Daily delivery routes and customers' cargo: insuring a distributor's runs
A distributor's route sheet can answer most underwriting questions. Here's how to insure the delivery trucks, the route and the customers' cargo on board.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Blog category
Trade playbooks
Each playbook takes one trade and one question its fleet owners ask that a general page can't answer well: what the chemicals on a pool truck change, how a chip truck and chipper are written, what a brewery's keg runs look like to an underwriter. They're written for owners and office managers who already know their trucks and want to know how insurance sees them.
Every playbook links back to its trade's main page, where the full picture of vehicles, coverage and limits lives, and forward to a quote preset to that trade.
Tree services adding a chipper or a second chip truck should read our chip truck and chipper playbook. Breweries that self-distribute should read our playbook on keg delivery runs before adding a second route. Roofers who haul their own tile and tear-off should read our roofing hauling playbook before adding another trailer.
All postsTrade playbooks (12)California rules & filings (5)Fleet cost & safety (9)Fleet risk by region (7)
Chip trucks and chippers: how a tree crew's main rig is insured
A chip truck and its tow-behind chipper are usually insured differently on the road and at the curb. Here's how tree services schedule both and close the gaps.
Reviewed 2026-10-13What chlorine and acid on a pool service truck mean for insurance
Chlorine, acid and tablets ride on most pool route trucks. Here's what that means for auto coverage, spill cleanup and truck fires, with a storage checklist.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Product on board: what pesticide in the truck means for your auto policy
Pesticide and product on a pest control truck shape what underwriters ask and which losses auto insurance is likely to pay. Here's how to answer, with a checklist.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Landscaping trailers and what's on them: who covers what
Landscaping trailers and the equipment on them are usually insured on different policies. Here's how to schedule both and what to do before a trailer gets stolen.
Reviewed 2026-10-13How to write a take-home van policy your HVAC techs will follow
A written take-home van policy is often one of the first things an HVAC underwriter asks about. Here's what it should settle, with a sample outline.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Keg delivery runs: what a brewery's auto policy should cover
A brewery delivering its own kegs to bars, restaurants and distributors runs a small delivery fleet. Here's how to insure the route, the drivers and the load.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Setting up auto coverage when crews, subs and rentals share a job
How a general contractor sorts auto coverage when company trucks, subcontractors' vehicles, rentals and employees' own cars all share one job site.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Material runs, tear-off and dump trailers: insuring a roofer's hauling
Material runs and tear-off hauling are part of almost every reroof. Here's how roofers schedule trucks and dump trailers, manage loads and present the hauling to underwriters.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Bucket trucks and vans in one electrical fleet: where auto coverage stops
Bucket trucks and vans share an electrical contractor's auto policy, but the aerial device can change where coverage stops. Here's how to schedule and present both.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Jetter trucks and take-home vans: what they change on a plumbing policy
A jetter rig and a fleet of take-home vans can change a plumbing shop's auto policy in specific ways. Here's how to schedule both and what to tell the underwriter.
Reviewed 2026-10-13Single-axle dumps and the 45,000-lb line for grading contractors
Gross vehicle weight rating often decides which carriers compete for a grading contractor's dump trucks. Here's how single-axles, tandems and the 45,000-lb line fit together.
Reviewed 2026-10-1301Each playbook, its trade and the question it takes on
Find your trade below. Each playbook starts from the trucks that trade really runs and works through one coverage question specific to it, usually with a worked example. The trade's own page carries the full picture of vehicles, limits and filings.
| Playbook | Trade and its usual vehicles | The question it takes on |
|---|---|---|
| Crews, subs and rentals on one job | General contractors: pickups, flatbeds, dump trucks and trailers, plus rentals | Whose policy answers for a subcontractor's truck or a rented one |
| Bucket trucks beside vans | Electrical contractors: cargo vans, service bodies and bucket trucks | Valuing the truck with its aerial device and where auto stops once the boom is working |
| Jetter rigs and vans that go home | Plumbing contractors: service trucks and vans, some with jetters | Whether a jetter rides in the truck's value or on its own line and where vans park overnight |
| Material runs and tear-off loads | Roofing contractors: flatbeds, pickups and dump trailers | How heavy the heaviest load gets and when hauling turns into for-hire work |
| Dumps and the 45,000-lb line | Grading and excavation: single-axle and medium-duty dumps, pickups, equipment trailers | Whether each dump is rated 45,000 lbs GVWR or under and which license its driver needs |
| Chemicals on the route truck | Pool contractors: route pickups and utility-body trucks | What a spill or a chemical fire means when many auto forms limit pollution cleanup |
| Chip trucks and tow-behind chippers | Tree services: chip trucks, chippers and bucket trucks | Whether each chipper sits on the auto schedule or an equipment policy |
| Self-distributed keg runs | Breweries: keg vans, box trucks and pickups | Keeping runs business to business, listing every delivery driver and treating kegs as cargo |
| Pesticide and product on board | Pest control companies: route pickups and service trucks with spray rigs | Whether a bolted spray skid counts in the truck's value and where spill cleanup goes |
| Trailers and the gear on them | Landscapers: pickups, dump trucks and trailers | Giving each trailer its own line and value, since the mowers on it are usually equipment |
| Route trucks and customers' goods | Wholesale distributors: box trucks and flatbeds on business-to-business routes | Who owns the load on the truck, which often decides between cargo and transit coverage |
| A written take-home van policy | HVAC contractors: cargo vans and service trucks that go home with techs | A signed policy on overnight parking, personal use and who else may drive |
Every row is work we write: local California jobs where a trade hauls its own tools and materials or delivers from one business to another. Hauling for others for pay, interstate trucking and home delivery fall outside it, and the playbooks say so wherever a trade comes close to that line.
Trade playbook questions
Why does each trade get its own playbook?
Because one policy meets very different trucks. A chipper, a jetter and a bed full of pool chemicals each raise a question a trade's main page can only touch on, so each playbook takes one and works it through.
Where do mowers, chippers and spray rigs belong?
Equipment bolted to a truck can be counted in its scheduled value, and a towed unit such as a chipper can be listed on the auto policy. Portable tools and the mowers on a trailer usually belong on a separate equipment policy.
My trade isn't in the table. Where do I start?
With the 25 trades we insure, each with its own page. Single trucks are welcome, and fleets run up to 50 vehicles.