Commercial auto claims automation for fleets and trucking
US commercial auto has posted an underwriting loss for 14 straight years. A fleet or trucking file carries evidence a personal auto claim never has - ELD and telematics data, dashcam video, driver qualification files, FMCSA and CSA records - and counsel often arrives before the adjuster has the police report. Hesper AI handles the whole file in hours.
In short
Hesper AI's agents take a commercial auto claim at first notice, pull the loss facts from the police report, ELD and telematics data, dashcam video and driver qualification file, verify coverage across fleet schedules and endorsements, and score litigation risk early. Clean files resolve straight through; contested and suspicious ones get an investigation-grade workup.
Last updated
The four hard problems of a commercial auto claim
Commercial auto is not personal auto with a bigger vehicle. The exposure is higher, the evidence is scattered across devices and regulators, and the litigation clock starts earlier. Hesper works all four problems on the same file at the same time.
Looking for private passenger auto instead? That line has its own schemes and its own workflow - see the personal auto claims page.
Litigation that starts before the file does
On a serious commercial auto loss, plaintiff counsel is often retained before the adjuster has the police report. Hesper scores litigation risk at triage using injury type, jurisdiction, alleged negligence theory, and whether counsel has already appeared, then assembles the defense evidence while the data still exists.
Evidence the equipment already recorded
The truck usually knows what happened. ELD hours-of-service logs, telematics hard-brake and speed events, GPS breadcrumbs, event data recorder output, and dashcam video sit in four different vendor portals. Hesper pulls them into one reconstructed timeline and flags every point where the recorded data contradicts the reported loss.
Driver and carrier compliance records
A missing medical certificate or an unverified employment history turns a collision claim into a negligent hiring claim. Hesper audits the driver qualification file for completeness and cross-checks FMCSA registration, inspection history, and CSA BASIC percentiles, so the exposure is known before it is pleaded.
Staged accidents aimed at commercial fleets
Fleets are targeted because the policy limits are high and the driver is usually outnumbered by witnesses. Fraud detection is built into Hesper rather than licensed from another vendor: it maps claimants, passengers, clinics, and counsel across unrelated fleet claims and checks scene photos at the pixel and metadata level.
Manual workflow vs. Hesper
On a fleet file, most of the calendar is spent waiting on somebody else - a telematics vendor, a video provider, a safety manager, defense counsel. Every one of those waits collapses when the agents request and read the records themselves.
How Hesper AI handles a commercial auto claim
Every commercial auto claim runs the same path, from first notice to recovery. Phases run in parallel where dependencies allow, so the evidence is assembled while it is still retrievable rather than weeks later.
Intake and loss-fact extraction
First notice, police report, ACORD forms, driver statement, scene photos, and the carrier's own incident report are ingested together. Loss facts, units, parties, and injury indicators are extracted, and severity plus litigation risk are scored before the file is assigned.
Coverage across the fleet program
The unit is matched to the fleet schedule by VIN and unit number, and the full policy is read with its endorsements - motor truck cargo, hired and non-owned auto, MCS-90, and non-trucking liability where an owner-operator was off dispatch. A cited coverage position is produced, with a reservation of rights drafted where one is warranted.
Telematics, ELD and video reconstruction
Hours-of-service logs, hard-brake and speed events, GPS breadcrumbs, event data recorder output, and dashcam video are merged into one timeline against the reported time of loss. Contradictions between recorded device data and the reported sequence are flagged with the source record attached.
Driver, carrier and network review
The driver qualification file is audited for completeness, the carrier's FMCSA registration, inspection history, and CSA BASIC percentiles are pulled, and every party on the claim is mapped against prior fleet losses. Shared clinics, counsel, and repeat claimants surface as organized-fraud indicators.
Settlement, defense file and recovery
Demand packages are digested and benchmarked against comparable awards, the evidence file is assembled with a citation behind every fact, and the claim is screened for subrogation against other motorists, shippers, maintenance vendors, and parts manufacturers before it closes.
Consecutive years US commercial auto has posted an underwriting loss
Underwriting losses reached about $4.9B in 2024
Source: AM BestAdded to US commercial auto liability losses and DCC by economic and social inflation, 2014-2023
Upper bound of the $42.7B-$55.8B range, or 20.7% to 27.0% of the total
Source: Casualty Actuarial Society and Triple-IState truck-tractor tort cases estimated for 2022 alone
The largest half of awards rose at an average 5.7% per year
Source: American Transportation Research InstituteFatal large truck crashes per million people in the US in 2022
A 50% increase from 10.6 in 2010
Source: FMCSACommercial auto claims automation, answered
How does AI claims automation handle a commercial auto claim from first notice to settlement?
Hesper's agents pick up the first notice, extract the loss facts from the police report, ACORD forms, driver statement, and scene photos, confirm the unit sits on the fleet schedule, and recommend a reserve against the exposure the evidence actually supports. Straightforward files resolve without a manual touch. Contested files get a full evidence workup before anyone negotiates. Hesper writes back into Guidewire, Duck Creek, or whatever the system of record is, and does not replace it.
Can AI read ELD, telematics and dashcam evidence on a trucking claim?
Yes, and this is where most of the manual hours go today. The agents reconstruct hours-of-service logs against the reported time of loss, line up hard-brake, speed and GPS events with the collision, and read the dashcam and event data recorder output against that same timeline. The result is a single timeline with every data point cited back to the device record it came from, instead of three separate vendor reports an adjuster has to reconcile by hand.
How is commercial auto claims software different from personal auto claims automation?
A personal auto file is mostly a policy, an estimate, and a medical record. A fleet or trucking file adds ELD and telematics data, dashcam video, the driver qualification file, FMCSA and CSA safety records, cargo documents, and a much higher chance of counsel arriving in the first week. Hesper runs both, but commercial auto pulls in the regulatory and device evidence a personal auto file never has, and it scores litigation risk far earlier. The private passenger version of this page is our personal auto claims automation page.
Can Hesper flag which commercial auto claims are heading into litigation?
Litigation risk is scored at triage, not after a demand letter lands. The agents weigh injury type and severity, jurisdiction, whether counsel has already appeared, alleged negligence theories such as improper hiring or onboarding, and how the carrier's own safety record reads. High-risk files get the evidence assembled immediately, while the recorded data still exists and witnesses are still reachable. The reserve and settlement authority stay with your team.
Does Hesper check driver qualification files, FMCSA and CSA records?
Yes. The agents audit the driver qualification file for completeness - CDL status, medical examiner's certificate, road test, employment verification, drug and alcohol testing records - and cross-check the carrier's FMCSA registration, inspection history, and CSA BASIC percentiles. Gaps in those records are the raw material of a negligent hiring or negligent retention claim, so they surface on day one rather than in a deposition.
Does Hesper handle cargo claims, hired and non-owned auto, and non-trucking liability?
Yes. Coverage analysis reads the full policy and its endorsements, including motor truck cargo, hired and non-owned auto, MCS-90 endorsements, and non-trucking liability where an owner-operator was off dispatch. The agents produce a cited coverage position and draft the reservation of rights where one is warranted. The coverage decision and the signature stay with your adjuster.
Go deeper on commercial auto claims
Research, technical deep-dives, and the neighbouring lines of business.
See Hesper handle your commercial auto claims
We'll run a sample file on your real fleet claims and show you the timeline, the coverage position, and the cited evidence package it produces. Pricing is scoped to your book, so we'll talk through it on the call.