Freight brokers often face hidden risks with their trailer insurance. Andy Kuchar, President of Centerline Insurance Company, reveals why many trailers are "criminally underinsured" and how common policies exclude crucial over-the-road coverage. Learn the red flags in your current insurance and how dedicated policies protect against massive liabilities, even for small incidents.
Freight brokers operating trailer pools may be carrying insurance that provides virtually no protection when those trailers are in use on the road. Andy Kuchar, of Centerline — an insurance company owned by Watkins ***** ociated Industries, the family behind Watkins Motor Lines that became FedEx Freight — said the problem surfaced clearly when his firm launched a dedicated trailer insurance product roughly five and a half years ago.
Kuchar said the first policy he reviewed after entering the market, written by a major carrier he declined to name, contained a specific exclusion for trailers over the road. The broker holding that policy believed it was fully covered and had thousands of trailers in its fleet. "The coverage was with a great company. It was inexpensive, but it didn't really cover anything," Kuchar said.
"I think you need to start asking some very pointed questions of your insurance agent to say, do I really have this covered? And show me." — Andy Kuchar, Centerline
The stakes are rising for brokers following the post-Montgomery legal environment, where plaintiffs' attorneys are increasingly bypassing small single-truck carriers — who typically carry only $1 million in coverage against a federal minimum of $750,000 — and targeting brokers directly because of their deeper pockets. Providing a trailer to a motor carrier adds a distinct layer of liability beyond brokering a load, Kuchar said, because the equipment itself can be named in litigation. He cited one claim where a worker unloading building materials from a parked trailer was killed in an accident; the trailer lessor was pulled into the lawsuit. "Today to get somebody out of a claim is usually at least $100,000," he said.
#freight #company
Freight brokers operating trailer pools may be carrying insurance that provides virtually no protection when those trailers are in use on the road. Andy Kuchar, of Centerline — an insurance company owned by Watkins ***** ociated Industries, the family behind Watkins Motor Lines that became FedEx Freight — said the problem surfaced clearly when his firm launched a dedicated trailer insurance product roughly five and a half years ago.
Kuchar said the first policy he reviewed after entering the market, written by a major carrier he declined to name, contained a specific exclusion for trailers over the road. The broker holding that policy believed it was fully covered and had thousands of trailers in its fleet. "The coverage was with a great company. It was inexpensive, but it didn't really cover anything," Kuchar said.
"I think you need to start asking some very pointed questions of your insurance agent to say, do I really have this covered? And show me." — Andy Kuchar, Centerline
The stakes are rising for brokers following the post-Montgomery legal environment, where plaintiffs' attorneys are increasingly bypassing small single-truck carriers — who typically carry only $1 million in coverage against a federal minimum of $750,000 — and targeting brokers directly because of their deeper pockets. Providing a trailer to a motor carrier adds a distinct layer of liability beyond brokering a load, Kuchar said, because the equipment itself can be named in litigation. He cited one claim where a worker unloading building materials from a parked trailer was killed in an accident; the trailer lessor was pulled into the lawsuit. "Today to get somebody out of a claim is usually at least $100,000," he said.
#freight #company
2 months ago
