Great West Casualty vs Progressive for trucking

How each one works

Great West Casualty Company was created in 1956 to serve trucking and joined the Old Republic Insurance Group in 1985, according to its company history. It says it partners with more than 200 independent agencies that specialize in truck insurance, insures more than 60,000 trucking companies and offers coverage in 46 states. Its site now presents the company as “Great West, an Old Republic Company.”

Progressive Commercial is the commercial arm of Progressive, whose truck pages are issued under Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliates. Progressive says it is the No. 1 truck insurer in America, based on S&P Global Market Intelligence 2025 national written premium data, and that it offers truck insurance in all 50 states. It sells online, by phone and through independent agents, and notes that prices vary based on how you buy.

Great West and Progressive side by side

The table summarizes what each company publishes about its trucking business. Products and states can change, so confirm the details with the insurer or your agent.

Coverage differences

Both write the core trucking lines: auto liability, physical damage, motor truck cargo, truckers’ general liability, non-trucking liability for leased owner-operators and trailer interchange. Both also explain the FMCSA liability minimum, which Great West gives as $750,000 for interstate carriers and Progressive as $750,000 or $1 million depending on cargo and vehicle type.

The differences are in the extras. Great West’s cargo page lists refrigeration breakdown and spoilage among the losses its cargo coverage addresses and says it does not impose a coinsurance penalty, an attended-cargo rule, a locked-vehicle warranty or a tarped-load warranty. It also writes workers’ comp itself in every state except the monopolistic states of North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming, plus occupational accident, excess limits, captives and large-deductible programs.

Progressive adds refrigeration breakdown as a cargo endorsement and offers Cargo Plus, which extends cargo coverage to wetness, rust and corrosion. Its rental reimbursement with downtime can replace lost income for up to 30 days when no rental truck is available, and it offers heavy truck roadside assistance. Workers’ comp and the stand-alone business policies sold through its Advantage Business Program, including general liability and professional liability, are underwritten by carriers Progressive selects rather than by Progressive itself.

• Great West owner-operator options: equipment coverage, non-trucking use and Choice Coverage Plus, which pays towing and roadside labor after a mechanical breakdown
• Great West specialty programs: bulk commodity carriers, freight brokers and freight forwarders
• Progressive filings: it handles BMC-91X and MCS-90 for interstate carriers and state forms such as Form E, Form H and Texas Form T

Prices, discounts and telematics

Progressive publishes averages from its own book. It reports that 2025 new for-hire truck policies averaged $734 a month for specialty truckers, such as garbage or logging haulers, and $926 a month for transport truckers hauling general freight or autos. Those figures are per power unit, for liability and physical damage, on policies with no driver violations. Progressive also says most customers can save 10% or more by paying in full.

Progressive’s Smart Haul program uses data from your electronic logging device. Progressive says new customers who enrolled between February and August 2025 saved an average of $1,261, that some customers are required to participate and that driving data can raise or lower premiums at renewal.

Great West does not publish average premiums on the pages we reviewed, so your price comes through an agent’s quote. Its InsightDriven program pays qualifying motor carriers a subsidy of $300 a year per truck for sharing camera data or $150 for sharing ELD data, and gives them a portal with insights on their fleet’s driving.

Who each tends to fit

Great West’s pages are written for motor carriers that want a trucking specialist across several lines. Fleets with employees can place auto, cargo, general liability, excess and workers’ comp with one trucking insurer, and larger operations can work with its National Accounts team or look at captives and large-deductible programs. Bulk commodity haulers, freight brokers and freight forwarders have dedicated programs.

Progressive’s truck pages speak to owner-operators, motor carriers and private carriers, including vocational truckers who haul dirt, gravel or logs. It suits buyers who want to start a quote online or by phone, see published average prices, use pay-in-full and ELD discounts and have the insurer handle their federal and state filings. Carriers based in one of the states where Great West does not offer coverage will also find Progressive available in all 50.

Buying, safety services and claims

With Great West, you work through a trucking-focused independent agent, who asks how you operate: whether you are leased to a carrier or run your own authority, whether you own your tractors, what you haul and whether you have employees, an office or a shop. Great West says safety and loss control tools, motor carrier resources and a video learning library come with its truck coverage, along with company and driver safety awards.

Great West offers 24/7 claims service and assigns a dedicated contact to each claim, and its mobile app lets you print ID cards, file and view claims and review driver and equipment details. Progressive also offers 24/7 truck claims handling with in-house adjusters and a network of more than 100 heavy truck repair shops. It notes that 13 states, including Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, have no heavy truck network shop.

Why comparing several quotes matters

Truck insurance prices depend on your authority, operating radius, cargo, drivers and inspection history, and each insurer weighs those factors differently. A quote from one insurer tells you little about what another would charge for the same operation, and appetite for particular commodities and new authorities differs from one insurer to the next.

Compare the same limits, deductibles and endorsements side by side, and check cargo exclusions, how non-trucking and trailer interchange are handled and whether workers’ comp sits with the same insurer. A broker such as Florin can compare quotes from several insurers for your operation.