Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance covers vehicles owned or operated by your tree service business, including bucket trucks, chip trucks, flatbed trailers, pickup trucks, and crew transport vehicles. It provides liability coverage when your driver causes an accident injuring others or damaging property, as well as physical damage coverage (collision and comprehensive) for your own vehicles.

For tree service companies, commercial auto is critical because personal auto policies exclude vehicles used for business purposes. If your crew drives a company truck to a job site and causes an accident, your personal auto insurance won't pay the claim. Commercial auto also covers hired and non-owned vehicles — like a rental truck or an employee's personal vehicle used for work errands.

Tree service companies typically operate heavy specialized vehicles — bucket trucks, chippers, and flatbeds — that are expensive to repair or replace and capable of causing significant damage in an accident. A loaded chip truck weighing 30,000+ pounds can cause catastrophic injuries in a collision.

Additionally, your vehicles are your revenue generators. If a bucket truck is out of service for weeks after an accident, your crew can't work. Commercial auto with proper physical damage coverage gets you back on the road quickly.

Most states require minimum auto liability coverage, but tree service companies should carry limits well above state minimums given the size and weight of their vehicles.