There a number of contributing factors to the way in which commercial truck insurance premiums are determined.
All insurers will look at these contributing factors in a slightly different way. There is a general consensus however that the main risk factors that determines your truck insurance premium is your age, the amount of experience you have driving trucks, plus your previous employment history.
There will be many other factors as well, factors associated with the truck to be insured, but ultimately commercial truck insurance premiums will be determined after the driver and the fleet has been reviewed.
As far as the age of the driver goes, this is based on statistics in which they have shown that drivers under the age of 35 and over the age of 65 are more likely to be involved in an accident. While this factor may be out of the businesses control to some extent, that does not mean that a company cannot focus on this age group in regards to their drivers.
Employing drivers who have more experience will obviously reduce the risk and should play a vital part in lowering any commercial truck insurance premiums. As well as experience, a drivers employment history will also be looked at closely to check on the history of any accidents the driver may of had with a previous employer.
Your insurer will almost certainly ask about your previous commercial truck insurance coverage history. If you have had long-term insurance in place, you will undoubtedly see your premiums reduce. If on the other hand you have there's no history of truck insurance for your company, you will probably end up paying almost double the cost.
Where you operate your fleet will also have a bearing on the premiums you pay. If your city or surrounding area is prone to crime or is a high accident area you will pay more. The cargo you carry will also affect your costs; it is obviously less risky to transport lumber than it is to transport chemicals.
To determine your commercial truck insurance premium, your insurer will want to take into account information about your vehicles. This would be info about the age and maintenance history of each truck, added to that they will also want to see the company's DOT history, and last but not least they will take in to account the amount of deductible your company is willing to accept.