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Thetrucker.com BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER 2023 • 17
Does your ‘full coverage’
insurance have you fully covered?
INSURANCE
INSIGHTS
DEBORAH GRAVES
OOIDA TRUCK INSURANCE
DEPARTMENT
FACTORING cont. from Page 15
OOIDA truck insurance agents get calls
every day from drivers who are asking for
full coverage. Once the agent asks a few
questions, it turns out these callers just want
what is legally and contractually required.
For many, “full coverage” includes
Physical Damage coverage. However, most
folks don’t realize that a variety of optional
coverages are available, and a combination
may be needed to ensure a driver is fully
covered.
For example, if your truck develops a
mechanical problem and you end up stranded
on the side of the road, there’s a coverage
for that. It’s called Roadside Breakdown
coverage. You could be reimbursed for the
tow to the nearest qualified repair facility
and/or for the labor costs of roadside
assistance, up to the policy limit (parts not
included).
If you find you can’t operate your vehicle
because of a covered loss under your Physical
Damage policy, Rental Reimbursement
coverage will provide reimbursement for a
rental vehicle. Check with an agent about
maximum coverage limits.
If you haul for a shipper or motor carrier
that requires you to be responsible for
damage to their trailer while you are pulling
it, you can add Trailer Interchange coverage.
If you have an accident that results in
a total loss and you find yourself upsidedown
on a vehicle loan, you can put your
mind at ease by opting for Gap Insurance.
This coverage provides protection for the
difference between a loan payoff and the
market value in the event of a total loss by
collision, and it’s available for both tractors
and trailers.
If you have a brand-new tractor and are
the first owner, you might want to consider
Limited Depreciation. During your first
few years of ownership, your truck’s value
will depreciate considerably. Limited
depreciation will virtually eliminate the
depreciation in the event of a covered loss.
If you want your personal items protected,
you should ask your agent about Personal
Property coverage.
You already know that being down
because of an accident can cause you some
financial hardship. Optional Downtime
coverage provides additional protection for
those times when your truck is down for
repairs following a covered physical damage
claim.
Supplemental Towing & Clean-up
coverage can help with the cost of removal of
debris and cleanup of the immediate vicinity
of an accident following a covered loss as
well as providing coverage to tow away your
truck and/or trailer.
Be sure to reach out to your agent to
discuss your options.
You can reach an OOIDA truck insurance
agent Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. CST, at 800-715- 9369.
Do you have an insurance topic you would
like to know more about? If so, email us at
insuranceinsights@ooida.com. We will be
covering a new topic each month and will do
our best to address everyone’s questions. 8
to receive payment quickly instead of waiting
30 to 40 days.”
Smartphone technology has helped
factoring grow in popularity.
“Drivers find it easier to use their phones
to access their information instead of going
through longer processes like submitting an
invoice … during a truck stop,” Hamade said,
adding that more drivers are using factoring
companies to manage their accounting
functions, from invoicing to collections.
“Thanks to factoring, truckers have more
time and ease to focus their attention on
other areas of the business,” Hamade said.
“At RoadEx, our ‘for truckers by truckers’
mantra guides how we support our customers
and we’re always looking for ways to scale our
services to further meet the needs of drivers,
Hamade said. “As our industry navigates
through a challenging trucking recession,
rates are lower than ever and payments are
higher, which makes it hard for drivers to
have positive cash flow. RoadEx RapidPay will
directly address this pain point for owneroperators
who need to pay their drivers or
pay for emergency repairs.”
He describes RoadEx RapidPay as a “onestop
shop” for owner operators.
“Factoring funds can go toward a client’s
insurance, or fuel without dealing with
multiple vendors. Trust and transparency are
key components to a great owner-operator
and factoring partner relationship,” Hamade
said. “At RoadEx, we have dedicated and
knowledgeable account representatives, who
work to help truckers get reasonable rates
and top-notch customer service.”
When looking for a factoring company,
owner-operators should do their research
and be familiar with the services provided, as
well as the company’s reputation.
