Transcription
WEBVTT
1
00:00:04.840 –> 00:00:12.350
Steve Kessler: Good afternoon. Welcome everyone to the Infinit-I Workforce solutions. Fast Forward Webinar Series.
2
00:00:12.876 –> 00:00:16.729
Steve Kessler: My name’s Steve Kessler, and I’ll be the host of the program today.
3
00:00:16.770 –> 00:00:32.559
Steve Kessler: 1st of all, I appreciate you all taking some time out of your day to join us on the program. We got a good topic today as something that is always of concern to people in this industry. And that’s about insurance.
4
00:00:32.610 –> 00:00:38.279
Steve Kessler: Our program today is entitled winning the insurance game. I love that title.
5
00:00:38.868 –> 00:00:43.769
Steve Kessler: how high performing trucking companies are fighting back against rising insurance costs.
6
00:00:43.960 –> 00:00:49.219
Steve Kessler: So, I think this will be a very helpful program, as you all are,
7
00:00:49.600 –> 00:01:00.379
Steve Kessler: you know, getting ready to renew insurance or trying to prepare to do the best job. Put your best foot forward. I think you’ll get some really, really good information here today.
8
00:01:01.900 –> 00:01:11.589
Steve Kessler: I also want to introduce Mark Ray. Those of you that have been on our programs or webinars over the over the years. Pretty much. All know Mark
9
00:01:11.690 –> 00:01:14.940
Steve Kessler: Mark’s an industry veteran. He’s been
10
00:01:15.280 –> 00:01:18.389
Steve Kessler: at the executive level in trucking for
11
00:01:18.818 –> 00:01:20.709
Steve Kessler: better than 35 years.
12
00:01:20.770 –> 00:01:21.370
Steve Kessler: So
13
00:01:22.866 –> 00:01:23.413
Steve Kessler: it’s
14
00:01:24.130 –> 00:01:29.959
Steve Kessler: good to have Mark on the program, mark. Have you got any words of wisdom before we get started. Here.
15
00:01:29.960 –> 00:01:39.419
Mark Rhea: Absolutely. I’m looking forward to Patrick telling us how to win the insurance game. There’s a there’s winners and losers in the insurance game, and I think
16
00:01:39.850 –> 00:01:46.300
Mark Rhea: he can bring us some very good insight on this whole concept of risk. I think we’ll all agree that
17
00:01:46.520 –> 00:01:53.000
Mark Rhea: every time a tire rolls down the road. We are taking a calculated risk.
18
00:01:53.330 –> 00:01:58.839
Mark Rhea: and I’m really looking forward to Patrick’s comments on how to
19
00:01:59.220 –> 00:02:01.509
Mark Rhea: how to assess that risk
20
00:02:01.620 –> 00:02:10.339
Mark Rhea: from an insurance point of view, and what a carrier can do to manage that risk. So really, looking forward to today, it’s a big part of our
21
00:02:10.440 –> 00:02:13.721
Mark Rhea: business these days the verdicts are, are
22
00:02:14.800 –> 00:02:23.359
Mark Rhea: Are out there, and you don’t want to be the risk. You don’t want to be on the receiving end of one of them or the giving end of one of those verdicts.
23
00:02:23.360 –> 00:02:24.610
Steve Kessler: Absolutely
24
00:02:24.670 –> 00:02:33.989
Steve Kessler: a couple of housekeeping things really quick, and then I’ll introduce our guest. Everybody that’s joined the webinar is muted so we can’t hear you.
25
00:02:34.282 –> 00:02:58.219
Steve Kessler: But you do have the option to use the chat box, which you’ll find there in the tray in the bottom. So, if you’d like to pose a question, you can use that. There’s also a. QA. Box where you can type in a question. So, matter of fact, if you all don’t mind, you might want to just jump on the chat. Tell us who you are, who you’re with and where you’re from, so we can kind of know who’s out there.
26
00:02:58.390 –> 00:03:04.830
Steve Kessler: So, while you’re doing that, let me introduce our guest today. Our guest is Mr. Patrick Thomas.
27
00:03:05.532 –> 00:03:10.509
Steve Kessler: Patrick is currently a managing partner with Southwest at Acrisure.
28
00:03:11.690 –> 00:03:31.299
Steve Kessler: actually, Patrick, before Acrisure served as president of RSI Insurance brokers which was a company that was acquired by Acrisure on top of his extensive knowledge of the industries well known for his leadership and energy that cultivate a group of people who are driven to grow and succeed.
29
00:03:31.380 –> 00:03:37.590
Steve Kessler: He’s a graduate of the University of San Francisco, as well as City University of London.
30
00:03:37.710 –> 00:03:45.309
Steve Kessler: Patrick currently lives in Orange County, California. So, Patrick, welcome, and we’re anxious to hear what you have got to say.
31
00:03:45.310 –> 00:03:56.410
Patrick Thomas: Yeah, well, thank you very much for having me. I feel like I’ve hit that age where I get a reference, my Alma Mater, and think, Oh, my gosh! This is now more than 20 years ago, like
32
00:03:56.910 –> 00:04:06.559
Patrick Thomas: this is wild. It’s crazy. But for quick reference I mean, trucking has been near and dear to my heart, my family’s heart. I’ve been in it since birth.
33
00:04:07.212 –> 00:04:18.400
Patrick Thomas: I got into the business because it was a family business we specialized in providing insurance solutions to the trucking community. So, without you all, I wouldn’t be here.
34
00:04:18.510 –> 00:04:35.670
Patrick Thomas: So, 1st let me just say thank you right like. I cannot thank the trucking community enough for everything you do without your efforts. We would have no economy of any kind. Right? It’s like I very sincerely mean that you are the backbone to what we do.
35
00:04:35.870 –> 00:04:47.900
Patrick Thomas: absolutely necessary sometimes, underappreciated or worse forgotten. We must bring you forward, and it’s my honor to be here today to help give tools, guidance, resource
36
00:04:48.302 –> 00:04:59.590
Patrick Thomas: you can hate me for being Californian. That’s okay. I get it. We have a goofy, weird state. We do some bizarre things, but I’m on your side, you know. I want to empower you, whether your clients or not
37
00:04:59.930 –> 00:05:06.569
Patrick Thomas: go control the things you can understand. How did we get here? And, more importantly, what are we going to do about it?
38
00:05:06.760 –> 00:05:09.760
Patrick Thomas: So, our philosophy at Acrisure
39
00:05:09.960 –> 00:05:16.100
Patrick Thomas: is to really just guide and educate our clients on what the insurance process is.
40
00:05:16.470 –> 00:05:24.920
Patrick Thomas: And if we were in person today, I would ask everybody to raise their hands. If they have had a fantastic insurance renewal.
41
00:05:25.220 –> 00:05:34.070
Patrick Thomas: I would say most people in the room aren’t even trying to move a muscle. They’re like, did you just say fantastic insurance renewal? And I’d say yes, and they’d say.
42
00:05:34.906 –> 00:05:36.000
Patrick Thomas: Not me.
43
00:05:36.240 –> 00:05:39.799
Patrick Thomas: and say, Okay, well, what about a good insurance renewal?
44
00:05:39.980 –> 00:05:42.590
Patrick Thomas: Probably about the same number of hands move.
45
00:05:42.710 –> 00:05:49.529
Patrick Thomas: It’s like, well, who’s been disappointed with their insurance renewal, and almost always like we get the majority of people in the audience to go up.
46
00:05:49.680 –> 00:05:51.039
Patrick Thomas: Well, here’s why
47
00:05:51.440 –> 00:05:54.240
Patrick Thomas: I get the benefit of selling a product.
48
00:05:54.340 –> 00:06:04.200
Patrick Thomas: Nobody likes buying that they hate using, and even when they do, it’s still a difficult outcome, right? Like inherently, insurance has been this bad thing.
49
00:06:04.510 –> 00:06:14.770
Patrick Thomas: That’s because insurance companies are paranoid and don’t have trust. And because of that, consumers us. We don’t trust insurance companies. We feel like it’s this poker game.
50
00:06:14.790 –> 00:06:22.100
Patrick Thomas: I’m here to disarm everybody. The reality is we have so much information on everything that exists
51
00:06:22.150 –> 00:06:27.460
Patrick Thomas: within an enterprise specifically trucking companies. There are no more secrets.
52
00:06:27.730 –> 00:06:29.630
Patrick Thomas: We don’t need to play poker.
