General liability vs. auto liability for trucking businesses
A trucking business is still a business, and not every risk happens on the road.
Auto liability is built around the operation of a covered commercial auto. General liability is built around the exposures a business carries away from that vehicle.
Operators who assume the auto policy covers everything tend to find the gap at an inconvienient moment.
What auto liability addresses
Auto liability responds to covered claims of bodily injury or property damage arising from a covered auto operation, where the insured is legally responsible. It is the core liability coverage for a trucking program.
What general liability addresses
General liability can help address covered third-party claims involving bodily injury, property damage or other covered liabilities that are not primarily tied to operating an insured commercial auto.
Where general liability tends to matter
Business premises, yard operations, interactions with customers, contractors and visitors, and work performed away from the vehicle are all common areas where the auto policy is not the responding coverage.
Reading the two together
Neither policy is a substitute for the other, and the line between them is drawn by policy language rather than by intuition. Exclusions in one are frequently the reason the other exists.
Actual coverage in every case depends on the issued policy, its endorsements and its exclusions.
