Summary: While numerous commercial auto endorsements can be used interchangeably with the business auto, garage, and truckers policies, there are a handful of endorsements whose use is mainly for insureds who are “truckers,” i.e., “persons or organizations engaged in the business of transporting property by auto for hire.” Most of these endorsements have to do in one way or another with the relationship between lessors and lessees or between parties to an equipment or intermodal interchange agreement. These endorsements are presented in this article in numerical order. Many of the endorsements were updated in 2013 with minor editorial changes; few coverage changes were made.

Topics covered:
Autos leased, hired, rented, or borrowed, CA 20 33
Truckers – excess coverage for named insured, CA 23 08
Truckers — insurance for non-trucking use, CA 23 09
Truckers — named lessee as insured, CA 23 12
Trailer interchange fire and theft coverages, CA 23 13
Truckers — uniform intermodal interchange endorsement, CA 23 17
Truckers endorsement, CA 23 20

Autos Leased, Hired, Rented or Borrowed, CA 20 33

This endorsement can be used with the truckers coverage form, the business auto form, and the garage form; CA 20 33 10 13 is optional. Autos that are hired or borrowed with drivers are not considered covered autos for purposes of physical damage coverage under the commercial auto forms; this endorsement changes that stance. CA 20 33 states that any auto that is leased, hired, rented, or borrowed with a driver and that is scheduled on the endorsement is deemed a covered auto that the named insured owns. Therefore, CA 20 33 provides primary physical damage coverage for such autos. The form was updated in 2013 with editorial changes; no coverage changes were made.

Motor Carriers – Excess Coverage for Named Insured, CA 23 08

The truckers policy provides primary insurance on an auto the named insured hires from another, while the auto is used exclusively in the named insured's business and under operating rights granted by a public authority. And, the owner-operator of the hired auto qualifies as an insured under the lessee's truckers policy, subject to certain conditions.

In some cases, however, the lessee will shift the burden of risk back to the lessor (owner-operator) through a hold harmless agreement. Coverage for this sort of contractual liability is specifically excluded by both the business auto coverage form (BAP) and the truckers coverage form, but the lessor can cover the exposure by having endorsement CA 23 12 10 13, naming the lessee as an additional insured, attached to the lessor's policy. In turn, endorsement CA 23 08 10 13 is attached to the lessee's policy, amending the lessee's insurance to apply on an excess, instead of primary, basis with respect to a covered auto hired from the lessor that is designated in the endorsement.

The excess arrangement applies only while the covered auto is (1) leased in writing and in accordance with a written hold harmless agreement and (2) used pursuant to operating rights granted to the named insured by a public authority. The use of endorsement CA 23 08 can result in a considerable premium discount for the lessee. If the lessee's auto insurance is written on a gross receipts basis, then the gross receipts used in computing the lessee's premium will include only 15 percent of the amount to which the lessee is entitled for transporting property by the lessor's auto.

Motor Carriers – Insurance for Non-Trucking Use, CA 23 09

The truckers policy provides primary liability insurance for the owner or anyone else from whom the named insured hires a covered auto, while the auto is being used exclusively in the named insured's trucking business and pursuant to operating rights granted to the named insured by a public authority. A truck owner who operates exclusively for hire with other trucking firms may therefore have no need for a truckers policy of his or her own. However, the owner will need to have insurance for non-trucking use, which is commonly called bobtail coverage. The coverage is arranged through a business auto policy, with endorsement CA 23 09 10 13.

The endorsement states that liability coverage for the described covered auto does not apply while the auto is used to carry property in any business or while used in the business of anyone to whom the auto is rented. Moreover, the “who is an insured” section of the BAP is amended so as not to include anyone engaged in the business of transporting property by auto for hire who is liable for the named insured's conduct (i.e., a trucker that has hired or otherwise employed the named insured).

For more information on bobtail trucking coverage, see Bobtail Trucking Coverage.

Motor Carriers – Named Lessee as Insured, CA 23 12

The need for endorsement CA 23 12 is discussed previously in connection with CA 23 08. Endorsement CA 23 12, added to the lessor's policy, makes the lessee named in the endorsement an insured for the use of a covered auto owned or hired by the named insured, if: (1) the covered auto is used pursuant to the lessee's operating rights and (2) the auto is leased in writing and in accordance with a written hold harmless agreement between the named insured and the lessee. Moreover, the endorsement deletes the policy's contractual liability exclusion with respect to the lease agreement between the named insured and the lessee, and it stipulates that liability coverage is primary for the lessee. If the named insured's policy is written on a gross receipts basis, gross receipts as used in the declarations is amended to include the actual remuneration received from leasing covered autos to the lessee. Finally, the insurer agrees to give the lessee thirty days' advance notice of policy cancellation or reduction in the liability coverage limit.

Trailer Interchange Fire and Theft Coverages, CA 23 13

The truckers policy contains provisions for trailer interchange insurance (see Truckers Coverage Form), with options for collision, comprehensive, and specified perils. Endorsement CA 23 13 10 13 enables the insured to purchase trailer interchange coverage for trailers not owned by the named insured and the equipment on these trailers; the coverage is for either of two more limited combinations of perils: fire coverage, and fire and theft coverage. Fire coverage includes loss caused by fire, lightning, or explosion, or by the sinking, burning, collision, or derailment of any conveyance transporting the trailer. Fire and theft coverage includes the same perils plus theft. Like the trailer interchange provisions that appear in the truckers policy, the endorsement pays for loss by an insured peril only if the insured is legally obligated to pay damages for the loss.

Truckers – Uniform Intermodal Interchange Endorsement, CA 23 17

This endorsement applies to liability assumed under intermodal interchange agreements pursuant to the uniform intermodal interchange and facilities access agreement. (The parties to an intermodal interchange agreement might be, for example, a trucking firm and a railroad.) Endorsement CA 23 17 10 13 extends the liability insurance to apply to liability assumed by the named insured as “motor carrier participant” under Section F.4 of the uniform intermodal interchange and facilities access agreement. Under the terms of this endorsement, the motor carrier agrees to defend, hold harmless, and fully indemnify the indemnitees (without regard to whether the liability of the indemnitees is vicarious, implied by law, or as a result of the fault or negligence of the indemnitees) against any and all claims, lawsuits, and loss arising out of or related to the motor carrier's use or maintenance of the equipment during an interchange period; the performance of this agreement; and/or presence on the facility operator's premises. Payment under CA 23 17 is subject to limits of liability stated in the endorsement, and the endorsement expresses the insurance company's duty to provide certificates of insurance and at least thirty days' notice of cancellation or termination to the president of the Intermodal Association of North America.

Truckers Endorsement, CA 23 20

Endorsement CA 23 20 03 10 amends the business auto coverage form to provide the same coverage as a truckers coverage form with respect to any operations that the named insured engages in as a trucker. (A trucker is defined as “any person or organization engaged in the business of transporting property by auto for hire”.) The endorsement might be used, for example, by an insured that is not primarily a trucker but does, in addition to its usual non-trucking business, carry property for hire. The endorsement contains a schedule for rating the insured's operations as a trucker on an estimated cost of hire basis.