Con-way Truckload is offering owner-operators leasing their trucks to the company the chance to purchase health care and other insurance benefits through a third party company.
The company is working with TrueNorth, which offers TrueChoices, a program of benefits tailored for owner-operators.
“As an independent small business, today’s owner-operator often has difficulty finding affordable health care insurance,” said Bert Johnson, Con-way Truckload’s senior director of human resources, who noted that owner-operators typically are not eligible for the same health care plans as those offered to company employees.
Owner-operators will be able to choose a multitude of options, including four medical and two dental insurance options, as well as vision, short-term and long-term disability, life, accident and critical illness policies, Con-way Truckload said.
“Because they lack an employer/employee relationship, owner-operators are often left without health care benefits they can afford because they cannot legally access group health care,” said Mike Vogel, vice president, TrueChoices. “Programs like this one provide owner-operators with only those benefits they need and nothing they don’t, which makes it much more affordable and unique in the industry. Rates are the same from state to state and, because we understand the driver community, the enrollment process can be completed quickly right over the phone.”
TrueChoices is being offered through membership in the non-profit Truckers Service Assn. (TSA), an association which provides motor carriers and independent owner-operators insurance solutions.
Con-way Truckload’s owner-operators must join TSA, which charges a $9 per month membership fee, to gain access to the TrueChoices program.
The company said open enrollment with TrueChoices begins in early September and will be available on a rolling basis. For more information, owner-operators can call 800-877-9637 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.
TrueNorth is a collaborative insurance and financial strategies firm that provides a full menu of health care and other insurance products.