53
00:06:29.760 –> 00:06:38.760
Patrick Thomas: and I think when we disarm ourselves about what our approach will be to winning. The insurance game of this is about clear, consistent communication
54
00:06:38.920 –> 00:06:50.599
Patrick Thomas: is about honesty. This is about transparency. When we start there, we just show our full deck of cards. Insurance companies don’t know how to respond other than thank you.
55
00:06:50.990 –> 00:06:54.100
Patrick Thomas: Now, it feels like a partnership. So
56
00:06:54.350 –> 00:07:02.080
Patrick Thomas: let’s start our journey. We have a couple of slides to get through. We have our bios. Thank you very much for Steve and Mark for sharing those on us
57
00:07:02.200 –> 00:07:05.560
Patrick Thomas: now it’s time to win our insurance game.
58
00:07:05.950 –> 00:07:06.850
Patrick Thomas: So
59
00:07:07.000 –> 00:07:14.919
Patrick Thomas: everybody in in the group again is thinking, no matter what I do, my insurance costs are going up right. And there’s some honesty to that.
60
00:07:15.310 –> 00:07:18.029
Patrick Thomas: And what we need to start to understand is
61
00:07:18.120 –> 00:07:24.500
Patrick Thomas: what’s the state of trucking insurance, right? We can control a lot of things. But there are certain things we can’t
62
00:07:24.890 –> 00:07:26.510
Patrick Thomas: step. One is the market.
63
00:07:26.810 –> 00:07:29.909
Patrick Thomas: We can’t necessarily control the market, right?
64
00:07:29.930 –> 00:07:32.969
Patrick Thomas: What the fed rate does, what politics. Do
65
00:07:33.040 –> 00:07:43.029
Patrick Thomas: you know, performance nuclear verdicts having impact on truck insurance markets? These are things that systematically within trucking, we must respond to.
66
00:07:43.360 –> 00:07:46.279
Patrick Thomas: And the unfortunate thing is, we’re not a good state.
67
00:07:47.010 –> 00:07:57.509
Patrick Thomas: Nobody should be in the expectation that commercial auto insurance, or, more specifically, trucking insurance, has been wildly profitable for the entire nation. It’s not
68
00:07:57.610 –> 00:08:00.860
Patrick Thomas: right. So, if anybody tells you, I’ll save you 50%,
69
00:08:01.080 –> 00:08:04.839
Patrick Thomas: one or 2 things are going to happen. They are professional liars.
70
00:08:04.900 –> 00:08:06.300
Patrick Thomas: and that’s not good.
71
00:08:06.580 –> 00:08:11.929
Patrick Thomas: or you’re going to get what you pay for, and that’s probably going to be worse than if you would have settled with the 1st thing.
72
00:08:11.930 –> 00:08:12.560
Steve Kessler: Yeah.
73
00:08:12.920 –> 00:08:19.659
Patrick Thomas: Right. We’re in a market cycle where it is difficult, believe it or not, for insurance companies to make
74
00:08:19.710 –> 00:08:28.730
Patrick Thomas: the profit that they have to maintain their shareholder interest if they’re publicly traded, or for their equity partners within the business.
75
00:08:28.990 –> 00:08:31.060
Patrick Thomas: And we know that for a lot of reasons
76
00:08:31.120 –> 00:08:34.599
Patrick Thomas: there are a lot of people engaged in a truck insurance claim.
77
00:08:34.740 –> 00:08:48.209
Patrick Thomas: TPAs, underwriters, attorneys, investigators, and those costs of those claims, no matter what they are. We all know, see, and feel that a claim is dramatically more expensive today
78
00:08:48.560 –> 00:08:50.030
Patrick Thomas: than it was yesterday.
79
00:08:50.450 –> 00:08:51.759
Patrick Thomas: Because of that.
80
00:08:51.860 –> 00:08:59.070
Patrick Thomas: Our insurance costs are rising right. We are following inflation plus, plus, plus all these other things leading to impact.
81
00:08:59.970 –> 00:09:05.260
Patrick Thomas: So, I think, having just a fair understanding of the insurance market and what’s impacting it.
82
00:09:05.330 –> 00:09:07.669
Patrick Thomas: lets us understand how we got here.
83
00:09:08.040 –> 00:09:16.529
Patrick Thomas: Right? Fatality accidents. There are more of them occurring throughout the country today than there have been historically nuclear verdicts.
84
00:09:16.640 –> 00:09:38.480
Patrick Thomas: It’s a term, I think the trucking industry kind of like helped not invent. But where the leading front of that we’re on this unfortunate journey, where plaintiff attorneys have learned how to exploit insurance companies through manipulating data. And the peer group that is, there’s now a jury to a trial.
85
00:09:38.950 –> 00:09:58.319
Patrick Thomas: We’re stuck with that. And these things, these massive 100-million-dollar claims, and we’ve all seen them like Wabash recently, or other manufacturers of equipment, you know, even tractors now getting brought into it that it’s not just the trucker. It’s not just a shipper or a freight broker. It’s everybody.
86
00:09:58.800 –> 00:10:00.950
Patrick Thomas: And these Mega claims
87
00:10:01.430 –> 00:10:06.509
Patrick Thomas: have huge impact on the insurance financial world where they have too over correct.
88
00:10:06.620 –> 00:10:14.289
Patrick Thomas: and that over correction means more rate on us, which is not fair, right? But that’s part of the market environment we cannot control.
89
00:10:14.330 –> 00:10:20.209
Patrick Thomas: But there are things afterwards with who we partner with and align, and we’ll get to that where it makes sense
90
00:10:20.540 –> 00:10:22.250
Patrick Thomas: cargo theft. It’s tough.
91
00:10:22.380 –> 00:10:26.779
Patrick Thomas: Right in California. You can just steal about anything, and there’s no consequence.
92
00:10:27.560 –> 00:10:32.940
Patrick Thomas: It stinks. But it’s the reality of the circumstance that the cargo theft is going up
93
00:10:33.090 –> 00:10:35.150
Patrick Thomas: 4 times what it had been.
94
00:10:35.470 –> 00:10:45.899
Patrick Thomas: Fraud is rampant, right? Freight broker. Fraud is rampant, and those claims are getting paid, and we must play catch up in there if we don’t have the controls and measures in place.
95
00:10:46.400 –> 00:10:57.180
Patrick Thomas: Right? We know the litigious environment in every State, you know. Mark and Steve and I were talking about man. It used to just be California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Illinois.
96
00:10:57.220 –> 00:11:00.129
Patrick Thomas: But the reality is, it’s kind of everywhere.
97
00:11:00.370 –> 00:11:04.909
Patrick Thomas: It’s Louisiana. It’s Arkansas. It’s Alabama, Tennessee now, like
98
00:11:04.950 –> 00:11:10.890
Patrick Thomas: there is not a safe place to go have an accident. Feel confident that we’re going to win.
99
00:11:10.940 –> 00:11:13.700
Patrick Thomas: And that’s another driving factor to the cost.
100
00:11:14.670 –> 00:11:22.929
Patrick Thomas: Again, I think level setting where the insurance market is and understanding. That is a fair expectation on our part of
101
00:11:23.110 –> 00:11:25.729
Patrick Thomas: where do we want to go? And how do we want to get there?
102
00:11:26.090 –> 00:11:34.340
Patrick Thomas: And I like starting with that with our clients to talk about, you know, as we go through the insurance journey, right? Our renewal process.
103
00:11:34.430 –> 00:11:40.270
Patrick Thomas: What we need is insurance agents is fair feedback from you, as the trucking client. Tell me.
104
00:11:40.670 –> 00:11:43.560
Patrick Thomas: where do you want to go? How are we going to get there?
105
00:11:43.570 –> 00:11:49.419
Patrick Thomas: Because if I know your goals and you know mine, which is to perform for you we have alignment.
106
00:11:50.220 –> 00:12:02.100
Patrick Thomas: and the clearer that alignment is, the better your expectation is met. So that next year, when we have this meeting again, I ask, hey, how did everybody’s insurance renewal? Was it great? We get a couple more of these.
107
00:12:02.710 –> 00:12:04.689
Patrick Thomas: and that would be a good thing, right?
108
00:12:05.000 –> 00:12:14.360
Patrick Thomas: So, going into to truck crashes with injuries, we can see that the miles driven and the cost per claim is going up over 50%.
109
00:12:15.080 –> 00:12:21.520
Patrick Thomas: That’s not good for us. Again, another impact validating. Why increases and insurance rates are there
110
00:12:22.590 –> 00:12:28.279
Patrick Thomas: increases on fatalities. Again, we’re almost 30% more likely to have a fatality. Accident.
