Truckers pay thousands of dollars for insurance each year and finding ways to save money can be challenging. But, did you know that there are three common mistakes on your Department of Transportation (DOT) Number that could be costing you thousands and can be fixed with ease.
I’m Caleb Jackson, Vice President of Barbee Jackson Insurance and head of the Transportation Team. I’ve worked with thousands of truckers across the United States helping them get the right insurance coverage at the best price.
I’m going to share with you 3 Common Mistakes I see on Truckers DOT Numbers…plus I add a bonus one at the end. If you find this information useful and are needing assistance, please give me a call (850) 389-2001.
#1 Mistake - Motor Carrier Number (MC)
Are you crossing state lines? If so, the MC number is necessary, but if not then it could be costing you thousands of dollars each year on your insurance. The reason is simple, but rarely explained.
The first thing we ask before starting the quote is your DOT Number. The number provides us with a wealth of information that we use to determine who the best insurance company is for your trucking business.
A common mistake that we see is a MC number when one is not needed. Insurance companies have raters and in most cases if you have a MC number then we have to give you an unlimited radius of operation.
The bigger the radius of operation the higher the insurance premiums.
FIX - If not needed call DOT and have it removed. The process takes 24 hours
#2 Mistake - Cargo Carried
I see a lot of clients call and I’m blown away with the number of items they have checked off as cargo hauled. If you are running general freight you only need to check general freight. It is important to check off the cargo that you haul, but if you are not going to haul that freight or it is a low chance then you don’t need to check that box.
Insurance companies charge rate based on the cargo hauled. Keep it simple.
Want a 90 second explanation. Click the link to our YouTube Short - Cargo Carried
FIX - Login to DOT and uncheck cargo that you will not be hauling.
#3 Mistake - Out-of-Service
Insurance companies will give higher insurance premiums for the more Out-of-Service. Certain insurance companies won’t even give us an option to quote if the Out-of-Service is too high. The reason being is because out-of-service means a high chance of a claim.
FIX - This is the hardest one. You have to make sure the truck is perfect and take it though an inspection point. Depending on how high the out-of-service will depends on how many times you will need to go through an inspection point to get the percentage down.
#4 Mistake - One Quote vs Many Quotes
Direct Insurers also work with independent insurance agencies like us, so why just get one quote when we can get you several.
Read more on the Advantage of Independent Insurance Agencies - Get Multiple Quotes