Trucking insurance requirements: the federal minimums

Checked against official sources · Last reviewed October 6, 2026

A for-hire trucking company hauling general freight across state lines in vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage. Hazardous materials raise the minimum to $1 million or $5 million. Your insurer files proof with FMCSA, and FMCSA won't grant operating authority until that filing is on record. [1][3]

The federal minimum liability limits

The minimums are set in a table in 49 CFR 387.9. They cover vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 pounds or more, plus a few high-hazard loads in lighter vehicles. The table is headed with the date January 1, 1985.

Sources: [1]

The $300,000 limit for small vehicles

The 387.9 rules don't apply to vehicles under 10,001 pounds GVWR unless they haul the listed high-hazard materials. A separate rule for carriers with operating authority, 49 CFR 387.303T, sets a lower filing amount: $300,000 for a fleet that includes only vehicles under 10,001 pounds hauling non-hazardous property. FMCSA's filing chart shows the same $300,000.

The $300,000 applies to the whole fleet, not truck by truck. A carrier that also runs a vehicle of 10,001 pounds or more falls under the $750,000 row. See also hot shot trucking and box truck business. [1][2][3][4]

Passenger carriers

For-hire passenger carriers need $5,000,000 for any vehicle seating 16 or more, including the driver, and $1,500,000 for any vehicle seating 15 or fewer, including the driver. [5]

How proof of insurance is filed

You don't file the insurance form yourself. Once you apply for operating authority, your insurance company (or surety) files it with FMCSA on your behalf. FMCSA won't grant authority until the required coverage is on file.

• Liability coverage: Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X from the insurer, or a BMC-82 surety bond.
• BMC-91 is filed for the full limits. BMC-91X can represent full coverage or any level of aggregation of the limits.
• Household goods carriers also file cargo coverage on BMC-34 (insurance) or BMC-83 (surety bond).
• Property brokers need a $75,000 surety bond (Form BMC-84) or trust fund (Form BMC-85).

The business name and address on the filing must exactly match your authority application. Any difference delays the grant. [3][6][7]

The 20-day filing window

The insurance filing must be made within 20 days after your application is published in the FMCSA Register. If it isn't, FMCSA serves a decision saying the application will be dismissed unless you comply within 60 days. Your BOC-3 process agent filing is due in the same 20-day window. See MC authority for the rest of the application. [3][8]

What the MCS-90 endorsement does, and doesn't do

Carriers covered by the 387.9 rules must keep proof of financial responsibility at their principal place of business: an MCS-90 endorsement attached to the liability policy, an MCS-82 surety bond, or an FMCSA authorization to self-insure.

Under the MCS-90, the insurer agrees to pay any final judgment against the carrier for public liability (bodily injury, property damage and environmental restoration) resulting from negligence in operating, maintaining or using the carrier's vehicles, within the endorsement's limits, whether or not each vehicle is listed on the policy. Policy conditions, exclusions or violations don't relieve the insurer, and neither does the carrier's insolvency or bankruptcy.

It is not extra coverage for you:

• If the insurer pays a claim only because of the endorsement, you must pay the insurer back.
• It doesn't cover injury to or death of your own employees on the job.
• It doesn't cover the cargo you are hauling.

Sources: [9][10]

Cargo insurance is not federally required for general freight

FMCSA's filing chart lists the cargo insurance requirement as $0 for general-freight property carriers. Household goods carriers are the exception: they need cargo coverage of $5,000 per vehicle and $10,000 per occurrence. See motor truck cargo insurance. [2][3]

Keeping coverage in force

You may not operate a vehicle until the minimum coverage is in effect, and the coverage must stay in effect continuously.

• Cancellation between you and the insurer takes 35 days' written notice from either side.
• Cancellation of the FMCSA filing can't take effect until 30 days after FMCSA receives the notice on Form BMC-35 (insurance) or BMC-36 (surety bond).
• Switching insurers: when the new insurer's filing is accepted, the old insurer's liability ends on the new filing's effective date.

Authority stays in force only while the required filing is on file. FMCSA says carriers must keep proof of insurance (and their process agent designation) on file to avoid revocation proceedings. FMCSA lists a fee of $80 to reinstate authority. [3][6][9][10][12][13]

Why the minimum is $750,000

The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 set the levels at $750,000 for property, $1 million for hazardous materials, and $5 million for certain hazardous materials. DOT phased them in from lower amounts ($500,000 for general property), and as of January 1, 1985 set them at the lowest levels the 1980 law allows. Federal law still says the property-carrier level must be at least $750,000 (49 U.S.C. 31139).

In an April 2014 report to Congress, FMCSA concluded the minimums are inadequate to cover the costs of some crashes. From 1985 to 2013, the medical consumer price index rose 4.9 percent a year versus 2.8 percent for core CPI. A research report by PIRE, cited by FMCSA, recommended at least $10 million per crash. FMCSA asked in November 2014 whether to raise the minimums, then withdrew the proposal on June 5, 2017, saying it had insufficient data to move forward. The 387.9 table still shows $750,000.

By our calculation from Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index annual averages, $750,000 in 1985 dollars is about $2.24 million in 2025 dollars. [1][14][15][16][17]

Common questions