111
00:12:28.430 –> 00:12:37.830
Patrick Thomas: Trucks are big. Every truck could potentially be 80,000 pounds, and they have a million dollar check in the glove box. We want to arm you to make sure that that check is preserved
112
00:12:38.180 –> 00:12:49.890
Patrick Thomas: right? But we do know there is an increase there. Again, those increases in fatalities set the expectation that insurance companies need to play catch up. They must be solvent to continue to pay these claims
113
00:12:51.110 –> 00:12:56.200
Patrick Thomas: again, kind of the roadmap of where the accidents are occurring in the more litigious states.
114
00:12:56.330 –> 00:13:03.230
Patrick Thomas: I’m probably going to have to update this map. I think every State will probably be filled in before the end of the year. However.
115
00:13:03.250 –> 00:13:06.349
Patrick Thomas: these States here are the ones that have larger claims
116
00:13:06.660 –> 00:13:18.439
Patrick Thomas: than normal right. We know the claims occurring in California throughout Michigan, Illinois. Even some of the East Coast States, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Claims occurring in these States are larger
117
00:13:18.840 –> 00:13:21.610
Patrick Thomas: where you drive matters.
118
00:13:22.570 –> 00:13:30.970
Patrick Thomas: but I do get the under the practicality of it. Right? If you’re delivering freight that consumers buy, you must go where consumers live.
119
00:13:31.110 –> 00:13:33.370
Patrick Thomas: That’s these populous states.
120
00:13:33.730 –> 00:13:35.419
Patrick Thomas: There’s no other way around it.
121
00:13:35.470 –> 00:13:47.550
Patrick Thomas: But we just again have to be armed with the understanding that if I’m driving more miles into South Dakota there is likely a lower insurance cost than if I drive 100% of them in California or Florida.
122
00:13:48.110 –> 00:13:50.320
Patrick Thomas: that these are factors we can control
123
00:13:51.280 –> 00:13:51.990
Patrick Thomas: right
124
00:13:52.170 –> 00:14:00.860
Patrick Thomas: again. Talking about the sky rocketing costs of insurance. Here’s some stats again, trailing over the past 10 years of where costs are going
125
00:14:01.440 –> 00:14:09.379
Patrick Thomas: again, probably don’t need to spend too much time in here. It’s just another anecdote of validated data. We’re spending twice as much to cover insurance costs.
126
00:14:09.930 –> 00:14:15.029
Patrick Thomas: It’s not fair. And we’re stuck with increase after increase after increase.
127
00:14:15.150 –> 00:14:19.019
Patrick Thomas: But it’s again it sets and validates the expectation.
128
00:14:19.140 –> 00:14:21.599
Patrick Thomas: Where is the insurance market like?
129
00:14:21.960 –> 00:14:27.630
Patrick Thomas: Do we think I will have a reduction by 50%? No, again. Here’s part of the why.
130
00:14:29.610 –> 00:14:36.449
Patrick Thomas: So, for fleets, you know where? Where we’re talking about size deductibles. What should we have? What shouldn’t we have?
131
00:14:37.090 –> 00:14:42.410
Patrick Thomas: These are good guidelines, right? Like how we’ve bought insurance historically
132
00:14:42.730 –> 00:14:48.810
Patrick Thomas: today. You know today versus where we were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, we should think about advancing.
133
00:14:48.840 –> 00:14:53.420
Patrick Thomas: and that ties into the story of Where do you want to go? How do you want to get there?
134
00:14:53.870 –> 00:14:58.450
Patrick Thomas: And I would say, Take time with your teams. Bring in your CFO.
135
00:14:58.700 –> 00:15:09.629
Patrick Thomas: your safety director, your chief operations officer. Let’s talk about the challenges in the business and what the impacts of changing deductibles or lowering limits have
136
00:15:09.950 –> 00:15:26.210
Patrick Thomas: that, you know. Again, having been in trucking my entire life. I get it. We’re in a cycle where there’s a little less freight than there had been, and in some cases a lot less freight available. The freight that we are moving. We’re probably moving for smaller dollars, meaning our margins compressed.
137
00:15:26.730 –> 00:15:29.030
Patrick Thomas: So, cash flow is a real issue right now.
138
00:15:29.100 –> 00:15:34.509
Patrick Thomas: and deductibles and limits are things that we are possible considerations for. How we affect that
139
00:15:34.700 –> 00:15:41.460
Patrick Thomas: right? We know when that’s the case. We’re going to take on larger deductibles to help lessen insurance costs.
140
00:15:41.540 –> 00:15:46.550
Patrick Thomas: But there’s a cash consequence. If a claim happens or claims frequency starts to pick up.
141
00:15:46.960 –> 00:15:48.950
Patrick Thomas: we might be caught off guard
142
00:15:48.980 –> 00:15:51.130
Patrick Thomas: if we reduce limits
143
00:15:51.190 –> 00:15:56.429
Patrick Thomas: that can be a difficult position for us to defend in the event of a catastrophic claim.
144
00:15:56.580 –> 00:16:04.949
Patrick Thomas: If our peer group has limits of 10 million 25 million, 50 million, maybe potentially 100-million-dollar limits and we have less.
145
00:16:04.990 –> 00:16:06.660
Patrick Thomas: we might be targeted
146
00:16:06.690 –> 00:16:14.310
Patrick Thomas: right again. These are factors that we just must be open and honest about talking about off. You know, as we maneuver the dials
147
00:16:14.350 –> 00:16:19.350
Patrick Thomas: that we can change and get through in our process of what the impact is to us as a business.
148
00:16:19.780 –> 00:16:20.450
Patrick Thomas: right?
149
00:16:21.030 –> 00:16:24.229
Patrick Thomas: So where are risks hiding today?
150
00:16:24.750 –> 00:16:25.950
Patrick Thomas: They’re everywhere.
151
00:16:26.050 –> 00:16:29.919
Patrick Thomas: Risks in a business are no longer just wheels on the road.
152
00:16:30.120 –> 00:16:32.540
Patrick Thomas: They are everywhere right. And
153
00:16:33.230 –> 00:16:47.190
Patrick Thomas: again, I think a very important process for us to go through as we’re talking about. Where do we want to get to? And how are we going to get there is, let’s be open and honest, right. We need a genuine assessment of our safety.
154
00:16:47.490 –> 00:16:55.290
Patrick Thomas: our operations, and our compliance. Right and safety isn’t just a culture, it is an absolute must
155
00:16:55.480 –> 00:17:04.979
Patrick Thomas: right. We must hold ourselves to the highest standard we possibly can. If we do anything to compromise safety, it’ll be discovered. It’ll be used against us.
156
00:17:05.030 –> 00:17:11.099
Patrick Thomas: and it makes every other future insurance renewal that much harder to play catch up because we’re in a defense position.
157
00:17:11.240 –> 00:17:12.960
Patrick Thomas: We need to play offense
158
00:17:13.240 –> 00:17:23.459
Patrick Thomas: when it comes to operations. We need to have KPIs that we generally manage. I’m a believer that if we can’t measure it, it’s hard to prove if we’re doing it well or not.
159
00:17:23.960 –> 00:17:42.080
Patrick Thomas: and we could spend a whole other hour session going into kPIs and metrics of what we should manage, whether it’s cost per foot cost per mile, and all these other parameters that impact your business. But again, measuring safety, our operations and compliance, which to me is difference than safety, right?
160
00:17:42.130 –> 00:17:44.100
Patrick Thomas: Safety, is the things that
161
00:17:44.380 –> 00:17:45.949
Patrick Thomas: are
162
00:17:46.837 –> 00:17:52.740
Patrick Thomas: not forced upon us per se. Right compliance is compliance is what the.is going to mandate.
163
00:17:53.070 –> 00:17:59.830
Patrick Thomas: They absolutely tie together, but safety must be at our core in order to get all these things done well.
164
00:18:00.210 –> 00:18:11.679
Mark Rhea: So, Patrick, I had a quick question on that when you mentioned safety, culture, and measuring everything, how would, from an insurance point of view. How do you measure
165
00:18:12.200 –> 00:18:14.060
Mark Rhea: safety, culture.
166
00:18:14.610 –> 00:18:26.509
Patrick Thomas: Well, I’m glad you asked in in our workshop, which this presentation is a part of, and I’m happy to share this with anybody that would like it. We go through an analysis right
167
00:18:26.740 –> 00:18:38.569
Patrick Thomas: on this page. We have general questions that are asking you and your teams to complete them. So, we collect data. We build a narrative around it to give your insight.
