CALCULATOR / FREE
Truck insurance cost estimator
Estimate a yearly truck insurance premium from your miles and ATRI's 2025 industry average of 10.6 cents a mile, see which factors push your price up, and check a real quote against the average.
How it is calculated
The estimator starts from one sourced number: ATRI's industry-average insurance cost of 10.6 cents per mile in 2025, up from 10.2 cents in 2024, from its annual operational costs research.
Average premium = your miles a year × 10.6 cents. The likely range is that average plus or minus 25%. The 25% spread is our planning assumption, not data, and you can change it, along with the per-mile figure, under "Assumptions".
The checkboxes don't change the dollar figure. They show which common rating factors apply to you and which way they usually push a premium, because no public source publishes insurer-by-insurer factors we could cite honestly. If two or more push up, plan for the top of the range or above it.
SOURCE: ATRI OPERATIONAL COSTS DATA, REPORTED BY FREIGHTWAVES, JUL 2026
A worked example
An EXAMPLE owner-operator runs 110,000 miles a year with a 2-year-old authority and a clean record.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Premium, 110,000 mi at $0.106/miAbout $972 a month | ($11,660.00) |
| NET | ($11,660.00) |
That is about $11,660 a year, or $972 a month, with a likely range of $8,745 to $14,575. If the best quote comes back at $16,500, it is 15 cents a mile, well above average, and worth asking why: limits, deductibles, the truck's value or the driving record.
What a good or bad result means
A quote near or under the average for your miles is normal for an established carrier. A quote 30% or more above it isn't automatically wrong, especially for a new authority, but it is a reason to get a second and third quote with identical limits. Then put the real number into the trucking cost per mile calculator, and see what it does to your floor rate with owner-operator rates per mile.
State matters too. Premiums differ by where you are based and where you run, and we don't apply a state factor because there is no public data we trust for it. Your agent will.
What insurance does not cover
Liability, cargo and physical damage pay for accidents and losses. They don't pay when an engine, transmission or aftertreatment system fails on its own. A breakdown protection plan covers repairs like those for eligible class 3-8 trucks. It isn't insurance and doesn't replace any coverage you are required to carry.
More on what a roadside failure really costs is in our guide to truck breakdowns. Building a first-year budget? Add your quote to the trucking startup cost calculator, and see what dispatch adds on our dispatch pricing page.
Calculator questions
Q01How much is truck insurance a year?
ATRI's 2025 cost data puts the industry average at about 10.6 cents per mile, or roughly $10,600 for a truck running 100,000 miles. That average comes mostly from established fleets. New authorities, young drivers and high cargo limits usually pay more, so get real quotes before you budget.
Q02How do I get a commercial truck insurance quote?
Contact an agent who writes trucking policies, ideally two or three. Have your USDOT and MC numbers, driver details and history, the truck's year, value and VIN, your radius and states, the cargo you haul and the limits you need. Ask each to quote the same limits so the numbers compare.
Q03What is box truck insurance cost compared with a semi?
A 26 ft box truck usually has a lower vehicle value than a tractor-trailer, which lowers physical damage cost, but liability limits and your record still drive most of the price. Use this estimator with your own miles, then compare real box truck insurance quotes, since rates vary widely by state and insurer.
Q04What insurance does an owner-operator need?
Under 49 CFR 387.9, most general freight carriers with vehicles of 10,001 lb or more need at least $750,000 of liability coverage, and brokers commonly ask for $1 million plus cargo coverage, often $100,000. Physical damage covers your own truck. Confirm the right coverage for your operation with a licensed agent.
By Daniel
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Insurance is fixed. The rate you haul for isn't.
Our dispatchers negotiate loads for every equipment type, from 26 ft box trucks to step decks, and every rate con comes to your company to sign or refuse.