| Persona | Who buys | Signals that push the score up (look for these) | Tier cutoffs (A / B / C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruiting | Owner/Operator, VP Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, Driver Marketing | Small–mid fleet (≈2–200 trucks), newer authority, driver OOS / turnover backed by real inspections, low driver-to-truck ratio, multi-state, no or legacy ELD | A ≥65 · B 50 · C 32 |
| Safety & Compliance | VP/Director of Safety, Chief Safety Officer, Compliance Manager | Active BASIC alerts (≥1), fatal crash in 24 mo, Conditional/Unsatisfactory rating, elevated OOS rates, legacy or no ELD, larger fleet (>50) | A ≥41 · B 27 · C 14 |
| TMS | CIO, VP IT, VP Operations, Director of Transportation | No TMS detected (greenfield) or legacy TMS, fast fleet growth / lane & service expansion, 100+ trucks, multi-cargo, multi-state, stale MCS-150, vendor rip-and-replace event | A ≥50 · B 31 · C 15 |
| Insurance | Owner, CFO, Risk Manager, Retail Insurance Agent | New authority (≤2 yr), active BASICs, minimum BIPD ($750K), hazmat, high-litigation states (CA/FL/IL/NY/NJ/GA/PA/LA) — then layer the UW tier + X-Date (Section 3) | A ≥54 · B 39 · C 24 |
| Broker | Broker Owner, Load Coordinator, Director of Carrier Relations | Clean record (no BASICs / no crashes), multi-state authority, diverse cargo types, active & established — reliable capacity you can trust with a load | A ≥80 · B 72 · C 60 |
| Fuel Card | Owner, CFO, Controller, Fleet Manager | 20–500 trucks, multi-state over-the-road cargo (van / reefer / tank), no fuel-card signal detected, fuel-heavy long-haul operation | A ≥76 · B 61 · C 46 |
| Factoring | Owner, President, CFO | New authority (≤3 yr), small fleet (<50 trucks), active and growing — the cash-flow-sensitive window before they're banked | A ≥58 · B 48 · C 35 |
| Toll Mgmt | Owner, CFO, Controller, Fleet Manager | Multi-state (≥3 states), larger fleet (≥50 trucks), authority in toll-heavy states (TX/FL/PA/OH/IL/NC/GA/VA/OK/KS/CO/MA/CA/NJ/NY) | A ≥68 · B 58 · C 50 |
| Badge | What triggers it (FMCSA) | Where it places | Your play |
|---|---|---|---|
X-Date |
Insurance with a pending cancellation / known end date and a live day countdown | — timing flag, any tier — | Lead here. The buy moment. Call now with the date in hand; these always bubble to the top of the renewal list. |
Hard-to-Place |
Unsatisfactory rating, 4+ BASIC alerts, or driver/vehicle OOS > 5× national avg | Specialty surplus only — risk-improvement plan recommended first | Highest need, lowest competition — incumbents have dropped them. Win a sticky account; set pricing & remediation expectations up front. |
E&S |
Controlled-substances BASIC, fatal crash, 2+ BASICs, Conditional rating, OOS > 3× avg, or brand-new authority (< 6 mo) | James River, Markel, Kingsway, AmTrust E&S, Lloyd's syndicates | You bring surplus-lines access standard carriers can't. Strong displacement play — admitted markets are declining them. |
Non-Standard |
1 BASIC alert, OOS 1.8–3× avg, young authority (< 1.5 yr), or hazmat with OOS pressure | James River, Markel, Canal (NS program), Hallmark, Falls Lake | Paying more than preferred and often unhappy. Lead with a competitive quote + a path to better rates as they clean up. |
Standard |
OOS 1.3–1.8× avg, authority < 3 yr, hazmat, or fleet ≥ 100 trucks | Progressive, Canal, National General, Protective, Great West | Bread-and-butter admitted book — compete on price / service / coverage. Large fleets here warrant a program & loss-control review. |
Preferred |
Clean record, established authority (≥ 3 yr), no BASIC alerts, OOS near or below national avg | Progressive, Travelers, National General, Canal, Great West Casualty | Best risk class — and hardest to displace (happy, well-priced). Only lead with an X-Date or a service gap; great for account-rounding. |