168
00:18:38.710 –> 00:18:42.169
Patrick Thomas: Right? So, like, we’re asking your safety team.
169
00:18:42.330 –> 00:18:50.029
Patrick Thomas: do we have safety mess or do safety messages have an emotional or personal connection. Right? Do we have driver training?
170
00:18:50.270 –> 00:19:02.010
Patrick Thomas: But all these things that you know, are we doing it. Some of the times never, always. And depending on the feedback we get; we begin to start building a documentation file of can we prove it
171
00:19:02.820 –> 00:19:20.119
Patrick Thomas: right, and that’s what we must do in the openness of our insurance renewals. Everything we say we do we have to prove we do. It’s no longer. Just let me take you for your word. Right? Because let’s assume every underwriter thinks we’re guilty until proven innocent, and they’re naturally skeptical.
172
00:19:20.790 –> 00:19:34.440
Patrick Thomas: Our job is to help guide and predict what the questions are going to be. The hard ones, right? How do you train? Why, do you know meetings once a month around the water. Cooling sounds great. Well, how are you? How do you prove that those meetings happen
173
00:19:34.580 –> 00:19:39.419
Patrick Thomas: unless you have a system to document it which our partners at Infinit-I have a brilliant one in.
174
00:19:39.830 –> 00:19:41.400
Patrick Thomas: It’s very difficult to prove
175
00:19:41.740 –> 00:19:47.759
Patrick Thomas: right. That’s a metric of how many people were in attendance. What was the content covered.
176
00:19:47.770 –> 00:19:56.889
Patrick Thomas: Do we have tests that we take after the fact? Right? So first, for safety again, we’ll start with in, you know, a higher-level observation to get?
177
00:19:56.940 –> 00:20:07.009
Patrick Thomas: What is the pulse of the people? Right? So, management through executives, what’s the pulse of the people? How are we doing it and provide that feedback to our clients
178
00:20:07.280 –> 00:20:12.999
Patrick Thomas: to help them with that journey. Sometimes we uncover things that people just don’t like talking about
179
00:20:13.160 –> 00:20:18.700
Patrick Thomas: right because it can be uncomfortable. So, I think it’s a great question. Hopefully I answered that for you, Mark.
180
00:20:18.700 –> 00:20:25.800
Mark Rhea: I I like I got. I got a follow up question. If you if you’re if you’re looking at safety culture and you’re looking at compliance.
181
00:20:26.230 –> 00:20:34.400
Mark Rhea: Do you weight one of those larger or less than the other? Or are they? Are they the same? What? What? How are you?
182
00:20:34.990 –> 00:20:36.870
Mark Rhea: What’s the balance? There.
183
00:20:36.870 –> 00:20:37.570
Patrick Thomas: Yeah.
184
00:20:38.000 –> 00:20:40.310
Patrick Thomas: I would say, they’re close.
185
00:20:40.830 –> 00:20:44.399
Patrick Thomas: and it’s fair for debate, right? But my personal belief.
186
00:20:44.550 –> 00:20:48.370
Patrick Thomas: the culture of safety plays a higher importance than compliance.
187
00:20:48.440 –> 00:20:55.460
Patrick Thomas: If we’re performing at safety, if we’re truly leading best in class there, our compliance would naturally follow suit.
188
00:20:55.500 –> 00:21:02.250
Patrick Thomas: So, compliance is what the Government’s going to regulate us to a minimum standard. Safety is everything above that.
189
00:21:05.590 –> 00:21:09.089
Steve Kessler: Just being compliant today is not good enough, is it.
190
00:21:09.700 –> 00:21:10.540
Patrick Thomas: It’s not.
191
00:21:11.640 –> 00:21:18.510
Patrick Thomas: it should. It’s not right, like, if we truly want to control our costs. If we’re adhering to the minimum standard
192
00:21:18.650 –> 00:21:28.649
Patrick Thomas: right? If the DOT or local authorities say, Here’s our benchmark for good or bad, if they’re saying, Here’s our minimum standard great we meet that we’re able to operate.
193
00:21:28.670 –> 00:21:30.489
Patrick Thomas: That’s what they would grant us.
194
00:21:30.490 –> 00:21:31.120
Steve Kessler: Yeah.
195
00:21:31.120 –> 00:21:51.340
Patrick Thomas: But from a cost standpoint of how do we control our insurance costs if we’re meeting the minimum standard? And again, I think that’s important to emphasize, and I don’t agree with all their standards. Right? So, I’m not saying the.is right in any way, shape or form. I think they’re wrong in many of them. But, however, if we’re adhering to the minimum standard great, we qualify.
196
00:21:51.390 –> 00:21:54.200
Patrick Thomas: But that doesn’t mean we get an exceptional outcome.
197
00:21:54.370 –> 00:21:59.150
Patrick Thomas: That just means we’ll have probably that below average expectation of
198
00:21:59.170 –> 00:22:02.270
Patrick Thomas: limited terms and conditions and a very expensive price.
199
00:22:05.460 –> 00:22:12.390
Patrick Thomas: So in in the discovery process again, I think it’s important to ask these questions like, can we validate? Do we have
200
00:22:12.400 –> 00:22:13.860
Patrick Thomas: a safety culture?
201
00:22:13.890 –> 00:22:17.050
Patrick Thomas: Are there safety goals that the business has
202
00:22:17.430 –> 00:22:23.549
Patrick Thomas: right and we can go through additional questions again, talking about data and metrics and understanding
203
00:22:23.720 –> 00:22:34.110
Patrick Thomas: what we’re trying to emphasize as a business right? And we can uncover areas that genuinely, genuinely need improvement, or that you’re doing exceptionally well
204
00:22:34.610 –> 00:22:38.969
Patrick Thomas: in the insurance renewal process. It is vital to hit on both
205
00:22:39.680 –> 00:22:48.519
Patrick Thomas: right. If all we’re doing is advertising the good and not addressing the reality. We’re not building a partnership with the insurance companies we necessarily want.
206
00:22:48.730 –> 00:23:00.929
Patrick Thomas: If all we’re doing is addressing the things that need to be fixed. We’re missing a key objective, too, which is sharing the positive work that’s allowed you to perform the excel, to let you be better and prove you’re better than your peers.
207
00:23:01.260 –> 00:23:10.269
Patrick Thomas: So, it’s a balance right? And when I talk about it’s no longer a poker game, this goes to our methodology of. We have to put all the cards on the table.
208
00:23:10.610 –> 00:23:23.390
Patrick Thomas: share what we’re doing for improvements. Let our partners know that we take them seriously. What are specific calls for action that we’re going to change as well as advertise. What makes your company exceptional.
209
00:23:23.660 –> 00:23:26.169
Patrick Thomas: then we have a basis of trust.
210
00:23:26.390 –> 00:23:33.879
Patrick Thomas: so that when we go through the what’s next of negotiating, looking at different solutions, there’s a lot of buy on.
211
00:23:34.380 –> 00:23:40.350
Patrick Thomas: And I think that’s important, right? I think it’s important with who everybody picks is their partner.
212
00:23:40.360 –> 00:23:41.510
Patrick Thomas: Right of.
213
00:23:41.540 –> 00:24:05.000
Patrick Thomas: you know, if all we’re doing is asking for basic information which competitors sometimes do, then you’re going to have a basic outcome. But if we’re going deeper, going further, going farther, trying to make a robust database of intelligence on your operation, you should have the confidence that you and your partners hopefully us collectively in the room. But if not, still have a better outcome.
214
00:24:05.360 –> 00:24:13.829
Patrick Thomas: and if we achieve that. I’m happy to participate and guide, right? Because it’s truly a journey. And if we all do well, then we all do well.
215
00:24:14.300 –> 00:24:32.349
Patrick Thomas: we pick up additional data points, too, about understanding. Like, you know, how well do we understand compliance in our business? So, like you? Asked Mark. It’s an important and material fact to help insurance companies make decisions. But what’s our score? Are we passing? Do we have an alert status? What are we doing about it?
216
00:24:32.750 –> 00:24:40.309
Patrick Thomas: And these are all indicators that everybody has access to, that. We should be monitoring and looking for performance
217
00:24:40.340 –> 00:24:45.619
Patrick Thomas: every day, every 30 month, or every 30 days. Right like, we must see improvement
218
00:24:45.680 –> 00:24:55.450
Patrick Thomas: unless we’re all at 0% green pass again. Even there, there’s something that we could probably do. And all these things impact on your operational expenses.
