Short miles, heavy loads, and a body that raises into things.
Commercial insurance for dump truck and aggregate haulers — the overturn, site and seasonal exposures that a general freight policy is not rated for.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What dirt, sand and gravel hauling businesses actually need.
Commercial auto
Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.
Without it — Loaded dump trucks are top-heavy and the overturn exposure is unlike anything in general freight.
Auto physical damage
Damage to your own tractor and trailer. Primary liability pays for what you do to everyone else and nothing for your equipment, so without this a rollover you caused leaves you paying off a truck you can no longer run.
Without it — Dump bodies, hoists and trailers are expensive and are damaged on site rather than on the road.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — Work on a construction site brings you inside somebody else’s project and their contract requirements.
Motor truck cargo
The freight itself while you are hauling it. Separate from the liability on the truck.
Without it — Material lost or contaminated in transit is still owed to whoever bought it.
Workers compensation
Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.
Without it — Site work, tarping and climbing on equipment is where the injuries are.
Umbrella & excess liability
Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.
Without it — Construction contracts require limits above primary, and a raised bed into a power line is a catastrophic loss.
Contractors pollution liability
Bodily injury, property damage and clean-up caused by a pollutant your work released — chemical drift, run-off, fuel spills. The standard general liability form excludes all of it.
Without it — Hauling contaminated spoil, or spilling material into a watercourse, is a clean-up claim liability excludes.
Lori Adams, TRS
Commercial Trucking Insurance Advisor
Twenty-five years in trucking insurance. Knows the filings, the radius rules and the carriers that will actually take the risk.
Transportation Risk Specialist (TRS)
A paving contractor in Wisconsin could not insure his tractor. A 1099 contractor of his had been caught trafficking drugs across state lines in a company truck, and after that no carrier would look at the vehicle. It sat unused for a year while he was told the risk was uninsurable.
He was covered within a week of asking us. He said he would dance at our founder’s wedding if we could get it done — we are holding him to that. The serious point underneath the joke is that "uninsurable" usually means "nobody has taken it to a market that will read the file", and a criminal act by a contractor is a fact an underwriter can be walked through rather than a permanent disqualification.
What dirt, sand and gravel hauling operators ask us.
Why is my dump truck rated differently from a tractor-trailer?
Because the exposure is site work rather than highway miles. Loaded aggregate raises the centre of gravity, most of the driving is short-radius and repetitive, and a meaningful share of losses happen off the road entirely — on a site, at a pit, or with the bed up. A carrier that rates you as general freight is usually rating the wrong thing in both directions.
Does construction site work change my requirements?
It does, and often more than the trucking side. A general contractor will want additional insured status, primary and non-contributory wording and a waiver of subrogation from you exactly as they would from any other trade. Hauliers are frequently the last party on a site to realise their certificate has to satisfy a construction contract.
Can I reduce coverage in the off season?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking rather than assuming. Some carriers permit seasonal suspension of physical damage on parked units, which is real money on a fleet that stands still for months. Liability and the filing generally have to stay in force to keep your authority, so the saving is on the equipment side.