Our premium went up and we had no claims. Why?

Usually the class repriced or the excess layers did. Liability claims in trucking have grown more severe for years, and insurance companies raise rates across the class to match. Growth can also hide in the number: more units, miles or revenue raise the premium at the same rate. Ask for the breakdown before assuming it is about you.

Is it worth shopping a fleet renewal every year?

Shopping every year with several agents works against you, because insurance companies tire of quoting accounts that never move. Shopping properly when the increase is material or the service has slipped is sensible. One agent presenting a complete submission to every suitable insurance company gives you a real comparison without that cost.

Can we lower the renewal by changing the structure?

Often. A higher deductible on physical damage, dropping physical damage on older paid-off units, a different layering of the excess, or a retention on liability can each lower the premium. Each one moves cost from the premium onto your own balance sheet, so price the worst year as well as the average one.

A trucking company owner with a graying beard in a canvas work coat standing in his gravel yard reading an opened letter, three tractors parked in a row behind him under an overcast sky at first light

Why did our trucking fleet’s insurance go up at renewal?

A fleet renewal rises for one or more of four reasons: the fleet grew (more units, miles or revenue), its losses developed (open claims were reserved higher), the insurance company raised rates for the whole class, or the excess layers above the primary policy got more expensive. Ask for the increase broken down by policy and by cause before deciding whether to shop, because each cause has a different answer.

Call/Text(626) 344-2158

/ Start here

Tell us the situation.

One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.

We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.

Large fleets. Lori takes on only a few large fleets at a time, so each one gets a full renewal: the submission built properly and shopped with every insurance company that fits. Two openings remain for the rest of 2026.

/ Who handles this

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)

/ Don’t want to read all this?

Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.

Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.

Have it reviewed Call/Text(626) 344-2158

/ Before you apply

Before you accept or shop the increase

Get the breakdown: premium by policy and by layer for this year and last, so the increase has an address.
Normalize it: divide each year by power units and by miles. If the rate per unit is flat, the fleet grew.
Pull current loss runs, valued within the last 90 days, and compare reserves on open claims with last year’s.
Read the new conditions: exclusions, deductibles, driver criteria and camera requirements.
Decide with time to act. If you have more than 60 days, a shopped renewal is still possible; inside 30, negotiate with the incumbent.

The detail

ATRI’s 2020 study of about 600 trucking cases from 2006 to 2019 found that the size of verdict awards grew 51.7 percent a year between 2010 and 2018, and that cases over $1 million rose from 26 in the first five years of its data to nearly 300 in the last five.
American Transportation Research Institute, Understanding the Impact of Nuclear Verdicts on the Trucking Industry (June 2020)
For-hire motor carriers of nonhazardous property in interstate commerce, in vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more, must carry at least $750,000 of public liability; oil and most other hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and hazardous substances carried in bulk require $5,000,000.
49 CFR 387.9, minimum levels of financial responsibility

What this means for you

Growth is not a rate increase. Ten more trucks and a million more miles should cost more. Divide the premium by power units and by miles for each year to see whether the rate actually moved.
Developing claims are the quiet driver. A claim reserved at one figure last year and a larger one this year changes your loss ratio without a new accident. Ask for current loss runs and compare the reserves.
Class-wide increases are real. Liability severity in trucking has risen for years, and insurance companies reprice the whole class. A shopped renewal tells you whether your increase is the class or you.
Excess is often the biggest mover. The layers above the primary policy reprice faster than the primary itself. Ask what each layer costs, because restructuring the tower can change the total.
A condition is part of the price. A renewal that adds a camera requirement, a driver exclusion or a higher deductible has changed even if the premium has not.

Need this handled?

Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.

Lori takes on only a few large fleets at a time, so each one gets a full renewal: the submission built properly and shopped with every insurance company that fits. Two openings remain for the rest of 2026.