A landscaping company's trailers often outnumber its trucks, and the equipment strapped to them can be worth more than either. Here's how the trailer and its load are usually insured and how to lower the odds that a theft turns into a coverage argument.
Quick answer
Each trailer typically needs its own line on your commercial auto policy, with a value, to be covered for theft or collision; liability generally follows the truck while it's hitched. The mowers, loaders and hand tools on the trailer are usually equipment, not auto, so they need their own policy. A stolen loaded trailer is often two claims on two policies.
It usually starts with a foreman calling before 6 a.m. The open trailer he parked at the curb on Friday is gone, along with two zero-turn mowers, a walk-behind and a rack of trimmers and blowers. The owner's next call is to the broker, and the first questions are simple: Was the trailer on the policy, with a value, and is the equipment insured anywhere?
Trailers are an easy target in California. The CHP counted 7,331 trailers stolen statewide in 2025, and its theft report named Bobcat the most stolen construction equipment brand, the same kind of compact loader many installation crews haul from job to job. A trailer can be backed up to, hooked and towed off quickly, and a loaded one is often what thieves are looking for.
Official sources
On most commercial auto policies, a trailer is a unit like any truck. When it's hitched to a covered truck, the truck's liability generally extends to it. For the trailer's own damage, from theft, fire, vandalism or a collision, it typically has to be scheduled with its VIN and a value. Unscheduled trailers are the most common gap we find on landscaping accounts, usually because a trailer was bought used in the middle of the year and never reported. Our page on insurance for work trailers covers how each type is listed.
Open utility trailers, enclosed trailers, dump trailers and tag trailers for a skid steer usually go on the schedule the same way, each with its own value. Enclosed trailers tend to carry more equipment and get stolen for what's inside, so a realistic value for the trailer itself matters as much as the contents.
Mowers, a skid steer, a mini excavator, trimmers, blowers and edgers are generally treated as equipment, and auto physical damage usually won't pay for them, even when they're strapped to a scheduled trailer. An equipment policy can list larger machines individually and cover small tools as a group. That's why a stolen loaded trailer often becomes two claims: the trailer under auto and the equipment under the equipment policy, each with its own deductible and its own paperwork.
A maintenance and installation company runs six crew pickups and one small dump. Its trailers outnumber the trucks: five open mow trailers, one dump trailer for base rock and green waste, one enclosed trailer and two tag trailers that move a skid steer and a mini excavator. Trailers move between trucks as crews change.
| Trailer | Typical load | Overnight | Auto policy | Equipment policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five open mow trailers | Two mowers each, plus trimmers and blowers | Three at the yard, two at foremen's homes | Each with VIN and value | Mowers listed; hand tools as a group |
| Enclosed trailer | Irrigation parts, small tools and a mower | Fenced yard | VIN and value | Contents as a group |
| Dump trailer | Base rock, decomposed granite, green waste | Fenced yard | VIN and value | Nothing to list |
| Two tag trailers | Skid steer and mini excavator | Fenced yard, sometimes a job site | VIN and value | Each machine listed by serial number |
Two things stand out. First, the company has nine trailers and seven powered vehicles, so a schedule built from the truck list alone could miss most of its theft exposure. Second, the two mow trailers that sleep at foremen's homes carry the highest theft risk on the account, because they're loaded, on the street and outside the fence. The fix was hitch locks, wheel locks, GPS trackers on the two most valuable machines and a rule that loaded trailers go behind a gate or into a garage.
Rotating trailers between trucks usually isn't a problem, as long as every truck and every trailer is on the policy. What matters is that whoever tows the heavier tag trailers has been trained and signed off for it.
A trailer theft with equipment on board usually runs as two parallel claims, and knowing what each adjuster needs helps keep both moving.
| Item | Trailer claim (auto policy) | Equipment claim (equipment policy) |
|---|---|---|
| Proof it was covered | The trailer listed on the schedule with its VIN and value | Each machine listed or the small-tool group limit |
| Proof of loss | Police report number, VIN photo, purchase or title record | Receipts or invoices, serial numbers and photos of the loaded trailer |
| Deductible | The trailer's comprehensive deductible | The equipment policy's own deductible |
| Getting back to work | A rental trailer, if your policy includes rental coverage for it | Rented mowers or machines, if the equipment policy covers rental costs |
Two habits tend to make both claims smoother. Keep a dated photo of each trailer loaded the way it usually runs, so there's less to argue about later. And keep serial numbers off the trailer, in the office and in a phone, since the paperwork in the trailer's toolbox often leaves with the trailer. If the trailer turns up stripped, call the broker before you repair it; a recovered trailer can change what each claim pays.
Tree services face the same split with chippers behind their chip trucks; see how tree services insure chippers on the road. Installation crews towing machines behind a dump will find the weight side covered in dump truck insurance for grading and excavation contractors. Everything else about a landscaping account is on our page for landscaper commercial auto insurance.
Start a landscaping truck and trailer quote with your trailer count and values.
Yes. On a landscaping account, loaded trailers parked on the street outside a fence usually carry the highest theft risk. Hitch and wheel locks, a gate or garage at night and GPS on valuable machines all help.
Landscaping companies often build their auto schedule from the truck list and miss the trailers, which can outnumber the trucks. Each unscheduled trailer may be uninsured for its own theft, fire or collision damage.
After a landscaping trailer theft, the paperwork in the trailer's toolbox usually leaves with it. Keep VIN photos, serial numbers and a dated photo of the loaded trailer in the office and on a phone.
If a stolen landscaping trailer turns up stripped, call the broker before fixing it. A recovered trailer can change what both the trailer claim and the equipment claim pay, and early repairs may complicate either one.
Official resources
Requirements change without notice. Confirm what applies to your fleet with the agency before relying on it.
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