Want to avoid severe penalties by the State of Texas…..Get insured your truck today!
As you know, a collision that occurs with the trucks will cause severe damage whether it damages vehicles or any physical injury. To save and protect the truck driver or owner or the third party, it is required to have commercial truck insurance as trucks are more prone to accidents.
Most of the fatal accidents are because of commercial trucks, especially large ones. But, the good point here is, that the trucking companies are required to have commercial truck insurance in the State of Texas to cover the cost of damages caused to your truck or the opposite vehicle. These coverages cover a lot of things like medical costs, repair, and maintenance, wages, etc. The type of commercial truck and the goods being transported in them are responsible for the federal and state requirements for truck drivers and the companies in Texas. Let’s dig into know the requirement to have commercial truck insurance in the State of Texas!
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Why is it Required to Have Commercial Truck Insurance in the State of Texas?
Texas has a number of rules for the industry of transportation. The commercial vehicle operating in Texas whether by the person itself or for the company, must have the required insurance policy. There is a different sort of insurance policies for different kinds of trucks that helps to secure your commercial vehicle for any unforeseen accident or damage. This is a very necessary step to save the pocket in long term. There are so many more reasons to have truck insurance in the State of Texas. Let’s read some of them ahead!
To Cover Fatalities of Trucking Accidents
The state has a very serious problem of truck collisions and accidents. In the previous year, the State has come across near to 20K accidents. More than 1700 fatalities and over 17,000 injuries were the results of the past year’s accidents. These tragics were so bad that they damaged property worth over $1 Billion. The damage caused to the property was also a huge number.
These accidents have a major impact because of the long transportation journeys which result in driver fatigue and restlessness. That’s what truck collision occurs in most cases. So, to protect the trucking industry and the driver’s behind it, One must have commercial insurance policies to cover the damages caused by trucking accidents. So, that your commercial business run in the long race without burdening itself to bear the damage costs.
To Protect Trucks Against Liability Coverages
The insurance needs of the State of Texas are simple. According to them, all trucks operating on state roads must have liability coverage. This all is required by the Law of Texas also. After having an insurance plan, you can protect your truck against so many coverages along with liability coverage. Some of them are:
- Collision damage coverage that occurs in an accident.
- Coverage against theft or any vandalism activity.
- To cover the medical expenses of all the persons in the vehicle.
- Any sort of property damage caused due to a truck accident.
If your truck doesn’t have insurance protection, then you may be personally responsible for all the damages caused by the vehicle. This may burn your pocket and affect your business financially.
To Avoid Fine and Penalties
The State of Texas has made it mandatory to get insured on your commercial vehicle, or else you will face harsh fines or penalties. If you don’t have a suitable insurance cover for your vehicle, then you may get a fine of approx $5000. The amount of fine can differ as per violations done by the truck or its driver. The more serious violations occur in heavy amounts to pay as a fine.
Suppose you are driving a truck without insurance or an expired insurance policy and any accident occurs during that stage. Then charge against you can be a class B misdemeanor.
The more damaging thing is that you can be jailed for 180 days or around $2000 as a fine.
If the State traffic police catch you while driving a truck without having the required insurance policy, then you may face up to two years of jail and a fine of $10,000.
One more penalty you can face is, to give $250 per day continuously for not having proper coverage. And if this condition continues after 30 days, then an extra penalty can be added to this. So, be careful to choose the required insurance for the commercial vehicles to avoid any penalty.
To Operate Interstate or Intrastate
The State’s Federal Law has a basic requirement of insurance policies for commercial trucks operating interstate means across state lines or intrastate means within texas borders. In such cases, the driver must have required insurance documents with proper guidelines as per requirements for a suitable policy. These guidelines have been set by the State as per the type of vehicle or the type of goods being transported.
These coverages have different limit amounts like the commercial vehicles that have a weight of over 26,000 pounds with household goods to be transported, must have at least $500,000 of liability insurance. If the vehicle has a weight of below 26,000 pounds, the minimum liability insurance is $300,000. This condition is mandatory to consider for buying good commercial truck insurance to operate and transport freely.
Bottom Line
We have concluded a number of reasons here to get the requirements of having commercial truck insurance in the State of Texas. To avoid burning your pocket just to protect trucks against damages or collisions or penalties, make sure you have truck insurance before working with it in the State of Texas.
If you face any fine or penalty, then this may also be a hindrance to your business way. As you know, getting truck insurance can be expensive, So we advise you to consult various insurance providers before coming to a final decision.
We hope to cover your back in this blog, If you still have any queries, then feel free to contact us…We will be happy to serve you!
Happy Reading!
