Getting Started In Trucking With Felonies

As for the Prime premium, we always try to find who is paying what and who is insuring who in our field. As for Western Express their insurance company is FREEDOM SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY which is a special program created by Nationwide Insurance company to administer the Western Express insurance program. You have 3 different types of self insurance programs: The Captive program: it can be a group captive where a group of companies (minimum 50 trucks and up) get together and put their premium monies in one bucket and the money gets invested in an off shore account IE Cayman island but is administered by a US based insurance company such as Freedom Specialty for a fee and at the end of the policy period, what ever funds that were unused for claims get redistributed to the participants with a divident pay out and it is tax free.. The group captive is very regulated for they try to keep out companies that have risky behaviors as they are trying to maximize their return. There are single parent captive programs where one company puts in a certain amount in their captive program with that amo0unt still being invested in an offshore account tax free and what ever unused portion gets paid baack with divident to the company. Prime has such a program administered by Ace Insurance which is also Chubb Insurance and managed by the Cottingham & Butler agency

You have the high deductible program meaning the company takes a $1 million dollars deductible meaning they pay the first million for any claim which 99% of the time translate into the insurance company not paying a penny in claims during the Policy period with all the responsability falling back on the carrier

And finally some carriers just create their own insurance companies known as RRGs (Risk Retention Groups) which are not state accredited but can function as an insurance company and some of them even go on to sell insurance to other carriers such as Compass Insurance RRG of Compass Truck sales and lease or just use it to insure their own truck such as Quality carriers that has BAY INSURANCE RISK RETENTION GROUP which is managed by AON insurance agency

So this gives the carriers to hire who they want and how they want it which is what allows them to hire people with 0 years of experience without the insurance company having a say. The only program that has some restrictions is the group captive program since their members want to make some money

I am an insurance agent that specializes mainly in trucking insurance. Used to be in the forum but my login expired

I thought so. I thought I recognized your name. Your login still works. You might've forgotten your password or changed your email address, but it's still active.

Cornelius... I know you mean well, but all things considered, how does this help the OP?

That was in reaction from this concern from Wilde and it is a concermn i have seen expressed on here quite a bit:

I know I have to take whatever chance I'm given at this point but is there any way to make sure I'm approved for a company's insurance before actually going to orientation? I realize nothing is for sure in this world but I would greatly appreciate any advice on the best way to minimize driving all the way to orientation and being turned down.

Thanks in advance as I would appreciate anyone's opinion on my situatio

Cornelius... I know you mean well, but all things considered, how does this help the OP?

Okay Cornelius. So...if I use this analogy;

Cornelius; what time is it?

And you answer me describing all the complexities and details of “how-to build a watch”, I still do not know what time it is.

You didn’t really answer his question though. You obviously know your stuff, but try to keep it simple.

Cornelius I did not approve your reply. I am not going to argue with you or debate you.

Suffice it to say, and to reiterate my initial suggestion, although your knowledge is extensive and at times valuable to the discussion, please try to provide simpler answers without all of the extraneous details. We are not insurance experts and frankly do not need to be.

I hope you understand.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

first, old school, Yeah i know my options are very limited but since i will be sticking it out for a year at least, i wanna feel like i made the best decision i could. if i end up at WE's orientation i'll heed your words and be on my best behavior, you can believe that. I figured you'd be hesitant to answer that question about pay but you gave me your honest opinion and thats exactly what i was looking for.

cornelius, you sound like you really know what your talking about. as g-town stated later on, thats a lot of detail to take in but i think i follow most of it and since im a technical kind of guy i must say thank you for sharing it. if im understanding you correctly, and what your saying is true, it sounds like getting me on their insurance wont be the problem, if i have one. so that reinforces what OS said about me presenting myself as professionally as possible the whole time im in orientation and training especially. btw, not sure what happened between you and the moderator but i hope you will stick around. if the things you said are factual then i believe they are ultimately very welcome here.

