Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/536679
Trucking Knowledge 28 // OWNER OPERATOR // JULY 2015 By James Jaliet Progressive says big data changing the owner-operator insurance game S imple formulas used in owner- operator insurance acquisition, such as driver health and age and the number of out-of-service violations, soon could take a back seat to big data and more sophisticated algorithm-driven coverage and rates. And that could mean better rates for safer operators and coverage for other operators who may have not been able to obtain it prior, says Mike Miller, Progressive Insurance's director of commercial vehicles. I was able to sit down with Miller at the 2015 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., to talk about Progressive's coming changes to the way it determines rates and coverage for owner-operators, along with how his company uses CSA data and the DOT's potential insurance increase rule. Relative to CSA, Miller says Progressive does not use the percentile rankings produced in the program's Safety Measurement System BASICs. Instead, he says, Progressive uses the raw violation data to produce its own scoring — an element of the company's upcoming rating structure. Use of the raw data, he says, paints a more credible picture of an owner-operator's safety history. The company's use of the raw violation data rather than the percentile rankings also could quell some operators' fears of third parties, such as insurers, using the rankings against them, as they often present a skewed view of an operator's safety history. Progressive's new structure, however, is still in the works, so Miller couldn't share too