1st Guard Truck Insurance Starts Own Internet Radio Show for Truckers

Dedicated to serving the leased owner operator community with fast, reliable and competitive truck insurance 1^st Guard® has gone a step further by creating their own informative radio show on 1stGuardRadio, The Courtney Wilson Show.  Relevant trucker news, interviews with top executives and management at renowned motor carriers, the latest technology for truckers and insurance tips are some of the topics of discussion. Broadcast live from the 1^st Guard Truck Insurance studios in Venice, Florida Thursday afternoons at 2pm Eastern featuring host Courtney Wilson with her gruff trucker. The ONLY radio show on the Internet broadcast by a truck insurance company geared for the American Trucker. Tune in every Thursday afternoon at 2pm Eastern starting March 1^st, 2012 by going to www.1stguardradio.com.

Interview with CIO Dan Ribar on The Extreme Truckers Show

The Extreme Truckers Show, http://www.extremetruckers.us/, is a LIVE Internet talk radio show that air EVERY Thursday night at 10:30 pm Eastern. Host Rich Miller interviews those directly involved with serving truckers and the trucking industry.

1st Guard's CIO Dan Ribar was the product spotlight of last night's show (February 9th). Listen to the interview here and learn about all the ways 1st Guard incorporates technology to help SAVE truckers the most money on their insurance.

First Guard Insurance Company Reaffirmed “A” Rating by A.M. Best

Venice, Florida (October 21, 2011) – Specialty truck insurer First Guard Insurance Company announced today that A.M. Best Company (Oldwick, NJ) has affirmed its financial strength rating of A (Excellent) with a stable rating outlook. Since 2004, First Guard Insurance Company has maintained the rating of A (Excellent). For the latest ratings, visit http://www.ambest.com/.

The “A” (Excellent) rating of First Guard reflect its solid capitalization, balance sheet liquidity, history of excellent underwriting and operating profitability. First Guard’s expertise in the trucking physical damage market for leased owner operators coupled with prudent underwriting standards and conservative operating strategy continue to play a strong role in their long-term profitability and stability.

While the first half of 2011 proved challenging in regards to higher than expected claims losses due to storm/weather related activity the rigid underwriting and pricing discipline at First Guard continues to produce favorable results in comparison to competition.

“We are very pleased that AM Best has once again affirmed our "A" rating,” stated Ed Campbell III, Chairman of First Guard Insurance Company. “The significant investments that First Guard continues to make in underwriting, marketing and automation processes are clearly paying dividends. Notwithstanding the challenging economy our surplus stands at an all time high.”

The Great American Trucking Show 2011

The verdict is back. The Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in Dallas, TX was this past week (Aug.  25-27th) and the 1st Guard team had a great show! The foot traffic was steady all three days with Saturday being the highlight. We saw a ton of our customers who are very satisfied with our services and spoke with hundreds of potential customers that hopefully will call for physical damage and nontrucking liability quotes on their trucks. 

As an aside, we had fun handing out 1st Guard bumper stickers - Diesel is a hit with all ages, especially little kids. The pictures don't lie!

Lastly, we'd like to congratulate Dan Ribar, 1st Guard truck show roady and CIO, for participating in the BIG RIG 5K run on Friday. We're glad you had a great run and ran for a great cause.

Copy Cats - Are They Flattering?

Recently, we fumbled through the trucking publication Movin' Out and discovered an advertisement that struck very close to home. If it wasn't for the picture of Flo, we would have been convinced the advertisement was ours. Subsequently, the chairman of 1st Guard, Ed Campbell, sent a friendly email to Progressive's Trucking Division Marketing Executive Bill Kampf. Here's what he had to say.....
___________________________________________________________________________________

Bill,


I'll say I was a bit chagrined but also flattered when I stumbled across your recent ad in Moving Out.

Glad we're still the inspiration for the largest truck insurer in the country. Still, I would have thought a company with Progressive's marketing reputation and resources could have come up with something original as opposed to lifting from our 18 month old campaign theme.

If you insist on learning the business from 1st Guard we'll eventually have to start charging.

Ed
___________________________________________________________________________________

Left image is 1st Guard'scampaign. The right image is Progressive's so-called original campaign. Sure looks a lot like ours, doesn't it?

Truck Insurer 1st Guard Broadens Communication with Customers via Auto-Dialer

Venice, Florida – July 28, 2011 – Truck insurer 1st Guard recently expanded their communication platform by implementing an auto-dialer, a technology-based program that automatically calls customers with a pre-determined announcement. The auto-dialer enables 1st Guard to increase communication with their customers in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The purpose behind the auto-dialer is to reach out to as many customers as possible within a short period of time. In fact, the auto-dialer can place up to 20 calls in a few seconds without bogging down the operating systems. The messaging behind the auto-dialer could vary from customer accounting information to weather-related alerts. In the instance of customer accounting messages the customer has the option to press a prompt to be transferred to a 1st Guard customer service agent for assistance.

Beyond bridging the communication between insurance company and customer, the auto-dialer alleviates the time it would normally take an agent to contact customers about simple account-related information such as non-pay cancel notices or invalid credit card expirations. Thus, increasing the productivity of the agents to focus on sales or service related issues. 1st Guard also uses the auto-dialer to wish their customers a “Happy Birthday.”

1st Guard’s Chief Information Officer, Dan Ribar, believes the auto-dialer is another example of using technology to reduce risk. “Any chance we get to communicate better with our customers we jump on it,” added Ribar.

Every effort is taken to streamline the truck insurance process at 1st Guard for their customers and the auto-dialer is no exception. “The auto-dialer is a prime example of how technology can be used to increase communication with the customer base without using an extreme amount of manpower,” concluded Courtney Wilson, marketing director for 1st Guard.

Fuelcard+ Giveaway Is On A Roll

In April we launched the Fuelcard+ Giveaway, a referral program tied to monthly $500 fuel card drawing and truck charity donations. Since then we've given away $1500 in fuel cards to three lucky owner operators and donated over $3,000 to St. Christopher Fund. With your help we are hopeful that we can donate much more to SCF over next few months. The Fuelcard+ referral program will run through the end of the year.

To get entered into the fuel card drawing, follow these steps:
1) Current 1st Guard insureds must refer an owner operator to us for a truck insurance quote
2) Make sure your friend mentions your name when they call for a quote and the fuelcard+ referral program
3) You and your friend that called for a quote will get entered into the fuel card drawing & $25 will be donated to a trucker charity (SCF) in each of your names
4) The more times you refer an owner operator to 1st Guard the more times you will be entered into the fuel card drawing in addition to more $25 donations to a trucker charity.

It's that simple! Spread the word to all your owner operator friends now. Click here to learn more!