Dump truck insurance is a common request here in Charlotte, NC.  Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and with that comes construction.  A lot of construction.  We know a lot about insuring dump trucks.  You will need to not only focus on NC state limits but Federal requirements as well.  Aside from those requirements, you will also see contract requirements for the company you are hired to drive for.  Finally, you should be concerned with not only requirements, but having proper coverage to protect yourself.

It is important to make sure that the registered owner of the vehicle is also the policyholder. Just as in personal auto insurance policies, the correct owner should be listed as the named insured. If your vehicle is registered in your business name, then you should also insure it in the business name instead of your personal name.

Next, you should determine what coverage you need. We will discuss the most important types here.

Physical Damage

Physical damage (comprehensive and collision) is required if you are making payments on the dump truck through a bank. Even if you own the vehicle free and clear and there is no bank, you should still strongly consider insuring the vehicle for comprehensive and collision losses. Most commercial companies will ask you for a stated amount for each vehicle requesting this coverage type. Stated amount is simply the value of the vehicle today. In the event of a loss, the insurance company will pay the value of the vehicle minus the deductible you choose on the policy.

Business Auto Liability

Liability coverage is the part of your insurance policy that is required by the state or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA before you can even get your tag. Most common limits of liability chosen on a dump truck policy would be either $750,000 or $1,000,000. The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (NC DMV) will determine what limit of liability is required. To determine the required limit of liability you will need to provide them the following:

  • Gross vehicle weight(GVW) of the vehicle. This is the total weight of the vehicle when fully loaded to manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Radius that the vehicle will be driven. This is the typical one-way mileage driven to each destination.
  • The items you will be hauling. For example dirt, sand, and gravel.
  • Whether or not you will be crossing state lines.

The minimum limits for most dump trucks not crossing NC state lines is $100,000/300,000/50,000.

Dump trucks crossing NC state lines will usually require limits of $750,000 combined single limit.

Here in NC there are many state and city projects that are calling heavily on dump truck operators. Here in Charlotte alone there is the light rail project, Interstate 485 expansion, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and the Independence Blvd expansion just to name a few.

To be on any of these projects will require a minimum auto liability of at least $1,000,000. This is higher than NC DMV and FMCSA requirements.  In addition to this, you will also likely be required to have many other additional policy types.

Medical Payments

Medical payments covers drivers or passengers.  Choose a limit here that will cover at the very least, a deductible of a health insurance claim made for an accident that causes bodily injury.  

Un/underinsured Motorist Coverage

Un/underinsured motorist coverage covers your bodily injury and property damage to your truck caused by an uninsured driver or under-insured driver.  You should consider the likelihood of your dump truck being hit by uninsured drivers or those who may only have state minimum liability.  The coverage you choose here should be enough to cover bodily injury to yourself or driver as well as your vehicle.

Workers Compensation

Any employee working for you should have workers compensation coverage.  This will not only cover the doctors bills in the event of an accident but also any loss of time at work.  

If you don’t have any employees but still have a contract requirement to have a workers compensation policy click here for some more information on that.  

Truckers General Liability

Certain contracts will require general liability.  This would cover claims outside of you or a driver being involved in an accident.  Negligence from a loss can cover both bodily injury and property damage losses.

Commercial Umbrella

A commercial umbrella policy is a form of a blanket limit that picks up and pays where your other underlying policies leave off.  To have an umbrella policy, you will be required by the insurance company to meet certain limits on those underlying policies.  It is very important to know what the umbrella policy is over.  If you have commercial auto, general liability, and workers compensation policies for your business, you should make sure the umbrella is over all of these policies for you to be adequately covered.

Dump Truck Liability

You don’t run your business like this so don’t let just anyone handle your insurance.

Rates for dump trucks are very affordable considering how often they are on the roads and how many miles are being driven each year.  A clean driving record will also help lower those rates even further. If we can help with any of your dump truck insurance questions please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 704-494-9495.