Playbook for trucking insurance agents · Updated October 2026

How to win new authority trucking accounts

New authorities are hard to win for a simple reason: everyone selling to truckers gets the same public record on the same day. The agents who write them consistently do three things well. They reach the carrier before the policy's bound, they show up ready with what the underwriter will ask for, and they open the call with something specific.

1. Know when they're shopping

A new carrier can't go active until an insurance filing lands with FMCSA, and the rules give them 90 days from publication of the application to get it done (49 CFR 365.109). In practice the window is much shorter. Of the carriers that applied between July 1 and August 9, 2026 and went on to file insurance, a quarter filed within 9 days, half within 21 days, and three quarters within 36.

That gives you a rough calendar:

• Days 1 to 10: the early buyers. Many already have a quote from whoever they called first. Being second is still fine if you're faster to bind.
• Days 10 to 40: the bulk of the market. They're comparing quotes, getting declined, or waiting on a truck.
• After day 40 with nothing on file: some have stalled on a down payment or a driver who won't qualify, and some will never run. Fewer of them buy, but the ones who do tend to stick with the agent who helped.
• After the grant: they're insured. Your next shot is a lapse or their first renewal.

Carriers whose liability gets cancelled are the other urgent group. A cancellation shows up in the public record, and a carrier without a replacement filing can lose the authority. Those calls are short and to the point, because the carrier already knows what they need.

2. Have the underwriting questions ready

New-venture markets differ, but the questions repeat. Agents who collect these on the first call save a week of back and forth:

• Driver: date of birth, CDL date and years driving the same kind of truck. Several new-venture programs want at least two years of CDL experience, so ask early.
• Driving record: tickets and accidents in the last three years. Get the MVR if they'll share it.
• Equipment: year, make, VIN and value for each tractor and trailer, and whether it's owned, financed or leased. Some markets cap equipment age.
• Operation: commodities hauled as percentages, the radius split, and where the truck's garaged.
• History: any prior commercial coverage, even as a company driver or leased owner-operator.
• Coverage asked for: $750,000 is the federal minimum liability for general freight, but many brokers want $1 million and cargo coverage before they'll load a new carrier (49 CFR 387.9 has the federal minimums).

Most new applicants are tiny. In our data, 89% of carriers that applied in the last 90 days reported one or two trucks. Treat the owner as the driver until they tell you otherwise.

3. Open the call with their own record

A new carrier's phone rings a lot the week the filing goes public, and most of those calls open with a pitch. Open with their name, their status and one question:

Names above are made up. Use the officer name and company from the record.

If they're bound, congratulate them, ask when the policy renews, and put it on your calendar. If they're shopping, go straight to the questions above. If they're stuck, ask what's holding it up. A declined driver or a down payment they can't make is a problem you might be able to solve with a different market or a payment plan.

4. Follow up once, in writing

If they don't pick up, send one short email the same day. Plain text, no attachments, and a subject line that names their company or MC.

Call again on day three. Stop after three touches or the first no, and honor every opt-out right away. Calls and texts fall under the TCPA and state rules, and commercial email falls under CAN-SPAM. Those are on the agency doing the contacting.

5. Do it every day, or have it done

The whole approach depends on reaching carriers in the first few weeks, which means working a fresh list every morning. That's the part most small agencies can't keep up with.

First Call Territory does it for one agency per state. We email new carriers and recent lapses from inboxes in your agency's name, with your license number, and replies go straight to you. Our first partner agency had a new carrier write back asking for help finding insurance within 24 hours of going live. Read how the outreach works, or check this week's numbers on the new trucking authorities by state pages.