“Whether it’s hidden fees or the amount of
time it takes to receive funds, it’s important
for owner-operators to do their research on
a factoring company by checking reviews
and making calls,” Hamade said. “Doing the
research prior to a contract commitment
will help trucking companies find the right
factoring partner to support their business.”
8
FLEETWORTHY CLOSE-UP
Human interaction is key for successful use of ELDs
An electronic logging device (ELD) is the
best tool available to capture HOS data
and measure against the HOS minimums
set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA). These devices are
relied on heavily in our industry to act as
the de facto HOS clock, referred to in audits,
roadside inspections and litigation.
HOS rules are specific, and are expected
to be followed. Because of this, ELD manufacturers
design their devices so that the
required information can easily be accessed
by fleet operators as well as law
enforcement.
FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY?
But what if that ELD is not painting an
accurate picture of compliance or risk and
instead is providing a false sense of security
for your fleet? Are you depending on
your ELD to manage your HOS, or are you
an active participant in the process? There
is no doubt ELDs make it easier to track
HOS data — however, that data still needs
to be analyzed and managed by a safety
professional.
According to the CSA enforcement program,
HOS violations in 2022 accounted
for three of the Top 10 violations resulting
in out-of-service (OOS) orders, including
No Logs When Required (No. 2) and
False Logs (No. 3). The top HOS violations
include exceeding the 11- or 14-hour limits,
not taking 10 hours off and false logs.
These statistics reveal that management
is relying too heavily on ELDs and should
start manually reviewing logs daily and
hold their drivers accountable for following
HOS rules.
HAVE ELDS IMPROVED SAFETY?
This is a hard question to answer because
of factors such as the COVID-19
pandemic, which resulted in several HOS
exceptions, as well as the HOS changes
made in 2020. However, if you look at the
most recent data (October 2022) published
by the FMCSA regarding crashes
involving fatality or injury, it shows ELDs
are not effective as “safety devices” on
their own. In fact, rates for “accidents by
100 million miles” have actually increased
since the ELD mandate went into effect in
2017. In 2019, this figure actually increased
10% from 2016 — the year before the ELD
mandate was enforced.
This proves that relying strictly on ELD
data is not an effective HOS management
tool for your company or the public safety.
Considering the cost of implementing
these devices, one would expect to have
an ROI that can be pointed to, specific to
reduction in accidents/injuries/fatalities.
Instead, an increase in accidents, risk
and significant lawsuits have proliferated
SPONSORED CONTENT
as indicated in the average size of verdicts
since the ELD mandate went into effect.
According to a study by the American
Transportation Research Institute (ATRI),
HOS was a significant factor in 95% of “nuclear”
verdict cases. In many of these cases,
the driver’s HOS were clearly in violation,
and the motor carrier was found to be responsible
and/or negligent.
MANAGE THE DATA
How a motor carrier manages their drivers’
ELD compliance — including reports,
trends and data output — is critical to going
beyond the minimum requirements
while not falling victim to complacent
compliance. Are you equipped to manage
all elements of the FMCSA’s HOS compliance
regulations without assistance? If an
audit is called tomorrow, how confident
are you that you’d receive a satisfactory
rating? Would your feeling of confidence
increase knowing you had a partner in
compliance that has the experience and
tools needed to provide support?
Fleetworthy Solution’s team of subject
matter experts and their intelligent compliance
platform, CPSuite, can decipher all
the information coming from your ELDs,
identify trends and actionable data, and
provide recommendations to improve
your safety department and your overall
standing within the HOS Basic.. Each
driver’s HOS records are at your fingertips,
along with the ability to manage other
safety-regulated and risk-minimizing requirements
such as DVIR/EVIR, maintenance
records and driver qualification
records.
Having these resources at your disposal
allows you to focus on the right areas and
free up time to maintain the personal interaction
needed with one of your most
valuable resources — your drivers. With
Fleetworthy Solutions, you’ll go beyond
the minimum standards of compliance.
Reach out for a demo of our industry
leading products and services and see for
yourself what going “Beyond Compliant”
can do for your organization. Together, we
can help minimize the number of daily accidents
one driver at a time!
For information, visit fleetworthy.com
or email marketing@fleetworthy.com.