You do not need to pick the right company. You need someone who makes the companies compete. The McClure Agency is an independent trucking insurance agency, so instead of one carrier's price, we run your operation across 30+ A-rated commercial truck insurance markets and bring back the best fit. One application, real quotes, your choice.
Everyone searching for commercial truck insurance companies is trying to guess which one will treat them right. Here is what that guess actually gets you, and what an independent truck insurance company shopper gets you instead.
And it costs you nothing extra. Carrier prices already include distribution, whether you buy direct or through an agent. So the real choice is not which company, it is whether one company quotes you or all of them do. More on that in why we recommend an agent over buying direct.
Every quote we bring back is a complete package, built to what the FMCSA requires and what your shippers and brokers actually demand.
The coverage that pays for the other guy when your truck is at fault. Federal law sets a $750,000 minimum for most for-hire carriers, but $1,000,000 is the market standard nearly every broker and shipper requires. The BMC-91 filing we make with the FMCSA is what activates your authority.
Required for authority
Protects the freight you haul, from general dry van goods to reefer breakdown. $100,000 is the standard limit brokers ask for before they will tender you a load, and some commodities call for more. We match the limit to what you actually pull.
Broker standard: $100k
Collision and comprehensive for your tractor and trailer, priced on the stated value you set. If the truck is financed, your lender will require it. Even if it is paid off, your truck is your income, and this is what puts it back on the road.
Tractor + trailer
Every carrier rates the same five things, but each one weighs them differently. That is why the same truck can price wildly differently from one truck insurance company to the next.
New DOT numbers pay the most. Every clean year in business unlocks carriers that would not touch you at year one.
CDL experience, age, and violation history on each driver's record move the rate more than most owners expect.
Local, regional, or long haul. Some carriers love a 300-mile radius; others price it out. Lanes matter too.
General freight, reefer, autos, aggregates. Each carrier has commodities it wants and commodities it surcharges.
Where the truck sleeps changes the rate. The same operation can price thousands apart across a state line.
Here is the number that matters: on the identical truck, driver, and lanes, the spread between the best and worst quote in the market is routinely thousands of dollars a year. That spread is the entire case for shopping it. You cannot see it from inside one company's quote. We see it every single day, and it is why our commercial trucking insurance quote process starts with the whole market instead of one corner of it.
Honest ranges from what we quote every week. Your operation will land somewhere in here based on the five factors above, and shopping the market is how you land at the low end of your range instead of the high end.
| Operation | Typical annual premium |
|---|---|
| New authority, single truckFirst year under your own DOT number, full coverage package | $12,000 – $20,000+ |
| Established owner-operator2+ years of authority with a clean loss history | $8,000 – $14,000 |
| Small fleet, per truck3–10 trucks; fleet credits usually beat single-truck rates | $7,000 – $12,000 |
| Physical damageRated on the stated value of your tractor and trailer | 3% – 6% of value |
Want the full breakdown of what drives these numbers up or down? Read our guides on how much commercial truck insurance costs and semi truck insurance requirements and cost.
If it hauls for hire, we have a market for it. From a first-year owner-operator to a ten-truck fleet, the shopping process is the same: one application, the whole market.
We are not a call center reading one carrier's screen. We are an independent Texas agency licensed in 46 states, and the difference shows in three specific ways.
A captive agent's job is to sell you their company. Our job is to make 30+ companies earn you. When a carrier's price stops being the best deal, we say so, because our loyalty is to the truck owner, not the logo.
We make the federal BMC-91 and state filings ourselves, so your authority activates when it is supposed to. New venture? Start with our DOT lookup tool to check your number's status before you apply.
Your rate should drop as your record earns it. Each renewal we take your updated loss history back to the market, because two clean years should not be priced like year one. Set-and-forget is how truckers overpay.
There is no single best commercial truck insurance company, and anyone who names one is selling you that one. The best carrier for a new-authority hotshot in Texas is a different carrier than the best one for a five-truck reefer fleet with eight clean years. Every company has an appetite: the operations it wants, prices aggressively, and services well.
The honest answer is that "best" is specific to your trucks, your drivers, your radius, and your record. The only way to find it is to put your operation in front of the whole market and compare, which is exactly what we do with one application across 30+ markets.
For a full coverage package in 2026: a new authority with a single truck typically runs $12,000 to $20,000+ per year, an established operation with two or more clean years runs roughly $8,000 to $14,000, and small fleets of 3 to 10 trucks often land between $7,000 and $12,000 per truck. Physical damage adds about 3 to 6 percent of your equipment's stated value.
The spread inside each range comes down to your drivers, radius, cargo, and state. Our guide on how much commercial truck insurance costs breaks down every factor.
For-hire interstate carriers are federally required to carry primary auto liability, at least $750,000 for most freight, though $1,000,000 is what nearly every broker and shipper demands in practice. The BMC-91 filing tied to that policy is what activates your operating authority.
Beyond the legal minimum, brokers will expect motor truck cargo (usually $100,000), your lender will require physical damage on financed equipment, and many contracts call for general liability. Trailer interchange and non-trucking liability round out the package depending on how you run. Full detail is in our semi truck insurance requirements guide.
Buying direct does not get you a discount. Carrier rates are filed with distribution costs built in, so you pay the same premium either way. The difference is what you get for it: direct, you get one company's one price. Through an independent agent, the same money buys you the entire market quoted against itself, plus someone whose job is to fight for you at claim time and re-shop you at renewal.
We wrote up the full comparison in why use an agent instead of buying direct.
We quote across 30+ A-rated carriers and MGA markets that write trucking, from the big national names to the specialty markets that only an independent agency can reach. You fill out one application, about five minutes, and we run it across every market with an appetite for your operation. You see the best options side by side and pick, with a real agent walking you through the differences.
Five minutes, one application, 30+ commercial truck insurance markets shopped. A licensed agent reviews every submission personally and calls you back with real numbers, not a robo-quote.
Get commercial truck insurance quotesOne application, about five minutes, shopped across 30+ markets. A licensed agent reviews it personally and calls you with real numbers.