b dawg, i will look into roadtex. im looking for solo not team but ill check them out and share what they have to say in my next post. thanks

some things to update everyone on, i mentioned in an earlier post about an offer to haul frac sand in new mexico for an owner operator on a cash basis. i talked to him yesterday and he said his company did not want to risk me having issues with not getting back in time for parole. it was supposed to be 3 weeks out and off for 1 week, very ideal i would think for getting my travel permits for parole as they are good for 30 days but could be renewed a little earlier. but i certainly understand their concern and decision for not wanting the risk. (i think its worth noting he said nothing about a problem with insurance)

i also had another call in response to my ad on craigslist. the owner of a two truck company in oklahoma said he is looking for a driver to take over driving his truck. he was injured pretty bad a month ago when another truck hit the back of his trailer and is unable to drive it himself now. he is very understanding of my history, lack of experience and is willing to ride with me and train me for a few months until hes comfortable i can handle it on my own. he is offering $800 a week salary and says he will guarantee that even if the truck is down for repairs. the more i think about it, that steady $800 is not a bad deal at all for someone in my situation. most importantly i would be getting otr flatbed experience. he took my info and a recent mvr i have and is supposed to get back to me in a few days. now as for insurance, this guy said he didnt see that as a problem.

i hope im not boring you guys with too many details but i want to give everyone the whole story. I will post again soon. thanks to everyone for the replies and opinions, they are greatly appreciated!

stay safe, m. wilde

Quick update.

the offer to drive for $800 a week salary fell through. he said my history was fine, no problems and he would have loved to hire me. however the insurance company decided to total the truck because the frame was bent and hes going to wait until after recovery from surgery (12-14 mo.) before buying a new one.

the guy wanting me to drive as 1099 but who's company then turned me down texted me again yesterday. now he says he has a new flatbed account hauling construction equiptment. same pay, same terms. i had to ask if this would not be through the same company that turned me down. he said no. ...seriously? i had a bad feeling before, now there's no way i'll touch that!

still plenty of options left and probably going to accept invite to western express. the recruiter i talked to 3 weeks ago left me a voice mail the other day asking if im still interested. im waiting to see what happens with some other possibilities but if the invite is still open when i call WE back then i will accept.

not sure if anyone is following this, but i do plan on posting more as it plays out.

wilde

Honestly Wilde, you are going to have your best chance at getting your foot in the door by going with Western Express. You get in there and prove you're not what your record says and you will open up all kinds of doors of opportunity in this business.

Be careful who you listen to. Truckers are full of bad advice. Hang tough over at Western for two years being productive and safe, and I think just about anybody would hire you at that point. Of course, you may be so happy you don't want to move anywhere else.

I never ran dry-van at Western, so I'm not really knowledgeable concerning it. I do know that they handled a lot of good flatbed freight. I was always turning those wheels. I traversed the country many times running those flatbed loads for them.

I agree that Western Express is your best opportunity.

Keep in mind, though, that Western Express is one of the rare companies that give a lot of people opportunities that other companies won't. You're going to run into a bunch of recruits that have absolutely zero chance at being successful in trucking. They have terrible attitudes, lousy work ethics, and will complain, blame, and criticize incessantly.

You're going to hear a million scary stories from people about the company, some of which will come from their existing drivers. We call these people "terminal rats" because they'll gather in groups in the shadowy areas of the terminals or truck stops and feed off of each other's paranoia and sour attitudes.

You have to keep your head down, focus on yourself, and prove to Western Express that you're committed to becoming the best driver you can possibly be. Work hard, get along with people, do as they ask, and keep getting better. Things will work out great if you'll do that.

Ignore the terminal rats.......and there will be a lot of them. That's what you get when you give certain types an opportunity they really don't deserve. Prove to them you're going to do whatever it takes to be one of the best and make the most of this opportunity.

Listen to a couple of podcasts of mine that will help you get in the right mindset for the challenges ahead:

Episode 10: Terminal Rats Are Derailing Trucking Careers

Episode 18: Stop The Fear And Doubt, Focus On Your Own Success

Episode 1: The Bootcamp Approach To Trucking

Your success or failure is in your own hands. Don't blow this opportunity. Do whatever you have to do to succeed and don't get in with the wrong people. Don't let them drag you down. Rise above.

Your success or failure is in your own hands. Don't blow this opportunity. Do whatever you have to do to succeed and don't get in with the wrong people. Don't let them drag you down. Rise above.

Wilde, Brett is spot on. You are going to hear all kinds of stories and rumors. Don't believe a word of it. I thought I had signed a contract with the devil after just two days of listening to total garbage from the 80% of recruits that didn't even last one week! It can be demoralizing.

Just remember what you're there for. Somebody was good enough to give you a shot. Take it and make something good happen.