As Canada’s specialty market prepares for another complex year, long-haul trucking and hospitality remain two of the segments under significant pressure. Both have seen claims volatility rise and risk profiles shift, but according to Jatinder Bassi (pictured), president of Echelon Insurance, long-haul trucking is undergoing some of the most meaningful structural change heading into 2026.
Long-haul trucking has long been one of the industry’s most challenging classes, particularly for fleets operating across the Canada–US border. The segment carries large exposure, high severity potential and, in the US, the threat of nuclear verdicts. Canadian carriers do not face the same litigation environment, but the class remains inherently complex due to its scale, distance travelled and dependence on cross-border trade, Bassi told Insurance Business.
That dependence is now shifting. A combination of global uncertainty, tariff disputes, and growing emphasis on domestic economic resilience is changing freight patterns across the country. Instead of strictly north–south transportation, fleets are increasingly running east–west routes. This shift is altering exposure patterns, changing how claims emerge, and redefining what “typical” long-haul risk looks like.
“We are seeing a shift in that line of business – it's shifting from going north-south to east-west, which is changing that risk profile.”
According to Bassi, this trend is unlikely to fade quickly. Even if present tariff disputes ease, the investments made into new East–West corridors represent long-term structural adjustments. Meanwhile, the slow but visible movement toward lowering internal provincial trade barriers reinforces that these routes are becoming part of Canada’s economic fabric – not a temporary tactical move. North American economies remain deeply integrated, meaning traditional cross-border traffic will continue, but the diversification of routes creates a more complex risk environment that underwriters must account for.
Route shifts are only one dimension of the change underway. Long-haul trucking is also absorbing the effects of broader macroeconomic pressures. Economic uncertainty, fluctuating freight demand, cost-of-living pressures on drivers and political instability all influence the rhythm of the sector. These forces shape everything from driver turnover to maintenance cycles, fleet investment strategies, and operational discipline.
As a result, insurers are now seeing claims volatility driven by a wider array of factors. Weather-related disruptions, equipment aging, operational stress, and shifting cargo patterns are reshaping the underlying risk. In this environment, class-level assumptions can become unreliable; underwriters must drill into fleet-specific behaviors to understand where true exposure lies.
According to Bassi, the strongest competitive edge in this segment now comes from technical risk management – not pricing tactics. Echelon, he said, relies heavily on its specialized long-haul trucking team, which works closely with brokers and carriers to assess operational practices firsthand. The team evaluates safety protocols, loss history, driver screening, training processes and equipment standards, and then helps fleets implement improvements that directly reduce exposure.
This hands-on approach is particularly important in a class where the gap between a well-managed fleet and a poorly managed one can be enormous. Telematics adoption, disciplined maintenance schedules, clear driver expectations and documented safety management systems have all become key indicators of sustainable performance. Fleets with mature risk management tend to experience fewer losses, and when claims do arise, they tend to be less severe.
Bassi sees these operational fundamentals as the stabilizing factor in a segment buffeted by external pressures. Strong fleet management cannot eliminate risk – but it can meaningfully reshape the volatility curve.
One of the defining features of an insurer in this field, Bassi said, has to be consistency. A company should not enter or exit lines of business based on short-term profitability swings. Instead, it needs to emphasize long-term stability for brokers and insureds, even when the class is under strain.
This philosophy rests on the idea that specialty insurance clients – particularly in trucking – value predictability from their insurer. Carriers that leave the segment after a difficult year can destabilize the market and leave fleets scrambling for options. Echelon’s goal, Bassi explained, is to maintain its presence regardless of the cycle, supporting customers through changing conditions and offering capacity that can be relied upon.
This is particularly important as Canada’s broader economic growth remains flat. Without significant expansion in the economy, organic growth opportunities are limited. That reality underscores the need for discipline and targeted underwriting. Rather than competing for volume in a market that is not expanding, Bassi said Echelon concentrates on individually rated risks that fall outside the standard commercial market — those that “need a different lens.” These accounts may not fit neatly into pre-set underwriting boxes, but they can perform well when evaluated on their own merits.
“We want to be the steady hand in the Canadian market, and that’s what we’re committed to. We’re providing that capacity for a long-term future, as opposed to a short-term now.”