219
00:24:55.610 –> 00:24:57.590
Patrick Thomas: Obviously, insurance costs.
220
00:24:58.060 –> 00:25:16.080
Patrick Thomas: But if we’re not documenting it, and we’re not being open and honest about where our performance is at today no different than lost runs and claims. It’s 1 more thing working against us that we’re trying to hide, and if we’re that turtle you will not be winning your insurance game. We’re hiding, we’re playing defense.
221
00:25:16.110 –> 00:25:18.020
Patrick Thomas: We no longer must do that.
222
00:25:18.690 –> 00:25:19.520
Patrick Thomas: So
223
00:25:19.930 –> 00:25:22.650
Patrick Thomas: what’s our derisk strategy? Right?
224
00:25:22.810 –> 00:25:26.499
Patrick Thomas: We want to talk about safety and operations and compliance.
225
00:25:27.110 –> 00:25:34.599
Patrick Thomas: write down and commit to what our goals are. It’s an important process, because if all we do is say it.
226
00:25:34.820 –> 00:25:36.490
Patrick Thomas: it’s going to be hard to enforce.
227
00:25:36.490 –> 00:25:37.150
Steve Kessler: Right.
228
00:25:37.150 –> 00:25:50.129
Patrick Thomas: But if we document it no different than training, right? If we document training, we know it happens if we document our strategic initiatives related to safety operations and compliance. We have something we can pinpoint.
229
00:25:50.820 –> 00:25:54.290
Patrick Thomas: These 3 carriers always have the ability to change
230
00:25:54.350 –> 00:26:00.860
Patrick Thomas: right, nothing set in stone permanently, because if we accomplish them well, there should be something next that can fill its place.
231
00:26:02.360 –> 00:26:14.219
Patrick Thomas: So, in part 3 of our journey is kind of the risk financing aspect of it right? And I’ll I’ll start with before we worry about the risk financing. I would say you should worry about the partners that you’re engaged with
232
00:26:14.490 –> 00:26:22.459
Patrick Thomas: right that if you share your story, you own and know your data and have the insight to all aspects of your business.
233
00:26:22.530 –> 00:26:25.939
Patrick Thomas: who’s the right person for you to trust in that process.
234
00:26:26.340 –> 00:26:33.269
Patrick Thomas: If the person just asking, I’m going to make your life easy, give me your lost runs vehicle list, and maybe something else. I’ll have you a quote.
235
00:26:33.690 –> 00:26:35.750
Patrick Thomas: You might not win the insurance game.
236
00:26:35.890 –> 00:26:46.299
Patrick Thomas: but if the partner you put pick, if your key initiatives, business, philosophy aligns with theirs. You have a very open relationship
237
00:26:46.560 –> 00:26:53.629
Patrick Thomas: to where you can entrust them with data that you may not with somebody else, that, in fact, will likely be beneficial to your renewal.
238
00:26:53.970 –> 00:26:56.470
Patrick Thomas: So, once you select the right partner
239
00:26:56.810 –> 00:27:04.809
Patrick Thomas: committing to that, you can talk about building a new insurance program, right? So it goes back to your 1st question of
240
00:27:04.960 –> 00:27:08.059
Patrick Thomas: Where do I want to go? How do I want to get there?
241
00:27:08.540 –> 00:27:13.949
Patrick Thomas: So, let’s build an insurance product that is truly for high performers. Right
242
00:27:14.040 –> 00:27:25.200
Patrick Thomas: again, in our workbook, we’re going to talk about the things that impact high performers. I think we all agree that a safety culture, if you have a strong one is a plus, that’s a positive impact.
243
00:27:25.260 –> 00:27:31.069
Patrick Thomas: If we evaluate, you know, through our risk assessment that was in the prior slides. If it’s negative.
244
00:27:31.090 –> 00:27:32.800
Patrick Thomas: that goes against us.
245
00:27:33.040 –> 00:27:45.910
Patrick Thomas: Same with compliance, same with the financial statements of your business. Right? The health of your balance sheet will have positive impact in your insurance renewals, and might require
246
00:27:46.160 –> 00:27:47.800
Patrick Thomas: lower deductibles.
247
00:27:47.810 –> 00:27:53.460
Patrick Thomas: you know lower retentions, or give us affordability to have higher ones, but with less collateral
248
00:27:53.800 –> 00:28:04.239
Patrick Thomas: right. Like all these things, tie in together same with our CSA scores that if we have bad CSA scores in our financial position is a difficult one, right?
249
00:28:04.410 –> 00:28:13.809
Patrick Thomas: In that case we might not have the ability to get a deductible, that we want to help neutralize insurance costs or to have participation in control.
250
00:28:14.440 –> 00:28:18.300
Patrick Thomas: So, all these things absolutely factor into the journey that we’re going through.
251
00:28:19.380 –> 00:28:20.270
Patrick Thomas: So
252
00:28:20.400 –> 00:28:30.529
Patrick Thomas: with that again, it oh, sorry I went in the wrong direction. We have a couple of other items again, through our metrics, of talking about driver turnover
253
00:28:30.990 –> 00:28:41.280
Patrick Thomas: where we go. The jurisdiction, right? As we know, a claim occurs in Idaho versus California. Those settlement costs will be different. And we should anticipate that
254
00:28:41.500 –> 00:28:51.470
Patrick Thomas: technology and data sharing. That is a massive one. Right now, having insights to telematics and dash cameras and automated ways to report claims.
255
00:28:51.480 –> 00:29:01.700
Patrick Thomas: All these things absolutely matter, and they are accessible that are. They’re at our fingertips. You can have a very robust system that can be expensive.
256
00:29:01.940 –> 00:29:10.200
Patrick Thomas: There are other low-cost providers. Something I can guarantee you is better than nothing, doing nothing about. It will put you in a vulnerable spot.
257
00:29:10.640 –> 00:29:20.599
Patrick Thomas: The quality of our drivers, obviously, that impacts how trucks are being utilized, driven, and maintenance everything else that we do like, we know the impact drivers have. That’s obvious.
258
00:29:20.670 –> 00:29:23.079
Patrick Thomas: But again, taking the time to understand
259
00:29:23.450 –> 00:29:29.410
Patrick Thomas: the commitment, your executives, your leaders, even investors, and you excuse me. Your managers have
260
00:29:29.820 –> 00:29:39.190
Patrick Thomas: to supporting the efforts of the business, and again, us helping prove where they are committed or where we need to reassess or realign. That helps
261
00:29:39.260 –> 00:29:41.330
Patrick Thomas: that helps with our insurance story.
262
00:29:42.890 –> 00:29:43.680
Patrick Thomas: So, what.
263
00:29:43.680 –> 00:29:46.739
Steve Kessler: When you say that the commitment of
264
00:29:46.760 –> 00:29:57.270
Steve Kessler: executive leadership would be a key part of that safety culture that you talked about earlier, seems like it’s very difficult to have that kind of a culture without
265
00:29:57.460 –> 00:29:59.799
Steve Kessler: it being driven from the top down.
266
00:29:59.960 –> 00:30:09.130
Patrick Thomas: Yeah, it it really takes everybody’s buy on. You’re spot on with that, Steve, like we I’ve witnessed in companies, carriers, clients
267
00:30:09.330 –> 00:30:14.320
Patrick Thomas: where the team. The management team genuinely wants to do the right thing.
268
00:30:14.770 –> 00:30:20.419
Patrick Thomas: but they’re met by an executive could be a CFO. Even a CEO or owner. Where the answer is.
269
00:30:20.520 –> 00:30:22.220
Patrick Thomas: I don’t want to spend money on that
270
00:30:22.980 –> 00:30:35.199
Patrick Thomas: right, and if we’re not aligned, if we don’t have that capability, we either need to present the material to the executive to where they better understand the ask and the impact in the business, because that happens
271
00:30:35.530 –> 00:30:50.749
Patrick Thomas: or just understand the disconnect that we can’t win the insurance game if we’re not making the right investments, and we can’t win the insurance game if we’re not having, you know, data transparency reward or accountability for performance.
272
00:30:51.160 –> 00:31:03.030
Patrick Thomas: Right? It’s if we were to rewind 2 years ago, the need for drivers was different than it is today, and our tolerance for bad drivers was likely higher than it shouldn’t have been.
273
00:31:03.090 –> 00:31:14.179
Patrick Thomas: And those things impact the business of. I must have a driver, whether he has he or she has the experience or not, or a record that is deemed acceptable or not.
