Businesses that use vehicles in the course of their regular operations need to carry some form of auto insurance. There are several different types of commercial auto insurance available, though, and what kind your business needs depends on what sort of vehicles it uses. 

Few Company-Owned Vehicles: Traditional Commercial Auto Insurance

If your business owns one or a few commercially registered vehicles, you should look at the traditional commercial auto insurance options that are available. These policies are a lot like personal auto insurance policies that individuals purchase, but they're adapted for business driving (as opposed to personal driving) and underwritten for commercially registered vehicles.

In most cases, commercial auto insurance policies offer coverage for a company's vehicles themselves, items kept inside the vehicles, and damage or injuries that result from an employee-caused accident. However, these protections usually only apply to one or a small number of vehicles.

Many Company-Owned Vehicles: Fleet Insurance

If your business owns a bunch of commercially registered vehicles, a fleet insurance policy is likely more appropriate than a traditional commercial auto insurance policy.

Fleet insurance offers many of the same protections that traditional commercial auto insurance makes available, but fleet policies are adjusted to account for many vehicles. These policies typically come with high limits that can be applied to any insured vehicle rather than only one or two.

Additionally, fleet insurance tends to be a much more affordable way to insure a large number of vehicles. A fleet policy usually costs substantially less than purchasing a traditional commercial auto insurance policy for each vehicle.

Company-Owned Trucks: Truck Insurance

Risks change once you move from basic vehicles, such as cars and vans, and into the realm of trucks. Commercial trucks often carry large amounts of inventory, which is sometimes valuable, and they're exposed to risks that simply aren't present when employees drive much smaller cars.

If your business owns one or more commercial trucks, the business will need some form of truck insurance. This insurance has some coverages that are similar to traditional auto insurance policies' protections, but truck insurance also has some unique coverages. For example, a truck policy might cover:

• Pollution that occurs if hazardous materials spill during an accident
• Accident that occurs during non-work driving when a trailer isn't connected to the cab
• Damage to trailers that a trucking company tows but doesn't own

In many cases, the cargo coverage limits that truck policies offer are also much higher.

For more information, contact a company with services such as business insurance for your company's vehicles.