$734 a month per truck
Garbage truck auto
Progressive Commercial 2025 average for for-hire specialty trucks such as garbage trucks
Trucking and transportation
Garbage and waste hauling insurance
For roll-off, dumpster rental, junk removal and trash collection operators: what coverage costs, which rules apply and what underwriters ask for.
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What similar businesses pay
- Garbage truck auto
- $734 a month per truck
- Commercial auto
- About $268 a month
- General liability
- About $138 a month
Published benchmarks, not quotes. Your price depends on underwriting.
Cost
What garbage and waste hauling insurance costs
About $268 a month
Commercial auto
Insureon median for debris removal and construction businesses, updated July 2026
About $138 a month
General liability
Insureon median for debris and junk removal contractors, updated July 2026
About $175 a month
Workers’ comp
Insureon median for debris removal and construction businesses, updated July 2026
The two sets of figures describe different businesses. Progressive’s $734 is its 2025 average new-policy premium per truck for liability and physical damage on policies with no driver violations, grouping garbage trucks with other specialty haulers. Insureon’s medians, about $3,212 a year for commercial auto, $1,650 for general liability and $2,101 for workers’ comp, come mostly from customers with fewer than five employees, which fits a junk removal crew more than a roll-off fleet. Each packer or roll-off truck adds its own auto premium, so fleet size, truck values and driver records decide most of the bill.
What moves your price
- Truck type and value: roll-off, rear-load or front-load trucks versus a box truck or dump trailer
- What you haul: household junk, construction debris, commercial trash or anything hazardous such as asbestos or e-waste
- Each driver’s record and years of experience with heavy trucks
- Where trucks are garaged and the routes, alleys and job sites they work
- Payroll and the number of helpers riding and lifting on each truck
- The liability limits city licenses and commercial customers require
- Your claims history
Risks
The risks insurers price for
Backing over a helper or pedestrian
Alleys, cul-de-sacs and tight lots mean constant reversing. NIOSH counted 310 deaths tied to refuse trucks from 2012 to 2022, 74% of them transportation incidents, which include struck-bys. It recommends spotters, cameras and radar.
A helper falls from the riding step
On rear-load routes, workers ride the step between stops. NIOSH estimates 26% of transportation-related refuse truck injuries treated in emergency rooms from 2012 to 2022 came from a fall or jump from the truck. Industry guidance it cites says no one should ride the step while backing or above 10 mph.
Hit by passing traffic at the curb
Crews work in live lanes beside a stopped truck. Waste Dive’s analysis of 2024 BLS data counted 32 deaths in solid waste collection, 23 of them transportation incidents. NIOSH says 30 states had extended Move Over laws to refuse vehicles as of 2023.
A battery fire in the hopper or a container
Lithium batteries thrown out with trash ignite when compacted or crushed. EPA found 245 fires at 64 waste facilities, including garbage trucks, caused or likely caused by lithium batteries from 2013 to 2020 in 28 states. A fire can destroy a packer body or spread from a roll-off to a customer’s building.
A roll-off dropped on a driveway or left in the street
Setting a loaded or empty container can crack concrete, crush landscaping or break a sprinkler line, and a container left in the street can be hit at night. Depending on the wording, the claim can land on your auto or general liability policy, so make sure the two fit together without a gap.
A junk removal crew inside a customer’s home
Carrying sofas, appliances and pianos down stairs gouges floors, cracks door frames and strains backs. Damage to the home falls on general liability and injuries to your crew on workers’ comp.
Coverage
Coverage to consider
Commercial auto liability
Pays for injuries and property damage your trucks cause to others. It is required by law, and city hauler licenses and commercial contracts often ask for higher limits.
How commercial auto works →Physical damage
Collision covers your truck after a crash or rollover; comprehensive covers non-collision damage such as vandalism and severe weather, per Progressive. Liability alone pays nothing toward a packer body or roll-off hoist.
How commercial auto works →General liability
Covers damage and injuries you cause away from driving: a cracked driveway, a damaged doorframe on a junk pickup, a customer who trips over a container. Insureon’s typical policy for debris removal carries $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate.
How general liability works →Workers’ compensation
Covers drivers and helpers hurt lifting, riding or working beside the truck. BLS counted 37.4 deaths per 100,000 full-time refuse and recyclable material collectors in 2024, more than 11 times the 3.3 rate for all workers.
How workers’ compensation works →Inland marine for containers and equipment
Roll-off containers spend most of their life at customer sites. Insureon notes standard property insurance only covers items at your business location, while inland marine covers equipment in transit or at a job site; items over $2,500 may need to be scheduled.
Pollution liability
Hydraulic leaks, spilled loads and hazardous items mixed into junk can bring cleanup claims. Insureon says work with asbestos or e-waste can require specific policies; its small-business median for environmental liability is about $223 a month.
Hired and non-owned auto
For junk removal crews using rented trucks or their own pickups. Insureon points businesses using leased, rented or personal vehicles to this coverage.
How commercial auto works →Umbrella or excess
Adds limits above auto, general and employer’s liability when a city license or customer asks for more than your primary policy. Insureon’s median for debris removal and construction businesses is about $93 a month.
