What Are The Benefits And Insurance Like At The Various Trucking Companies?

I am curious what sort of health insurance / benefits should be expected as a truck driver. I'm asking from a position of "surprise control" and expectation management. As I've gotten older I've grown to appreciate the safety net that health insurance provides. I've watched friends who did not have it get "we'll keep you alive" care and those that did get average or amazing care. It is also an important part of your compensation when working for a company. I think I'm like most Americans in that I want to be able to go to the doctor if I'm sick and not worry about how I'm going to pay for it.

The company I used to work for was a non-profit association. We had stunning benefits. 401k was a match up to 4% and then you qualified for an 11% "gift" or "profit share".... yes, you put in 4% and they put in 15%. Short and Long term disability were company paid. Health insurance was one of 3 plans. A high deductible plan, a $500 out of pocket with 20% coinsurance for $30/mo and a $250 out of pocket (annual) with no coinsurance for about $100/mo. Those are employee only rates, family coverage was more. We were part of a PEO (professional employer organization) run by an outfit I'll call InMisery. InMisery is basically an HR compliance/management/consulting firm that optimizes people. Our health, dental and prescription was run through United Healthcare which was generally good even if they sent you more email, texts, and paper than you can shake a stick at for each claim. I'd like to think we were only there for the compliance and insurance package, but I saw them do some things that made me shake my head. Our dental was pretty run of the mill and it generally sucked for anything more than a cleaning and an uncomplicated filling. Vision was basically one set of glasses and an eye exam per year. We did have a health expense plan that was pre-tax and a great way to handle recurring expenses or planned expenses.... i.e. if you know you have a kid getting braces you can budget for it and put the money in your plan and pay for it pre-tax which is like a 25%+ discount depending on your tax bracket. I forget what that was called, but it was nice to have when I knew I had to have some dental work done.

I do not expect that sort of insurance. I've never seen another company that has benefits like that. Some of my friends have insurance that ranges from being a bad joke to being really good with a nasty out of pocket. A friend is a store manager for a big box discount retailer. He has good insurance.... after he meets the $1000 out of pocket that he pays 100% of. Another friend works for a big box home improvement place that has insurance, but he doesn't make enough to afford it and even if he could the out of pockets would eat him alive.

I'm curious what the "norm" is in trucking and look forward to hearing what others have seen available. This will help me manage my expectations, know what is a good option, and plan realistically.

Brian G

I too am comfortable with my health care. I have not spent a penny out of pocket in 18 years. While I won't need health insurance from a company that I drive for, since I have retired coverage, I will definitely creep in this thread to see the responses.

Best of Luck

When I worked for a big carrier we had blue cross/blue shield for medical, delta dental, and I forget the vision but it was about as you described basically an eye exam a year and a pair of glass’s. For a good ppoI was paying about 175.00 every 2weeks for a family plan. The company paid 70% of my coverage and I paid 30% and the family premium. That was a couple years ago. Now I’m with a small outfit. The medical is ok through United but nothing great. I pay 376.00 every two weeks for the same plan and the dental and vision are like 6.00 every 2 weeks but they are basically worthless. Like everyhing else premiums go up every year. The bigger the company the cheaper it will be. They are all different so ask recruiters when you speak with them.

Im single and have Anthem BCBS. My first year i paid $60 per week. Now i pay like $25, it is an incentive to stay. With life, disability, dental and vision i pay $50 per week. The doctor copay is $50, which i thought high until i found out the federal BCBS just got raised to $40. i had a couple of prescriptions i paid $0 for. the VSP vision coverage is the best there is. i paid $45 for a full set of glasses and got free shipping to the terminal. we also get exams every year, not every 2. if i choose contacts instead, they are covered for $150.

My 401k is a dollar for dollar match up to 3%, then 50c match for another 2%. You are vested at one year, not 5.

*BUMP*

This is a subject, I'm VERY interested in. I've worked in healthcare for 12 years now and have very good coverage at an extremely low price so it was a bit of a shock to see what some truckers are paying for company healthcare.

The companies I'm looking at are Roehl, Prime, Jim Palmer and Swift. I'm sure healthcare coverage options and prices will change over the next 3 years but would like to hear some of your experiences with coverages and prices with your companies. Rainy gave some insight into Prime's (thanks!). Anyone else care to sound off?

For a single person such as myself OD has a basic plan where employees pay nothing a week. I have the 2nd and better option with vision since I need glasses, dental and some other fluff, I think I pay $35 a week. OD also provides I believe 25k in life insurance for free as well.