurance deductible when making a claim. By carrying uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury insurance, you can qualify for a collision deductible waiver (CDW) to ensure that you do not have to pay the deductible.
Other Important Commercial Auto Insurance You Need For A Refrigerated Truck Includes:
- Rental – When your truck is out of service because it’s in the shop for repairs created by an auto accident, your commercial insurance policy can provide for the cost of a temporary rental replacement.
- Towing – If your truck is disabled in an accident and needs to be towed away, towing insurance covers that added expense.
- Trailer – Protect your refrigerated trailer separately to ensure that it is fully covered for damages, destruction and other potential hazards.
- Trailer Interchange – When you participate in a trailer interchange program you are frequently hauling trailers that do not belong to your company. You must protect these trailers with separate insurance coverage.
- Reefer Breakdown – When your refer breaks down it can completely ruin your entire load of cargo. Refer breakdown insurance protects you from having to cover losses caused by this hazard.
- Unattended Truck coverage – Truck drivers are required by law to take regular breaks and rest periods. Unattended truck coverage protects you against theft, loss and damages that can occur while you or your driver is away from the truck during downtimes.
- Cargo – Cargo insurance pays for the loss or damage or cargo in your truck.
- Accessories – Accessories insurance protects you from losses of expensive additional equipment in your truck. The GPS navigation system for example, automated weight station devices and communications equipment can also be protected from loss and destruction with accessories coverage.