The carrier truckers most often ask us not to quote — and still the right answer for a new authority.

New authority trucking

Auto liability and physical damage for carriers in their first year, with filings.

Without it — Competitively priced where most markets either decline a new authority or load it heavily.

Fleets over ten units

Fleet auto liability, physical damage and cargo.

Without it — Strong above about ten power units. The awkward zone is in between — see below.

NEMT and paratransit

Non-emergency medical transport, a class most carriers will not write at all.

Without it — One of the very few markets writing NEMT, which makes them the answer rather than an option.

Contractors auto and package

Commercial auto and package cover for trades, with blanket additional insured and blanket waiver of subrogation.

Without it — The blanket endorsements a general contractor’s subcontract demands, included rather than charged for.

Telematics discounts

Smart Haul and ELD-based discounts of up to 15% for carriers sharing electronic logging data.

Without it — A real, large discount that a lot of carriers never claim because nobody told them to.

Is Progressive good for truckers?

It is genuinely mixed, and we would rather say so than pick a side. Where they are strong: new authorities, where their pricing is competitive and plenty of markets simply will not quote a carrier in its first year; fleets above about ten power units; long haul and hot shot operations; and NEMT, where they are one of the only markets writing the class at all. If you are non-emergency medical transport, Progressive is frequently the answer rather than one of several. The awkward zone is in between. A carrier with, say, three to nine units often prices better elsewhere, and we would shop it rather than default to them. Where the complaints come from: their underwriting verification is strict, and some of our clients have noticed mid-term cancellations for reasons that felt minor to them. That is a real thing to weigh — a mid-term cancellation on a motor carrier is not an inconvenience, it is a filing lapse and a truck that cannot legally run. It is also the honest reason they are the carrier truckers most often ask us not to quote. Keep your paperwork, your MVRs and your driver schedule current and the risk drops considerably, which is a large part of what an agent is doing on this account.

Getting a new authority insured

What is the Smart Haul discount and how do I get it?

It is a discount of up to 15% for sharing electronic logging device data with the carrier, and it is one of the largest single savings available on a trucking policy — large enough that it is worth changing an ELD to qualify. The thing worth knowing right now: Progressive recently ended its exclusive partnership with Motive, which opened the program to a much wider set of eligible ELD providers. If you were told previously that your device did not qualify, that answer may well be out of date, and it is worth asking again. We check it on every trucking submission because the discount is significant and clients rarely raise it themselves.

Should I go direct or through an agent?

Through an agent, and on this carrier the reason is unusually concrete: some of our clients have noticed that getting through on phone support takes real persistence. Independent agents have their own dedicated access and phone lines into the carrier, which means a certificate, an endorsement or a filing question is handled on a channel built for people who do this all day rather than in a general queue. On a motor carrier that matters more than it sounds. A filing that needs correcting or a unit that needs adding is not administrative — the truck cannot run until it is done. Same price either way; the difference is who is waiting on hold.

Why go through a broker instead of buying direct?

Six reasons, and the first one surprises people. It does not cost you anything. Broker compensation is built into the carrier’s rate whether or not you use one — buying direct does not remove it, it just means nobody is being paid to be on your side. You are declining the representation, not the cost. Somebody negotiates for you. An agent represents YOU rather than the carrier, which matters most at the two moments that decide whether insurance was worth buying: when the account is being underwritten and priced, and when a claim is being adjusted. Direct writers have neither role available to you. You stop queueing. A certificate, an endorsement, a vehicle added, a limit raised — through an agent those are usually same-day, often same-hour. Through a service queue they are a wait, and you explain your business again to whoever answers. You get the same person. We assign a dedicated account manager from day one, so the person handling your renewal already knows what you do, what your contracts require, and what went wrong last time. Nobody starts from your policy number. We re-shop it every year. Not the same carrier re-rated — a genuine comparison across multiple carriers and products, because the market that was right for you at $400,000 of revenue is frequently not the one that is right at $1.2M. That is the single largest source of savings we find, and it is structurally unavailable if you buy direct. And we will tell you when to stay. If the policy you have is the right one, that is an answer we are willing to give, and it is why the comparison is worth doing at all.