Florida commercial auto and fleet insurance,
for vehicles that work for a living.
Commercial auto insurance covers the vehicles your Florida business runs: a single work van in Sarasota, a contractor's trucks in Bradenton, a small fleet running the Gulf Coast out of Tampa or St. Petersburg. Hendrickson Insurance is appointed with Progressive Commercial, the largest commercial auto and truck insurer in the country, and writes cars, vans, pickups, trucks, trailers and specialty units through its programs, with wholesaler markets for what falls outside them. Florida sets the legal minimums by vehicle weight. Your contracts set the real limits, and that is what we quote to. Not sure which side of the line your vehicle is on? See how personal and commercial auto differ in Florida.
What a commercial auto policy actually covers.
Bodily injury and property damage your vehicles cause to others, and the defense. Florida's financial responsibility law is the floor; the general contractor, venue or shipper you work for writes the real limit into the contract, and $1,000,000 combined single limit is what they ask for.
Comprehensive and collision on your own trucks, vans and trailers: theft, storm, flood water in a parking lot, and wrecks. Stated amount or actual cash value, with the deductible you choose. Hurricane season is why Gulf Coast fleets carry comprehensive on units they would otherwise self-insure.
Liability for vehicles your business uses but does not own: rented trucks and employees running errands in their own cars. The suit after an employee's crash names the business. This is the coverage that answers it, and most contracts require it.
The freight in your care, which auto liability and physical damage never cover. For-hire haulers, movers, auto haulers and anyone carrying goods for others need it, and the shipper will ask for the certificate.
Florida is a no-fault state. Personal injury protection applies to commercial vehicles registered here and pays the driver's and passengers' medical costs regardless of fault; medical payments can sit on top of it.
One policy, one renewal, consistent limits on every unit, and a schedule we keep current as trucks and drivers come and go, so nothing runs uninsured between the purchase and the phone call.
The minimums, and why nobody buys the minimum.
Five Progressive programs. Almost any vehicle.
Cars and light trucks across most industries: consulting and professional firms, health and social services, wholesale and retail, real estate, cleaning crews, light manufacturing. If your business runs cars and light trucks, this is usually their home.
The work trucks and vans that show up to the job every day: landscapers, general contractors, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, concrete and asphalt, and heavy construction. Rated with the trade and the radius.
Freight that moves for others: for-hire trucking, auto haulers, refrigerated and agricultural hauling, expediters, movers and heavy equipment. Federal filings and cargo coverage live here.
Purpose-built units standard programs will not touch: dirt, sand and gravel, garbage and debris, scrap and recycling, log haulers. Heavier units with their own underwriting.
Wreckers and rollback carriers for towing services, auto repair and body shops, with on-hook and garagekeepers coverage for the vehicles in your care. A class most agents cannot place.
Commercial auto is rated by radius of operation. A landscaper working around Sarasota rates differently from a carrier running the length of Florida. Getting the radius right keeps the premium accurate and the claim paid.
One vehicle or a fleet, same process.
- Each vehicle: year, make, model, VIN, gross vehicle weight, and whether it is owned, leased or financed
- How each unit is used and how far it travels from the garaging address
- Every driver: name, date of birth and license number, including owners who drive
- The insurance paragraph from any contract, lease or shipper agreement you work under
- Current declarations page and three to five years of loss runs
- DOT and MC numbers if you have them, and whether you need federal filings
Send it through the commercial auto application. A contractor who also needs GL and workers comp can use the contractor application and we quote the account together; the garage and auto repair application is here.
Florida commercial auto insurance, answered plainly.
What commercial auto limits does Florida require?
For light vehicles, the same minimums as personal auto: $10,000 personal injury protection and $10,000 property damage liability. For heavier commercial vehicles section 627.7415 sets combined bodily injury and property damage minimums of $50,000 per occurrence at 26,000 to 34,999 pounds, $100,000 at 35,000 to 43,999 pounds, and $300,000 at 44,000 pounds and up. Vehicles subject to federal motor carrier rules carry the federal amounts instead. No contract we see accepts the statutory minimum; $1,000,000 combined single limit is the working standard.
What does a for-hire trucker need?
Interstate for-hire carriers of non-hazardous freight in vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more must carry $750,000 of liability under 49 CFR 387.9. Oil and most hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and bulk hazardous substances, certain explosives and radioactive loads require $5,000,000. Shippers and brokers routinely require $1,000,000 regardless of the federal floor, plus motor truck cargo, which auto liability does not cover.
Do I need commercial auto if employees drive their own cars for work?
You need hired and non-owned auto liability. If an employee causes a crash while running a work errand in her own car, her personal policy pays first and your business is sued next. Hired and non-owned auto responds to that suit. It is inexpensive and most venue, property management and general contractor agreements require it.
Can I insure a work truck on my personal auto policy?
Usually not for long. Personal policies exclude or restrict business use, a truck titled to an LLC cannot be on a personal policy, and a claim adjuster will ask what the vehicle was doing. If it has your business name on the door, hauls tools or materials, or is driven by employees, it belongs on a commercial policy. We walk through where the line sits in personal vs commercial auto in Florida.
How is commercial auto priced?
By vehicle type and weight, radius of operation, what it is used for, the drivers on it, and loss history. A landscaper's pickup working 50 miles around Sarasota rates differently from the same truck running the length of the state, and a tow truck or dump truck is its own class. We rate it on the real use, because an audit or a claim will. Why the whole Florida market keeps rising, from the verdict data to DOT's licensing audits, is in why commercial auto insurance in Florida keeps going up.
Which carriers do you use?
Hendrickson Insurance is appointed with Progressive Commercial, the largest commercial auto and truck insurer in the country, across its business auto, contractor, for-hire transportation, specialty truck and tow programs. For accounts that do not fit, we place through the wholesalers we use for the rest of the commercial book.
How do I get a Florida commercial auto quote?
Use the commercial auto application or call 941-957-2796. We need each vehicle's year, make, model, VIN and weight, how it is used and how far it travels, every driver's license number and date of birth, the garaging address, current policy and three to five years of loss runs. One vehicle or a fleet, same process.
Do you write commercial truck insurance quotes in Sarasota?
Yes. Hendrickson Insurance writes Sarasota commercial truck insurance quotes for single trucks, tow trucks and small for-hire fleets through Progressive Commercial and our wholesale truck programs. A truck quote needs each unit's VIN and gross vehicle weight, radius of operation, the operation type (local delivery, for-hire, towing), driver license numbers and loss runs.
You may also need.
Liability for the business itself. Auto liability stops at the vehicle.
02 / Related CoverageRequired at four employees, one in construction. Drivers are employees.
03 / Related CoverageExcess over auto and GL when a shipper or GC asks for more than $1,000,000.
04 / Related CoverageFor the family cars, written by the same agent so the two policies do not leave a gap.
Where the numbers come from.
- Section 627.7415, Florida Statutes, commercial motor vehicle liability minimums by weight (2025): www.flsenate.gov
- Section 627.736, Florida Statutes, personal injury protection benefits (2025): www.flsenate.gov
- Section 324.022, Florida Statutes, property damage liability financial responsibility (2025): www.flsenate.gov
- 49 CFR 387.9, federal minimum financial responsibility for motor carriers (2024 edition): www.govinfo.gov
- Progressive Commercial, number one commercial auto insurer in the country by written premium (company statement): www.progressivecommercial.com
Call 941-957-2796 or start your application online.