Higginbotham Launches New Transportation Insurance Division
The 31-person team provides specialized risk management services for transportation operators across Tennessee.
Updated on Oct. 15, 2026 in Transportation
Higginbotham has elevated its existing transportation specialty practice into a full-scale corporate division, signaling a strategic focus on specialized insurance resources. The expansion comes as the firm looks to deepen its service offerings for logistics and freight operators.
Why it matters
By organizing its transport specialists into a formal division, the firm gains the ability to dedicate specific capital to industry-tailored resources and loss-prevention tools. This change allows transportation business owners to access insurance teams that prioritize sector-specific risk management.
The new division is staffed by 31 employees who hold a combined 372 years of transportation insurance experience. This follows an expansion phase where the practice added 14 employees in a 10-month period.
The players
Higginbotham
A national insurance and financial services firm that operates as a broker and advisor for corporate clients.
Brent Allred
The division leader based in Chattanooga who has overseen the expansion of the transportation practice since March 2021.
Lipscomb & Pitts
A brokerage firm that integrated with Higginbotham in 2020 and served as a base for the original transportation practice.
The details
The division operates by integrating a customized version of Higginbotham's Day Two Services, a platform typically used for post-bind insurance management. The team utilizes specialized claims and loss-prevention professionals to assess operational risks inherent to transportation firms. This structural shift allows the practice to move beyond general brokerage to provide targeted mitigation strategies for logistics operators.
Timeline
2020: Lipscomb & Pitts entered a partnership with Higginbotham.
March 2021: Brent Allred assumed leadership of the specialty practice.
October 2026: Higginbotham announced the launch of the new transportation division.
Market Landscape
The formation of this division reflects a broader industry trend of insurance firms creating dedicated logistics units to manage increasingly complex freight liability profiles. It follows a multi-year effort to centralize expertise within the firm, beginning with the 2020 integration of Lipscomb & Pitts.
Transportation operators should review their current insurance portfolios for potential gaps in loss-prevention coverage that dedicated specialists might now be able to address. Owners should evaluate whether their current brokerage provides access to customized post-bind services similar to those now being standardized at this firm.
The takeaway
The firm is betting that specialized, long-tenured expertise will differentiate its insurance offering in a competitive logistics market. Operators should track whether this transition leads to faster claims processing and reduced premiums compared to generalist market alternatives.
Further reading
Learn more about local industry trends in our Transportation section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Insurance Journal.
