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Owner operators · Small fleets · CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, GEORGIA, TEXAS, FLORIDA & PENNSYLVANIA

Truck insurance for owner operators and small fleets

You’re not buying a policy. You’re buying the ability to keep running after a bad day. We’re independent — we shop your operation across 20+ carriers and come back with the options that fit your lanes, your equipment and your budget.

Coverages

The coverages that actually apply to a truck

Commercial insurance is a broad category. Trucking has its own rules, its own filings, and its own ways to leave you exposed. Here’s what we place, and what each one is really for.

Federally required

Primary liability

Pays for injury or property damage you cause to someone else. Most for-hire carriers are filed at $750,000 minimum — but $1,000,000 is what shippers and brokers will actually ask you to show.

Core

Motor truck cargo

Covers the freight on your trailer. Read the exclusions before you sign: many policies quietly exclude electronics, alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals or reefer breakdown. If you haul it, we get it endorsed in.

Core

Physical damage

Your tractor and trailer — collision, fire, theft, vandalism. If you have a lienholder they’ll require it. The number that matters is the stated value: if it’s below what a replacement costs today, you’re underinsured.

Leased-on drivers

Contigent Cargo/Bond, Excess GL

Your motor carrier’s policy covers you under dispatch. NTL covers you when you’re not — driving home, running an errand, moving the truck on your own time. Inexpensive, and the gap most drivers find out about during a claim.

If you interchange

Trailer interchange

Provides coverage for damage to non-owned trailers being used under a trailer interchange agreement during the time they are in your possession.

Contract-driven

General liability

Covers you off the truck: at the dock, on a customer’s property, in your yard. Often required by contract before a shipper will let you load.

Workers’ comp or occ/acc? If you have employees, workers’ compensation is a legal requirement in California. If you’re an independent contractor leased to a motor carrier, occupational accident is usually the right fit instead. They cover different things and one does not substitute for the other — we’ll tell you which one your situation actually calls for.

Compliance

Filings, endorsements, and the paperwork that holds up your authority

Insurance in trucking isn’t just a policy. It’s a set of documents that have to be on file, in the right place, on time.

MCS-90

The federal endorsement guaranteeing public liability payment regardless of policy disputes. Required for interstate for-hire operations.

BMC-91X

The proof of financial responsibility your insurer files with the FMCSA. If it lapses, your authority goes inactive — and you find out when a load falls through.

COI

The certificate a broker or shipper asks for before releasing a load. Send us the request by Email and we turn it around the same business day.

CA DMV / CHP

Intrastate operations have their own thresholds and inspection requirements. We handle both interstate and California-only authority.

Eligibility

Who we write

Owner operatorsUnder your own authority, or leased on to a motor carrier
Small fleets1 to 20 power units
New authorityUnder 12 months — we know which carriers still quote you
Operating radiusLocal, regional, and 48-state
EquipmentDry van · Reefer · Flatbed · Box truck · Hotshot · Car hauler · Dump
TerritoryCALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, GEORGIA, TEXAS, FLORIDA & PENNSYLVANIA

Not every carrier writes every operation. If we can’t place you competitively, we’ll tell you on the first call instead of stringing you along for a week.

Already insured?

Send us your current declarations page. We’ll review it free and mark up what’s missing, what’s overpriced, and what won’t pay out the way you think it will.

Office

(323) 238-5040

WhatsApp

(562) 318-7946

Email

quotes@royalshieldinsurance.com

Pre-trip inspection

Six things worth checking on the policy you have right now

Most drivers we talk to are either paying for coverage they can’t use, or missing coverage they’d need on a bad day. Run this list before your next renewal.

01

Is your cargo limit at least $100,000 and does it exclude anything you regularly haul?

02

Is your cargo limit at least $100,000 — and does it exclude anything you regularly haul?

03

Do you carry non-trucking liability for when you're bobtailing off dispatch?

04

Is your radius of operation still accurate, or did your lanes change since you bought it?

05

Can you get a certificate of insurance the same day a broker asks for one?

06

Can you get a certificate of insurance the same day a broker asks for one?

Process

How it works

01

You tell us about your operation

Authority, equipment, radius, what you haul, loss history. Five minutes on the phone or WhatsApp.

02

We shop the market

We take your file to 20+ carriers instead of you calling them one at a time.

03

We call you back with options

Side by side, with the differences explained in plain English not just the premium.

04

You stay covered

Renewals, COIs, endorsements, claims. Same broker, same number, every time.

Common questions

What drivers ask us first

How much does truck insurance cost for an owner operator in California?

It depends on your authority age, driving record, radius, cargo type and equipment value. A new-authority owner operator running 48 states will pay meaningfully more than a five-year-old authority running local. Rather than quote you a range that won’t apply to you, we shop your specific file and come back with real numbers.

Yes. New authorities have fewer carrier options  not zero. We know which markets still write them and what underwriting looks for, which usually comes down to your MVR and your prior experience driving for someone else.

Same business day in most cases. Send us the broker’s request by Email and we’ll turn it around.

Almost always yes. Your carrier’s policy covers you under dispatch only. The moment you’re off dispatch  driving home, running an errand  you’re on your own unless you carry NTL.

Workers’ comp is a legal requirement in California if you have employees, and it’s regulated by the state. Occ/acc is a private benefits policy typically used by independent contractors leased to a motor carrier. They cover different things, and one does not substitute for the other.

Sí. Todo el proceso cotización, pólizas, certificados y reclamos  lo manejamos en español o en inglés, como usted prefiera.

Start here

Get real numbers, not a phone full of missed calls.

Tell us about your operation once. We’ll do the shopping and call you back  usually the same business day.

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