274
00:31:14.520 –> 00:31:20.409
Patrick Thomas: What we must do is improve that standard and have everybody buy on, support it and hold
275
00:31:20.450 –> 00:31:31.399
Patrick Thomas: everybody that needs to be accountable in that process. The moment we make an exception we break our own rules. And now we’re vulnerable, right? And that’s likely where the mistakes happen.
276
00:31:32.710 –> 00:31:54.490
Patrick Thomas: So in in designing the insurance, the ideal insurance program, right? One, I would say. For most people. It’s probably free, covered by the State. We don’t have to worry about it and move on right. We don’t live in that world, right? We live in a free-market world where we must be masters of our own destiny. And again, it’s our goal, our privilege to help provide insight to you all what impacts that.
277
00:31:54.890 –> 00:31:57.150
Patrick Thomas: And then also the levers that you have
278
00:31:57.180 –> 00:31:59.780
Patrick Thomas: not all insurance programs are created equal.
279
00:32:00.080 –> 00:32:12.849
Patrick Thomas: Right? I think that’s important to understand, no different than agents. You have some that you really like, some that are expertise, others where maybe it could be a price point, and there’s reasons to pick each, every and everyone. And I understand that.
280
00:32:13.206 –> 00:32:17.239
Patrick Thomas: But it’s important to understand its impact ultimately, of where you go.
281
00:32:17.800 –> 00:32:20.950
Patrick Thomas: So, we can talk about limits, right
282
00:32:21.200 –> 00:32:23.099
Patrick Thomas: limits impact what we spend.
283
00:32:23.450 –> 00:32:29.120
Patrick Thomas: We know insurance costs are increasing, but we know the cost of a claim is increasing as well.
284
00:32:29.280 –> 00:32:33.649
Patrick Thomas: So, helping guide you in that balance of what’s an appropriate limit for me.
285
00:32:33.900 –> 00:32:44.469
Patrick Thomas: We can help provide benchmarks to different companies, whether you operate 10 or 50 or 100 or 1,000 or 10,000 units of what’s the limit you should carry?
286
00:32:44.920 –> 00:32:48.859
Patrick Thomas: We pair that with data that supports what’s your expected loss?
287
00:32:49.120 –> 00:33:08.000
Patrick Thomas: You know. What are your expected losses within certain deductible or retention limits? What are your expected losses beyond that, so that we can understand and forecast, which I think is very important for everybody’s growth, plans or preservation plans, or even M. And a plan of what do we do? How do we do? And where do? Where do we take it?
288
00:33:08.850 –> 00:33:10.589
Patrick Thomas: So, I’ve run through a lot.
289
00:33:11.349 –> 00:33:21.319
Patrick Thomas: I’ll kind of recap with a few things that I think are absolutely important for the group, and I know I’ve done a lot of talking happy to go through any questions that anybody has.
290
00:33:21.350 –> 00:33:24.839
Patrick Thomas: But really, if I could hit home on a couple of things is
291
00:33:24.870 –> 00:33:29.680
Patrick Thomas: clearly define where you want to go as a business. Right? Simple mission statement.
292
00:33:29.740 –> 00:33:34.949
Patrick Thomas: I want to be the nation’s largest LTL hauler in these key markets
293
00:33:35.040 –> 00:33:40.009
Patrick Thomas: with, you know, XY. And Z is my most critical elements that I must hit on
294
00:33:40.270 –> 00:33:45.450
Patrick Thomas: right. I think if we define that we know the starting point where you are today.
295
00:33:45.510 –> 00:33:46.810
Patrick Thomas: where you want to go.
296
00:33:47.070 –> 00:33:49.659
Patrick Thomas: and it will start to fill in the gaps of how we get there.
297
00:33:49.840 –> 00:33:50.880
Patrick Thomas: First.st Step
298
00:33:50.910 –> 00:33:53.930
Patrick Thomas: complete transparency and bring in partners. You trust
299
00:33:54.230 –> 00:34:11.819
Patrick Thomas: it takes a lot to ask that it takes a lot of anybody to validate their knowledge in the business for you to really share the things the skeletons in our closets. And believe me, I’m coming from a family business. We had ours in the eighties and nineties and early 2 thousand. But we must get past that.
300
00:34:12.020 –> 00:34:13.800
Patrick Thomas: So, find that partnership
301
00:34:14.370 –> 00:34:20.149
Patrick Thomas: and build your story right. Understand? What’s your business’s story. How did you get here?
302
00:34:21.000 –> 00:34:22.380
Patrick Thomas: Where do you want to go?
303
00:34:22.810 –> 00:34:25.719
Patrick Thomas: How are you going to get there like? What is your system?
304
00:34:25.929 –> 00:34:27.489
Patrick Thomas: What is your process.
305
00:34:28.110 –> 00:34:40.980
Patrick Thomas: What are the key attributes of your business? What data are you managing? Does that data support the journey you’re going on? If not, there might be a gap, and there could be a way for us to help identify.
306
00:34:41.260 –> 00:34:42.389
Patrick Thomas: Assess that.
307
00:34:43.360 –> 00:34:49.809
Patrick Thomas: And the data is only good as the actions and the story that you’re going to tell, and the actions are only as good as the data supports.
308
00:34:49.820 –> 00:34:58.029
Patrick Thomas: Right? So that goes back to this is no longer a poker game. This is a chess game where we put everything down, and we must figure out how to maneuver the pieces.
309
00:34:58.140 –> 00:35:13.330
Patrick Thomas: So, with that, I hope you guys have, you know, liked a bit of what I’ve had to say. It may not have answered everything you were curious about. How do I win the insurance game. It may be simpler than what you anticipated right, or you might be still looking for that silver bullet.
310
00:35:13.950 –> 00:35:16.900
Patrick Thomas: You probably have the answer for the silver bullet.
311
00:35:17.400 –> 00:35:21.440
Patrick Thomas: A good agency. Good partnership will help you uncover that.
312
00:35:21.730 –> 00:35:26.770
Patrick Thomas: So, with that, Steve Mark, thank you guys very much for your time. Today I appreciate it.
313
00:35:27.030 –> 00:35:39.719
Steve Kessler: Yeah, Patrick, I do have a couple of questions here. Some of these are mine. Some were posted a little bit earlier. Do you have an opinion or comments, one way or another about
314
00:35:39.740 –> 00:35:43.459
Steve Kessler: about captive, a captive market captive insurance.
315
00:35:43.590 –> 00:35:45.760
Steve Kessler: any pros or cons there.
316
00:35:46.300 –> 00:35:59.640
Patrick Thomas: Sure with any insurance program, whether it’s a traditional guaranteed cost, retros, retentions, captives, self-insured groups, there are pros and cons to all of them. I think a captive is a great opportunity.
317
00:36:00.110 –> 00:36:07.320
Patrick Thomas: I think it’s a fantastic model to where you can control insurance costs differently, have influence over claims.
318
00:36:07.903 –> 00:36:16.500
Patrick Thomas: You need help managing the financial aspect of it. Of what’s the performance, whether it’s a single cell captive or you’re sharing it with members
319
00:36:16.730 –> 00:36:33.450
Patrick Thomas: who are those members? What’s the impact of it? What’s the performance? What are the controls that we’ve built around it? And again, not all captives are the same. Some have lower retentions with higher reinsurance, which could be okay. If you’ve never been in one to where you can begin to explore it.
320
00:36:33.450 –> 00:36:48.380
Patrick Thomas: you could have other ones where we have very large retentions and very little insurance, where we have the data management controls, insight the financial stability to go, pay larger claims or make larger contributions should they occur. All those things are great.
321
00:36:48.610 –> 00:36:55.520
Patrick Thomas: you know. I think the best thing to do as a business is explore good options, whether they’re captives or not.
322
00:36:55.610 –> 00:37:11.060
Patrick Thomas: and make educated decisions of, do does that vehicle right? Support your business’s goals? I think, in a lot of circumstances. The answer is, yes, especially in a world like today, where we have a very hard market and rising insurance costs.
323
00:37:11.150 –> 00:37:15.220
Patrick Thomas: captives can be a brilliant solution to help. You can control those costs.
324
00:37:15.390 –> 00:37:22.249
Patrick Thomas: But we need a certain size and scale and financial stability in order to support that over the long term.
325
00:37:22.450 –> 00:37:25.129
Patrick Thomas: You know, my typical anecdote is.
326
00:37:25.280 –> 00:37:34.649
Patrick Thomas: captives are great. If you’re worried about long term solutions and plannings. Right? If we’re worried about cash flow, retention is probably a more likely outcome.