How umbrella / excess works →Rules
Requirements and filings
Most local trash, roll-off and junk trucks answer to state and city rules. Federal minimums under 49 CFR 387.9 apply to for-hire carriers crossing state lines and to hazardous waste haulers, and city licenses often set higher limits.
| Requirement | Applies to | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Federal minimum liability | For-hire interstate carriers of nonhazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 lb or more | $750,000 under 49 CFR 387.9. Haulers that stay within one state follow that state’s minimums instead. |
| Hazardous waste liability | For-hire and private carriers in vehicles of 10,001 lb or more | $1,000,000 under 49 CFR 387.9 for hazardous waste in any quantity across state lines, or in bulk within a state. Certain bulk hazardous materials require $5,000,000. |
| EPA identification number | Anyone transporting hazardous waste | 40 CFR 263.11 bars transporting hazardous waste without an EPA ID number, requested on EPA Form 8700-12. |
| New York City trade waste license | Private haulers removing commercial waste in New York City | The Business Integrity Commission’s license application asks for $2,000,000 auto liability, $5,000,000 general liability naming the commission as additional insured and $1,500,000 employer’s liability, plus $500 per truck. |
| Maintenance and inspection records | Waste hauling trucks | Progressive notes Department of Transportation rules for maintaining waste haulers and warns a truck that has not had legally required maintenance may not be covered. |
| Contract and permit certificates | Work for contractors, property managers and municipalities | Customers and cities commonly set their own limits and ask to be named as additional insureds. Check certificate terms before you bid or set a container in the street. |
Compare garbage and waste hauling insurance options.
One application, quotes from several insurers, reviewed by a licensed agent. Start with your email and finish later if you need to.
Pay less
How to lower the cost
- Share ELD data: Progressive says new customers who enroll in its Smart Haul program save an average of $1,261.
- Fit backup cameras and radar and use a spotter when reversing, as NIOSH recommends for refuse trucks.
- Keep helpers off the riding step while backing or above 10 mph, the practice NIOSH cites from industry guidance.
- Tell customers in writing that batteries, propane tanks and hazardous items are not accepted.
- Keep maintenance and inspection records for every truck and hire drivers with clean records.
- Compare quotes at renewal; Florin is an independent broker that compares options from several insurers.
Before you start
What underwriters ask for
- USDOT number, state permits and any city hauler licenses
- Truck schedule with VINs, body types, values, annual mileage and any lienholder
- Driver list with license numbers, CDL class and years of heavy truck experience
- What you haul: household junk, construction debris, commercial trash, any hazardous waste or e-waste
- Number, sizes and values of roll-off containers
- Payroll split between drivers, helpers and office staff
- Loss runs from your current and prior insurers
- Limits your customers and cities require on certificates
Common questions
Garbage and waste hauling insurance: questions
Does a junk removal business with a pickup and trailer need commercial auto?
Usually yes for vehicles the business owns, which Insureon says most states require. If your crew uses rented trucks or personal vehicles, hired and non-owned auto coverage fills that gap.
Are my roll-off containers covered while they sit at a customer’s site?
Not under standard property insurance, which Insureon says only covers items at your business location. Inland marine coverage protects equipment at job sites and in transit; Insureon’s median is about $42 a month.
Do local garbage trucks need the federal $750,000 minimum?
Usually not. Under 49 CFR 387.9 the $750,000 minimum applies to for-hire carriers of nonhazardous property in interstate commerce. Hauling hazardous waste raises the minimum to $1,000,000, even for private carriers.
Why is workers’ comp so expensive for waste haulers?
The work is among the most dangerous in the country. BLS put refuse and recyclable material collectors at 37.4 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers in 2024, against 3.3 for all workers.
What insurance does a New York City trade waste license require?
The Business Integrity Commission’s application asks for $2,000,000 in auto liability, $5,000,000 in general liability with the commission as additional insured and $1,500,000 in employer’s liability. Confirm current terms with the commission before you apply.
Do I need pollution coverage for junk removal?
If you take hazardous or contaminated items, likely. Insureon says jobs involving materials such as asbestos or e-waste can require specific policies, and its small-business median for environmental liability is about $223 a month.
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Sources (11)
- Insureon: debris and junk removal insurance cost (updated July 2026)
- Insureon: environmental liability insurance cost
- Progressive Commercial: garbage truck insurance
- Progressive Commercial: how much is commercial auto insurance (2025)
- BLS: rate and number of fatal work injuries in selected occupations, 2024
- Waste Dive: waste worker fatalities in 2024 BLS data (February 2026)
- NIOSH: Preventing struck-by injuries and deaths when working with refuse trucks (2024-123)
- EPA: An analysis of lithium-ion battery fires in waste management and recycling (July 2021)
- eCFR: 49 CFR 387.9, minimum levels of financial responsibility
- eCFR: 40 CFR Part 263, standards for transporters of hazardous waste
- NYC Business Integrity Commission: trade waste removal license application
Figures are published third-party estimates, not quotes. Coverage depends on policy terms and underwriting, and rules vary by state. Updated October 2026.