SUBMIT A RISK
For a trucking group operating thirty-six affiliated motor carriers across twenty-one states, commercial auto liability is the defining insurance cost of the business. The fleet runs predominantly long-haul truckload freight — most miles fall beyond a 200-mile radius — hauling a diversified book that spans general freight, building materials, temperature-controlled loads, and containerized cargo, with a mix of company drivers and owner-operators. Each carrier had been buying its own coverage, with every dollar of favorable loss experience accruing to someone else. Captives Insure structured a single program to bring that value home.
The program issues an individual policy to each carrier on identical forms, covered-auto symbols, retentions, and limits, written on A− (Excellent) AM Best rated admitted paper that satisfies federal and state filing requirements. The underlying risk is then reinsured back to a captive insurance company owned by the group and administered by a third-party captive manager. After fronting, reinsurance, and program costs, nearly $3.6 million each year flows into the captive as its loss fund — capital the owners control, held in trust to pay claims, and retained as profit whenever losses come in below expectations.
- Motor carrier coverage at scale. A $1,000,000 combined single limit on the motor carrier coverage form, with trailer interchange and uniform intermodal interchange endorsements to support containerized and interchange operations.
- A layered per-occurrence structure. Each carrier carries a $25,000 self-insured retention per occurrence. The captive retains $500,000 per occurrence, and a reinsured specific excess layer of $500,000 excess of $500,000 per occurrence protects it above that point.
- Aggregate protection for the captive. A separate aggregate stop-loss reinsurance layer caps the captive's total exposure in an adverse year, so a string of losses cannot overwhelm the loss fund.
- Premium that tracks the exposure. A mileage-based composite rate is allocated to each carrier on its own estimated miles and adjusted annually to actual reported mileage — so each company pays for the exposure it actually runs.
- Full risk and reward. One hundred percent of the reinsured risk — and the underwriting profit — belongs to the captive's shareholders.
| Layer | Per Occurrence |
|---|---|
| Self-Insured Retention (each carrier) | $25,000 |
| Captive Retention | $500,000 |
| Reinsured Specific Excess | $500,000 xs $500,000 |
| Policy Limit (Combined Single Limit) | $1,000,000 |
In a traditional placement, a trucking company's premium is spent the moment it is paid. In this structure, nearly $3.6 million of annual premium becomes the captive's loss fund. Claims and allocated claim expenses are paid from that fund, within the captive's per-occurrence retention and its aggregate protection. Whatever the fund does not consume in a given year is underwriting profit — and it belongs to the owners.
That makes loss control a balance-sheet decision. An independent transportation safety assessment of the group's largest carrier scored its program at 86%, with full marks in FMCSA compliance and crash investigation, dash cameras across the fleet, continuous speed monitoring with a documented accountability program, and tractors governed at 68 miles per hour or below. The same assessment identified the next opportunities — quarterly fleet-wide driver training, active crash-prevention technology on every tractor, and safety accountability built into manager performance reviews. Under a captive, each of those improvements no longer benefits an outside carrier; every preventable crash avoided is retained directly as profit.
Scale Without Complexity
Thirty-six carriers of widely varying size — from single-truck authorities to the group's flagship operation — participate in one program on identical terms, pooling their exposure into a loss fund large enough to behave predictably.
Rated, Compliant Paper
Coverage is written on A− (Excellent) AM Best rated admitted paper with the MCS-90 and state filings each authority requires, while the risk reinsures back to the group's own captive.
Direct Claims Influence
As reinsurer of its own policies, the group gains independent defense panel counsel and a direct hand in claims handling through the program's third-party administrator — speeding resolution, discouraging fraudulent claims, and controlling the ultimate cost of loss.
A Built-In Safety Incentive
With a meaningful per-occurrence retention in the captive, the investments the group already makes in cameras, speed monitoring, and driver accountability now pay back directly in retained underwriting profit.
By consolidating thirty-six carriers into a single captive program, the group now directs nearly $3.6 million a year into a loss fund it owns — with a clearly defined $500,000 per-occurrence retention and reinsurance above it — so that every safe mile has the potential to become underwriting profit for its owners.
Is Your Business the Right Fit for a Captive?
If your organization carries predictable exposure, a disciplined safety program, and meaningful annual premium, a captive may convert that spend into retained profit. Captives Insure designs, fronts, and reinsures programs that put underwriting profit back where it belongs — with you.