Behind the Scenes of Transportation Insurance with Chad Eichelberger of Reliance Partners

Freight Nation: A Trucking Podcast

In this episode of Freight Nation: A Trucking Podcast, host Brent Hutto is joined by Chad Eichelberger, President of Reliance Partners.

Join them as they explore:

• The necessity of grit and contingency plans for managing challenging markets
• How to scale an insurance company
• What insurance agencies are looking at when in talks with freight brokers
• And more!

Chad is President of Reliance Partners, one of the largest transportation and logistics insurance agencies in North America. His team is differentiated by their strong culture, unique diversity, and investment in technology, all of which has helped them to achieve year-over-year organic growth in excess of 30%. Prior to Reliance, Chad was President of Brokerage at Coyote Logistics and President at Access America Transport.
[09:26 - 11:33] While Chad was working at Access America, the Great Recession hit in 2008. To manage it, the team saw two options: buckle down and weather the storm or be aggressive and leverage a challenging marketplace to outwork everybody and increase your market share. Access America went for the latter, growing from $42 million to $56 million in revenue in just one year. That wasn’t the growth they were accustomed to in a favorable market, but it was growth nonetheless. They hustled through the time, not being afraid to make losses on shipments and instead building good relationships with carriers and customers who knew they could depend on them while having contingency plans in place for the ‘what if’s. It truly is a testament to grit having a lot to do with your success.

[22:35 - 25:14] When Chad joined Reliance Partners, he worked with CEO Andrew to help scale the company. You always have to pay attention to cash as you grow, and they were fortunate to have very supportive angel investors who gave them the ability to make strategic hiring decisions early on, getting in good talent quickly. They also focused on getting good market access, with Andrew and Chad profiling any competitors in the market and new insurance companies so that as they expanded geographically, they could build a competitive map of what each area’s market looked like and who were the key players they had to build relationships with. They do this to this day to ensure they are constantly ahead of the curve.

[36:01 - 40:04] Reliance Partners insure freight brokers of all sizes, but they of course have somewhat of a checklist for who they are willing to insure, as will any other insurer. Chad advises brokers to be very clear on what they want out of their insurance policies when they are talking to an agency. For example, what are your goals from a cargo perspective? Are you looking to take on some risk or are you looking to shield yourself from some risk? That will help give both parties an idea of the relationship. Chad also explains that insurance agencies will look at the structure of the organization, specifically on how it is backed financially to assess the liability. Ultimately insurance agencies are looking at your entire operations and where potential liabilities may rise and what your comfort levels are for if they do.

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