327
00:37:34.920 –> 00:37:38.460
Patrick Thomas: Right? And that that’s okay. It’s just up to us to help
328
00:37:39.220 –> 00:37:55.480
Patrick Thomas: uncover what the reality of that situation is, so that you can make the best decision for your company, so I might sound like an attorney, because I gave you an answer without saying, Do I like captives or not? Yes, absolutely. We do captive business all day long. I’m very supportive of it, but it’s not for everyone.
329
00:37:56.070 –> 00:37:57.579
Steve Kessler: I understand totally.
330
00:37:57.590 –> 00:38:02.230
Steve Kessler: Here’s kind of a specific question, Patrick. I’ve heard from time to time
331
00:38:02.440 –> 00:38:12.169
Steve Kessler: how do out of service violations impact how you evaluate a person’s status for insurance? Do they have a big impact.
332
00:38:13.080 –> 00:38:18.069
Patrick Thomas: They do so, the out of service violations absolutely do, because it goes back to
333
00:38:18.120 –> 00:38:19.849
Patrick Thomas: the insight and control
334
00:38:20.100 –> 00:38:27.120
Patrick Thomas: right? The violations are a data point for an event that happened where an underwriter is going to look at it and ask
335
00:38:27.470 –> 00:38:28.619
Patrick Thomas: how and why?
336
00:38:28.640 –> 00:38:37.370
Patrick Thomas: Right? And the violation could be simple and mundane. But if we’re not controlling that, just think about what their perception would be for the stuff that is big.
337
00:38:37.830 –> 00:38:38.620
Steve Kessler: Right.
338
00:38:38.620 –> 00:38:48.859
Patrick Thomas: Right. So there absolutely is, is impact to it. It may not be the heaviest weighted assessment tool, but it plays back to the credibility of an operation.
339
00:38:50.120 –> 00:38:51.510
Steve Kessler: Great awesome
340
00:38:52.920 –> 00:38:55.152
Steve Kessler: a question to you.
341
00:38:57.310 –> 00:39:05.100
Steve Kessler: I’m guessing that you support the idea of proper training for what a driver needs to do at the scene of an accident.
342
00:39:05.150 –> 00:39:09.640
Steve Kessler: I understand that makes a great deal of difference sometimes in the outcome.
343
00:39:09.780 –> 00:39:14.400
Steve Kessler: based on what the driver did or didn’t do at the scene of an accident.
344
00:39:16.250 –> 00:39:17.750
Patrick Thomas: 100%.
345
00:39:18.150 –> 00:39:27.499
Patrick Thomas: I mean, obviously the partnership between Acrisure and Infinit-I. We are all about training, whether it’s pre accident or post-accident.
346
00:39:27.700 –> 00:39:50.969
Patrick Thomas: and there are a lot of circumstances post-accident where we wish we got information, statements, pictures, documentation that we didn’t. There could be instances where we driver says the wrong thing. And now it’s that reality that haunts us post-accident that we have to defend in court. So, training of is of most paramount importance
347
00:39:51.080 –> 00:39:59.200
Patrick Thomas: like we. We can’t do enough to train our drivers to document it. I know Infinit-I is taking great measures to help
348
00:39:59.410 –> 00:40:03.090
Patrick Thomas: post-accident. How do we control the situation?
349
00:40:03.200 –> 00:40:06.859
Patrick Thomas: What do we need to record? What shouldn’t we record?
350
00:40:07.340 –> 00:40:08.360
Patrick Thomas: Who do we engage.
351
00:40:08.360 –> 00:40:09.410
Steve Kessler: We say, yeah.
352
00:40:09.410 –> 00:40:10.819
Patrick Thomas: Yeah, like they. It’s
353
00:40:10.830 –> 00:40:16.190
Patrick Thomas: it’s an emotional process. It’s scary. I get it like, when you were in a truck accident.
354
00:40:16.290 –> 00:40:25.880
Patrick Thomas: Your nerves are rattled right so to have the tools at your fingertips at the driver level as well as at your dispatch and safety level working in tandem.
355
00:40:25.910 –> 00:40:40.310
Patrick Thomas: Right? This is, nobody did anything necessarily wrong. We must just address the situation for the reality of it, contain it, preserve it, but do it in a systematic way, so that we are again playing offense, not defense.
356
00:40:40.690 –> 00:40:54.039
Patrick Thomas: So, I’m all for training every driver as much as we can through controlled systems and process and consistency, so that that way nobody can say, well, in this one case you made an exception, and here’s why the outcome was bad.
357
00:40:54.050 –> 00:40:58.749
Patrick Thomas: And now we’ve got a limit, loss or worse punitive damages that get assessed to it.
358
00:40:59.080 –> 00:40:59.650
Steve Kessler: Good
359
00:41:00.070 –> 00:41:08.349
Steve Kessler: one last thing that just actually this popped into my head. A minute ago you were talking about the you know, the technologies we have.
360
00:41:08.380 –> 00:41:10.710
Steve Kessler: you know, collision avoidance
361
00:41:11.359 –> 00:41:28.909
Steve Kessler: technology and lane departure technology. One of the things I’ve heard several people say is because of that technology, the cost of repair has gone up dramatically because of the cost of those things. Any comments around that, or just agree with it?
362
00:41:29.300 –> 00:41:39.879
Patrick Thomas: Yeah, I mean, I would generally agree. I mean, all, all equipment’s more expensive than it used to be. I mean, whether you’re thinking about the personal car. You drive yourself with all the sensors that are in it.
363
00:41:39.880 –> 00:41:40.310
Steve Kessler: Right.
364
00:41:40.310 –> 00:41:55.659
Patrick Thomas: Fender. A bender is no longer 2,500 bucks to put a new fender on your truck right like, if I wreck my truck. I don’t even know what Ford puts in its sensors. Right? It’s going to be expensive. Your factors, right? Your heavy equipment, same things like it’s
365
00:41:55.710 –> 00:42:03.590
Patrick Thomas: it. It is a reality that as equipment is more expensive, it will be more expensive to ensure, and more expensive to repair.
366
00:42:03.590 –> 00:42:04.149
Steve Kessler: Yeah, but.
367
00:42:04.150 –> 00:42:23.619
Patrick Thomas: The tools that are in there should make you better safer operators, so that, you know our frequency is going down. Our severity is going down because of the, you know, Lane departure systems or the anti-collision avoidance systems like, if we’re enabled to make better choices because of technology.
368
00:42:23.940 –> 00:42:33.549
Patrick Thomas: even though that truck might cost 20% more or repair is 20% more. If we’re taking down the chatter of our insurance costs will be beneficiaries of it.
369
00:42:33.840 –> 00:42:35.830
Steve Kessler: Absolutely.
370
00:42:37.340 –> 00:42:43.339
Steve Kessler: Patrick, thank you. I don’t see any other questions coming in, Mark. Do you have any final thoughts or questions?
371
00:42:43.340 –> 00:42:52.330
Mark Rhea: No, no, I I certainly am ready to win the game now. So, the fact is, the risks that we take
372
00:42:52.540 –> 00:43:00.890
Mark Rhea: operating commercial vehicles can be managed there. There are things that can be done to manage that risk.
373
00:43:00.900 –> 00:43:12.930
Mark Rhea: I know they’re underwriters. They’ll just say I didn’t make a difference. Just you know, miles and Miles and things are going to happen out there. But you’ve certainly given us a few things. I I didn’t want to go back. You. You made a comment on cargo
374
00:43:13.170 –> 00:43:17.449
Mark Rhea: insurance? Are the cargo insurance rates going up
375
00:43:18.310 –> 00:43:22.610
Mark Rhea: at the same rate as the liability? And is that being that
376
00:43:23.070 –> 00:43:26.310
Mark Rhea: due to theft or wrecks.
377
00:43:27.280 –> 00:43:43.220
Patrick Thomas: So, theft has had impact in in the cargo market, but not to the same degree is liability. Our liability insurance across the nation has seen increases year over year over year that are significantly higher.
378
00:43:43.735 –> 00:43:53.229
Patrick Thomas: The inland marine market which supports motor truck cargo, you know, while in some pockets has trended upward. It’s not even close to the same degree.
379
00:43:53.350 –> 00:43:54.540
Patrick Thomas: right? So
380
00:43:54.740 –> 00:44:15.909
Patrick Thomas: we can win the insurance cargo game with fewer controls. However, if you’re hauling sensitive. You know, products, whether their temperature controlled, high value, target commodities. You know, those are all things that impact it. But again, you can control that, that if we haul TVs going into downtown Los Angeles or apple watches going into Chicago.
