Your insurance CAB report that underwriters use include tons of available date online that is compiled together and a score is created based on how many red flags your information has.
Then your score is compared with other carriers so they can decide what to charge or whether to insure you at all.
To help you receive the best insurance quote as possible, you need to make sure the data is accurate and tells a good story of your fleet’s safety history.
Do you know what story the information on your business is telling? Wish it could be told better? Let CNS Insurance and our DOT safety and compliance team help you review your data.
We can help:
- Correct wrong violation information with the DataQ process
- Perform a mock DOT audit to find issues before the government does, and
- Upgrade conditional safety ratings after a bad audit
Here are 4 ways you can fix your CAB score now.
First, tell the truth.
CAB reports look at:
- Basic FMCSA info
- Carrier operation and classification
- Past insurance carriers, coverage and cancelations
- Power units and miles driven
- Cargo carried
- ISS Safety Score
- Any Out-of-service violations
- Driver, vehicle or hazmat inspections
- Violations from the inspections
- Accident history and injury reports
- Radius of operation and state’s traveled
- Minor or severe violations
- Other DOT Numbers
- Other vehicle histories
All this information if available to underwriters. If the information they find in the CAB report does not line up with the information you are telling them, you can expect a handful of questions that need to be answered before they offer a quote.
For example, the total power units you have is very important, because you may want a quote for one truck, but underwriters see you have 5 unique VINs.
They will ask questions about the other 4 vehicles, such as: Were the other vehicle leases terminated? Were the vehicles sold?
For a “new carrier”, you may have closed a previous company because it was not managed well. Then you started a new venture in hopes to start from a “clean slate”.
When an underwriter pulls the CAB report, they will see that you had a prior LLC, see who the owners were, and see that you are a chameleon carrier.
An underwriter will immediately say, “Hey, you are associated with this other trucking company, what’s up?”
Just like with a dating profile, telling the truth matters. Underwriters will stop quotes or not even start a quote if they see questionable history.
Second, document everything.
If the CAB report finds a past trend of driver violations or maintenance issues, having data to prove you are aware of these issues and taking care of it is critical.
But you must provide DOCUMENTED proof that these things are being taken care of to appease underwriters.
For example, underwriters know that the first 90-120 days is critical to new-hire driver safety no matter how experienced the driver.
As a carrier, you must document why you are hiring certain drivers, driver orientation information, your driver retention strategy, and what type of driver training is being implemented.
If a driver is having certain violations, then proactive driver training is paramount. You must document that you are aware of the trend, what you are going to do to fix it, who is taking care of it, and any proactive driver training certificates that can prove progress on this issue.
Similarly, if there are frequent light or brake violations, document what the maintenance program is doing to fix these issues and document pre-inspection reports or offer proactive driver training on how to have a thorough pre- and post-trip inspection.
Third, update your carrier information BEFORE your insurance renewal.
Carriers should be preparing for renewals 3-4 months out, especially if you are going to change your operation. If you are making changes, be sure to call the FMCSA and update that information on their website before you call for an insurance quote.
This process is simple.
- Know what information is on your FMCSA account with SAFER, MVRs, PSP reports, and more
- Update the vehicle, location, cargo type, and other information when changes happen with the MCS-150
- Correct the wrong FMCSA data or violation history through the Data Q process
- Next, prepare for what insurance options you want, such as deductibles, captives, coverage, etc
- Then, now fully prepared, ask for an insurance quote at least 3 months out
Fourth, establish a culture of safety in your business
Sound simple? Well, it isn’t.
How well you perform during a roadside or other DOT inspection is critical. Underwriters dig deep into inspection data so they can gauge how well your operation is running. While documenting everything is extremely important, so is “operational” safety.
This means having the right safety policies and procedures in place across the entire company that establishes your safety culture.
Don’t know where to begin?
Have a third party come in to run a mock DOT inspection. These experts can find potential violations, offer suggestions on how to improve, and help you prevent future violations or accidents before they happen.
Then take it a step further by implementing smart safety technology.
Fleet monitoring has contributed enormously to lower CAB scores, but it will take time because adding technology alone does not do anything.
Companies are not seeing benefits quickly because insurance looks backwards at safety data. It will be year two before you see benefits of implementing safety tech.
However, you could see benefits in the first year if you proactively manage the safety data and none of this data talks to each other, so how you use and document it is very important.
Some of this data includes: Camera data, ELD telematic data, Learning management systems, and more.
How can you find the best commercial truck insurance rates?
Allow a CNS Insurance Commercial Trucking Insurance Specialist pull multiple insurance quotes for you to find the best rates.
It never hurts to get a quote and try saving money on your insurance premiums.
Give us a call anytime and we can discuss lowering your premiums or getting a quote to see where you stand.
Before we can get you an estimate, we are going to need some information.
Fill out a complete quote or quick quote to get started.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 800.724.5523 or email info@cnsinsures.com.
