A Crash Course on Snow Plow Insurance
Here's the dangerous thing about snow plowing: By nature of your job, you're on a slippery, frozen road that you can't even see. So it's hardly a stretch to say that, as important as auto insurance is in general, snow plowing liability is doubly important. If you run a team of drivers, then it's only a matter of time before someone chips some private or public property or does some damage to the plow. Here's what you need to consider when considering your snow plow insurance:
The Scale Of Your Company
When insuring your vehicles and drivers, you need to consider to what extent you can afford to pay for damages out of pocket. For some companies, it's not a big deal to manage their own repairs for all but the worst accidents. Others need a more comprehensive plan. Obviously you're not going to be driving without any coverage at all, but how much do you need based on what you can afford to cover yourself?
Not Every Accident Is A Collision
A lot can go wrong when your job involves dealing with harsh weather. A driver is as liable to suffer an injury while strapping the chains onto the tires as they are to slide into another truck while driving. The risks that you and your drivers take are not isolated exclusively to collisions, and your policy needs to reflect that.
Training
Training for a snow plow driver is a little more intensive than training for a pizza delivery guy. You're looking for safe drivers with clean records (this is very important when getting them covered under your commercial auto policy) who are fast learners, because, after all, Winter doesn't last forever. In most states, you don't need a special license to operate a snow plow, but you will need a permit in order to operate a commercial snow plow business. Luckily that's something that you can take care of on your end, you won't need your drivers to worry about it. You have to expect at least a minor accident now and then with such a tough job, but good, safe drivers can mean the difference between a minor accident and a major one, and they can help keep your insurance rates nice and low.