381
00:44:16.120 –> 00:44:20.619
Patrick Thomas: that’s a much different risk than if we’re hauling paper going into Boise
382
00:44:21.030 –> 00:44:25.490
Patrick Thomas: right, and those all become material factors for cost and consideration.
383
00:44:27.500 –> 00:44:33.840
Mark Rhea: Something someone should consider for, for routine training is security of your cargo, and
384
00:44:33.930 –> 00:44:39.369
Mark Rhea: how people are stealing it, where they’re stealing it, where to park, where not to park those type of things is
385
00:44:39.450 –> 00:44:41.178
Mark Rhea: are much more
386
00:44:41.960 –> 00:44:44.679
Mark Rhea: visible today than they have been in the past.
387
00:44:44.850 –> 00:44:55.170
Patrick Thomas: Right, like just giving it fair thought and consideration of you know, do we have the right security measures, both at the terminal and on the road, whether we’re stopped or not.
388
00:44:55.280 –> 00:45:05.249
Patrick Thomas: Right? Do we have GPS Units tracking it? Do we have the insight to how the equipment is being used right where it’s going? Do we have preassigned stops?
389
00:45:05.270 –> 00:45:21.180
Patrick Thomas: Or is it just random, right? Like those are all elements that with some planning we can control. That is, we present back to an insurance market is more secure and confident in their decision, ultimately giving you a better outcome, right? A predictable outcome of cost.
390
00:45:24.050 –> 00:45:32.709
Steve Kessler: Outstanding. Patrick. Thank you all very. Thank you very much. Some really good information. Just a little word to everybody out there
391
00:45:33.300 –> 00:45:42.490
Steve Kessler: we’ll be sending out an email with a link to the replay of this webinar that way. You can share it with some folks that couldn’t join today, because I think there’s
392
00:45:42.700 –> 00:45:47.220
Steve Kessler: a lot of valuable information in this presentation.
393
00:45:47.240 –> 00:45:52.410
Steve Kessler: So, Patrick, once again thank you for your time today and your expertise.
394
00:45:52.952 –> 00:46:04.130
Steve Kessler: Mark, thank you for joining us, and thanks to everybody out there that joined us today, and look forward to an invite to our next webinar, which I believe is next week on the 26.th
395
00:46:04.631 –> 00:46:08.248
Steve Kessler: We’re going to have a gentleman. Talk to us about
396
00:46:08.900 –> 00:46:22.359
Steve Kessler: accident reconstruction. We’ve gotten a lot of questions about that, and when should they be involved? And what do they do? Exactly. So, you all can look forward to that, Patrick. Thank you, sir, appreciate you.
397
00:46:22.360 –> 00:46:24.940
Patrick Thomas: Thank you for having me here. Let’s go win the insurance game.
398
00:46:25.210 –> 00:46:27.130
Mark Rhea: We have.
399
00:46:27.130 –> 00:46:28.330
Steve Kessler: Great thanks.
400
00:46:28.330 –> 00:46:29.030
Patrick Thomas: Take care!
401
00:46:29.030 –> 00:46:30.479
Steve Kessler: Alright! Bye, everyone.
Infinit-I’s Top Takeaways
This webinar, titled “Winning the Insurance Game: How High-Performing Trucking Companies Are Fighting Back Against Rising Insurance Costs,” was part of the Infinit-I Workforce Solutions Fast Forward Webinar Series. Hosted by Steve Kessler, the webinar featured Patrick Thomas as the main speaker, with additional participation from Mark Rhea. The discussion focused on strategies for trucking companies to manage and reduce their insurance costs.
Key points from the webinar:
- Insurance costs for trucking companies have been rising significantly, particularly for liability insurance.
- High-performing companies are using data and technology to improve safety and reduce insurance costs.
- Implementing consistent training programs and safety protocols can help mitigate risks and lower insurance premiums.
- Advanced technologies like collision avoidance and lane departure systems, while increasing repair costs, can lead to fewer accidents and lower overall insurance costs.
- Cargo insurance rates have not increased as dramatically as liability insurance, but theft remains a concern.
- Companies should consider the type of cargo they transport and implement appropriate security measures to manage risk.
The webinar emphasized that while insurance costs in the trucking industry are rising, companies can take proactive steps to manage these costs. By focusing on safety, leveraging technology, and implementing robust training programs, trucking companies can “win the insurance game” and maintain more predictable and manageable insurance expenses. The speakers encouraged attendees to apply these strategies to improve their insurance outcomes and overall operational efficiency.
FAQs
Why are insurance costs rising for trucking companies?
Insurance costs are rising due to increased accident rates, higher repair costs, and larger lawsuit settlements. When preparing for insurance renewal, trucking companies need to demonstrate their commitment to safety and risk management to mitigate these rising costs.
How can trucking companies reduce their insurance premiums?
When preparing for insurance renewal, trucking companies can reduce premiums by implementing comprehensive safety programs, utilizing advanced technologies like collision avoidance systems, maintaining clean driving records, and providing consistent driver training.
What role does data play in preparing for insurance renewal?
Data is crucial in preparing for insurance renewal. Trucking companies should collect and analyze safety data, accident reports, and driver performance metrics to demonstrate their risk management efforts to insurers and potentially negotiate better rates.
How important is driver training when preparing for insurance renewal?
Driver training is extremely important when preparing for insurance renewal. Consistent, comprehensive training programs can significantly reduce accident rates and demonstrate to insurers that your company is committed to safety, potentially leading to lower premiums.
What technologies should trucking companies invest in to improve their insurance rates?
When preparing for insurance renewal, consider investing in technologies such as collision avoidance systems, lane departure warnings, telematics, and electronic logging devices. These can help reduce accidents and provide valuable data for insurers.
How does cargo type affect insurance costs and renewal?
The type of cargo you transport can significantly impact your insurance costs. When preparing for insurance renewal, be prepared to discuss your cargo types, especially if you transport high-value or high-risk goods, and demonstrate your security measures.
What steps should owner-operators take when preparing for insurance renewal?
Owner-operators should focus on maintaining a clean driving record, investing in safety technologies for their truck, completing regular safety training, and keeping detailed records of their safety practices when preparing for insurance renewal.
How can trucking companies address cargo theft concerns when renewing insurance?
When preparing for insurance renewal, demonstrate your cargo security measures such as GPS tracking, secure parking practices, and driver training on theft prevention. This can help address insurers’ concerns about cargo theft and potentially lower premiums.
What documentation should trucking companies prepare for insurance renewal?
When preparing for insurance renewal, gather documentation of your safety programs, driver training records, accident reports and resolutions, maintenance logs, and any data demonstrating improvements in safety metrics or risk management efforts.
How far in advance should trucking companies start preparing for insurance renewal?
Trucking companies should start preparing for insurance renewal at least 3-6 months before their current policy expires. This gives ample time to implement improvements, gather necessary data, and shop around for the best rates.
What role do safety managers play in preparing for insurance renewal?
Safety managers are crucial in preparing for insurance renewal. They should lead efforts to implement and document safety programs, analyze safety data, coordinate driver training, and prepare reports demonstrating the company’s commitment to risk management.
How can trucking companies leverage their safety record when renewing insurance?
When preparing for insurance renewal, highlight improvements in your safety record, such as reduced accident rates or fewer violations. Present this data clearly to insurers, demonstrating how your safety initiatives have reduced risk over time.
What impact does fleet size have on insurance renewal for trucking companies?
Fleet size can affect insurance rates, with larger fleets often benefiting from economies of scale. However, regardless of size, when preparing for insurance renewal, focus on demonstrating strong safety practices and risk management across your entire fleet.
How should trucking companies address past accidents when renewing insurance?
When preparing for insurance renewal, be transparent about past accidents but focus on the corrective actions taken. Demonstrate how you’ve improved safety measures, retrained drivers, or implemented new technologies to prevent similar incidents in the future.
What are some common mistakes to avoid when preparing for insurance renewal?
Common mistakes include waiting until the last minute to start preparing, failing to gather comprehensive data, not showcasing safety improvements, and neglecting to shop around for different insurance options. Start early and be thorough in your preparation.
How can trucking companies negotiate better terms during insurance renewal?
When preparing for insurance renewal, arm yourself with data demonstrating your safety improvements and risk management efforts. Consider working with an experienced insurance broker who understands the trucking industry, and be prepared to showcase how you’ve addressed any past issues or concerns.