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.....
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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
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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!

Not All Physical Damage Policies Include Towing

When an owner operator calls 1st Guard for a physical damage quote, this question is often asked: 
Does your policy include towing? Well of course, why wouldn't it? But as we sit back and digest this question further it makes pefect sense why owner operators ask this question. Simply put, most physical damage policies available to the market do not provide adequate towing coverage. In fact the question at hand is further prompted because the owner operator likely got burned by a previous physical damage carrier that stuck the tow bill on them.

We will make it very clear: 1st Guard's physical damage policy does include towing and storage to the nearest repair facility. Additionally, our policy does not have a sublimit or cap to the amount of towing expense. Less the deductible, we'll pay the rest.

On the contrary, it is important to point out that many physical damage policies available to owner operators have a CAP or LIMIT to what they will pay towards towing expenses. Typically it is $5,000 to $7,000 or a % of the value of the vehicle. We've seen tow bills upwards of $20,000 - so if an owner operator had a physical damage policy that had a $5,000 cap on towing they would be stuck with a $15,000 tow bill - which could most definitely put them out of business!

It is our advice to review your physical damage policy when you get a chance to see what the towing coverage and/or limitations are. I don't know about you but I'd rather pay a little extra each month on my physical damage policy knowing that I had FULL coverage when I needed it.

After you check your policy, make sure to give us a call for a quote. Call 800-995-4827 or visit http://www.1stguard.com/.

You need to protect yourself and your truck. That's what it's all about.

Truck Insurer 1st Guard® Makes Donation to Trucker Charity



1st Guard's Donation Check to St. Christopher Fund



Venice, Florida – May 3rd, 2011 – 1st Guard Corporation, a leading truck insurer for leased owner operators, announced today they will present Knoxville, TN-based trucker charity, St. Christopher Trucker Development and Relief Fund, with a $2400 donation check. The money generated for this donation comes from 1st Guard’s customer Fuel Card+ referral program. Every time a trucker is referred to 1st Guard via a referral card they are entered into a monthly fuel card drawing and $25 (twenty-five dollars) is automatically donated to trucker charity for their call.

“We are thrilled to make this donation to such a wonderful charity in the trucking community,” stated 1st Guard’s Director of Marketing, Courtney Wilson. “We chose the St. Christopher Fund because they help truckers in financial hardship to get on their feet,” added Wilson. “This donation is a way for us to potentially help some of our own customers.”

1st Guard plans to donate monthly through the end of December 2011 to a trucker charity in conjunction with their customer referral program. “We’re happy with our first monthly donation amount considering we just kicked off the program the end of March,” remarked Chairman, Ed Campbell. “The word is spreading quickly within the owner operator grapevine and we hope each month we’re able to give back even more to a trucker charity,” concluded Campbell.

First $500 Fuel Card Giveaway Drawing Set for May 2nd

The Fuel Card+ Giveaway referral program, which was launched at the Mid America Truck Show, is getting a lot of buzz amongst the owner operator community. We've given a lot of new truck insurance quotes to owner operators who spoke to us at the truck show plus our existing customers have been spreading the word like wildfire. We are very pleased with the response and now we are looking forward to the  first $500 fuel card drawing on May 2nd.

Remember, with each new quote that is tied to the "referral card" a $25 donation will be made to St. Christopher Fund (http://www.truckersfund.com/) in the truckers name and they will get entered into the monthly fuel card drawing. It's really a win-win for everyone.

Great rates on truck insurance = Donation to a great charity = A chance to win a $500 fuel card.

For more information please view our website http://www.1stguard.com/2011Referral.aspx