Built by Contractors Choice Agency
Hot Shot Truckers Insurance is a specialty program from Contractors Choice Agency — an independent agency that insures working rigs and working trades across 48 states, not a lead-reselling quote mill.
Why a Hot Shot Program Exists
Contractors Choice Agency started where the name says — insuring contractors: roofers, excavators, crane operators, spray foam crews. The rigs those trades run led us straight into trucking, and hot shot kept showing up with the same story: an owner-operator with a $70,000 dually and a $20,000 gooseneck, paying Class 8 prices for a policy written like he drives a semi, with exclusions nobody flagged until the claim got denied.
So we built a program specifically for this class. One desk that knows what a 26,001-pound combined GVWR means for a non-CDL operator, why brokers bounce a COI that shows $750k instead of $1M, and why a new authority pays more for twelve months and how to get that surcharge off at renewal.
Everything on this site — the coverage pages, the cost guide, the FAQ — is written from those conversations, with the real numbers we see quoted every week.
How We Work a Quote
Five minutes of rig details — truck, trailer, radius, freight, CDL status, authority status. We shop it across A-rated carriers that actively want hot shot business, then walk you through the options: where a higher deductible earns its keep, where a stated-value number is set wrong, what the broker packet actually requires. You get a real number and a straight recommendation, not a pressure script.
Specialists, Not Generalists
Hot shot sits in a strange middle lane — heavier than a work truck, lighter than a Class 8 tractor, faster-moving than either. Generic commercial-auto desks either overprice that risk or write it wrong and leave you exposed at claim time. We work this class every day, so the policy fits the way you actually run: dually, gooseneck, expedited freight off the boards.
A-Rated Paper Only
A cheap policy from a carrier that fights every claim isn't insurance — it's a monthly donation. We place hot shot programs only with A-rated carriers that have real claims infrastructure for commercial trucking, so a cargo claim or a liability suit doesn't end your business.
Filings and Certificates Without Drama
BMC-91 federal filings, MCS-90 endorsements, additional-insured certificates for brokers — the paperwork side of hot shot is where authorities die and loads get lost. We handle filings same-day and turn COIs around while you're still on the phone with the broker.
A Human Picks Up
You call, a licensed agent answers — the same people who quoted you handle your renewals, your certificates, and your claims advocacy. No ticket queues, no offshore scripts, no starting over with a stranger every time.
Every Way Hot Shot Gets Run
New Authorities
First MC number, first truck, first broker packet. We build the startup stack — $1M liability with the BMC-91 filing, $100k cargo, physical damage on the financed rig — and coach you through the first-year pricing surcharge so it comes off at renewal instead of following you around.
Experienced Owner-Operators
Three years in with a clean loss run and you're probably overpaying. We re-shop veterans at renewal, tighten stated values that drifted from reality, and move the savings where they matter — higher cargo limits or a lower deductible.
Non-CDL Operators
Running under 26,001 pounds combined doesn't make you personal-lines business, and half the market still quotes you like it does. We place non-CDL hot shot with carriers that rate the class correctly instead of declining it or doubling it.
Leased-On Drivers
Your motor carrier's primary liability doesn't follow you home. We write the bobtail, non-trucking liability, and physical damage that protect your truck and your wallet when you're off dispatch — typically $3,000–$5,000 a year, not a full-authority premium.
What We Look for in a Carrier
Any agency can find you a cheap first-year number. The carriers we work with earn their place on our sheet by clearing four bars: an A- or better AM Best rating, a real commercial-trucking claims department with adjusters who know what a gooseneck is, same-day filing capability with the FMCSA, and renewal behavior we can defend — no teaser-rate years followed by 40% jumps on a clean loss run.
We also pay attention to how a carrier treats the gray areas hot shot lives in: personal use of the truck on weekends, power-only loads on someone else's trailer, a detention-delayed delivery that pushes past a policy's radius assumption. The time to find out how a carrier reads those situations is before you bind, not after a denial letter.
Insurance Is a Cost Center — Treat It Like One
Your premium is one of the three biggest line items in a hot shot operation, next to fuel and the truck note. We treat it with the same discipline you treat rate-per-mile: know the number, know what drives it, and re-negotiate when the leverage shifts. That means an annual re-shop at renewal, a deductible review when your cash position changes, and stated-value updates when the used-truck market moves.
It also means telling you when not to buy something. If you never touch other people's trailers, you don't need trailer interchange. If your state and your contracts don't require workers comp for a solo owner-operator, occupational accident usually does the job at a fraction of the cost. The cheapest coverage is the coverage you legitimately don't need.
Talk to the People Who Wrote This Site
844-967-5247 rings a licensed specialist, not a call center. Or start online and we'll call you back in about 15 minutes during business hours.
See Exactly What We Cover
Eight coverages, every one explained in plain English with real cost ranges — no login, no email gate.